Thread: Staining Blackwood?

Sorry to be all negative, but for the life of me I cant see why you would use Blackwood, then stain it?

You could of used Radiator Pine and stained it.

Al :confused:

For the same situation, but not such a wide range of tones to start with, I used (don't laugh) Schwartzkopf Live colour hair dye (Chocolate). Rub in, leave for a while then buff off. Have a look at what colours are available. It doesn't flatten the finish as other stains can.
As with all these things, try on test pieces first.

Originally Posted by AlexS

For the same situation, but not such a wide range of tones to start with, I used (don't laugh) Schwartzkopf Live colour hair dye (Chocolate). .

I didnt think you had any hair, at least not chocolate colour.......
Is it milk or dark chocolate??

Al

Originally Posted by ozwinner

Al

I specifically asked you not to laugh!

And yes, I do have some hair, but it's not chocolate - more like pepper & salt.

Not quite the response I expected.

I have a few different wood stains and I will try them on some offcuts. The commercial stains tend to be very red or nearly purple. It is hard to find a good dark brown.

Neil suggested Black Japan and dilute it until you get the shade of black needed. I have used it before and it works OK on the blackwood.

I know some add the Oxides used to colour cement and grout to colour epoxy fillers. I have a black and a dark brown to try.

I'll check the bathroom to see if I have any strawberry-blonde hair dye left. Never thought of that!

Paul Gregson uses stains on red cedar to give it a mahogany colour instead of the less attractive orange you sometimes get when using shellac on cedar.

Schwartzkopf eh!
Who'd a thought it!

Just a quick note on our experience-
We finished some blackwood flooring in two different ways; oil for most of the floor and poly on wet areas. What was interesting was that the oil magnified the (vast) colour differences within the timber, while the poly minimised the colour differences and evened out the tone beautifully. If we had not already done the oil we would have poly's the whole thing. The oil was Feast Watson Tung Oil, and the poly was water based and from Cabots I think.
Cheers
Justine

Thanks Justine.
I will try both.

I tend to use Rustins Danish Oil or Livos Oils on most projects.
Poly wouldn't be a problem to use on the bedside cabinets.

I had the same problem recently with some blackwood being very heavy and dark while other pieces were a lot lighter in both colour and weight.

I used some walnut stain on the light pieces and they finished looking like the dark stuff.

Those who stain Blackwood should have their licence to use it permently removed

i think he best bet to even out the colours is to use feast watson proofint, it's good for that, get some brown, some black or whatever , mix and match colours till you get a colour that blends in with the the darker wood, hopefully this will stop the project looking 'stained' ...sounds to me that your just trying to even out the colour of the timber , not change it to another colour...

la H

Blackwood is a beautiful and exspensive timber, when I look at a piece of blackwood and it has differing colours in it,then I know it Blackwood. Stains were invented to make cheap timber to look like exspensive timber, so why stain it? If you stain it people will never know that it is blackwood.
In my experience lately people seem to very keen to stain beatiful timber just because they can.
In the end the desicion is up to you of course and its only really you that has to happy with it.
Off my soap box
Scotty

WHAT!!!! Staining blackwood? That IS blasphemous; definitely a deadly sin.

When selecting timber for I job I like to take the time to select the grain and colour that appeals to me.
I prefer to show off the natural features of the timber.
As a result I have limited experience with staining timber.

The timber I have on hand for this project has some really good figure but just too much colour variation for the small cabinets.

I intend to bring the colour of the pale boards closer to that of the dark boards. I appreciate the suggestions offerred by those who have more experience than me.
A walnut coloured stain makes sense to me.

To those who condemn me for using stain on beautiful tasmanian blackwood - well that is your choice. I am not asking you to do it.

I even put sugar in my coffee and sqalt on my steak.

Scally

I wonder how your Tassie Blackwood turned out. This is such a gorgeous wood with the most magnificent tones and chatoyance. I wish this could be seen in the picture below.

Here is an awl I recently turned. Finished in BLO and wax.



Regards from Perth

Derek