Thread: Timber Selection

Staining is to be avoided unless absolutely necessary, IMHO. You'd be better off looking for a timber that's naturally the appearance you like.
You are probably best to have a look at some timbers, or maybe have a look in a gallery near you (Leura?) and see how they look when finished, then ask here for advice on how suitable they would be.

Hi Andrae, and welcome to the forum It's always good to see another local on here.

I agree with Alex, that's great advice. One timber that comes to mind is jarrah. Nice and dark and solid. It is quite a hard timber but works nicely and finishes beautifully.


regards,
Peter

Andrade,

I generally agree about avoiding stain, but don't make it a golden rule.

This is a very personal choice. We all like different things, and for different reasons. As Alex suggested, have a look at some furniture and determine what you like ... what you think would suit your purpose.

Yesterday I did a dummy spit about timber selection for a desk I will soon be making. Can't seem to get the blood red NG Rosewood I really wanted. So, I planed up a scrap of camphor laurel and ran some tests with stain. It stained very well, darkening the very pale timber nicely but still keeping a reasonably strong contrast with the darker grain. Often, the grain all but disappears once stained, but not in this case.

I still intend to use NG Rosewood for the desk, but have tucked away the idea of staining camphor laurel for future reference.

I use a lot of rosewood and cedar, because they are pretty and very stable. Camphor laurel is also a nice stable timber.

Originally Posted by Andrade

Hi guys

I am a new member to this forum and I was wondering if anybody could help me out regarding timber selection for a hall/entry table build.

I was wondering if I can get some advice on which timber would be best to use for a solid feel to the finish product, and I want to give it a dark stain so which timber comes up best for a dark finish.

Regards...

Hi Andrade,
While i understand where the other guys are coming from about avoiding stain I have also had some good results with it in the past. I've found the more i work with wood the more i see the natural beauty in it however when i first started out I experimented with different things because i was forced to use cheaper wood and because of the decor i was trying to match which is probably where you are coming from too?

Anyway, about four years ago I made a bed with my father and we stained it black. He wasn't all that keen on the idea but it turned out great. We were using commercially available hardwood that you can get at any timber truss retailer or at bunnies. Something like vic ash or tassie oak or commonly referred to as messmate in some places. In any case i'm not sure what the exact species was, the main thing is that it was not your A grade figured timber, just plain hardwood with a nice straight grain. We used feast and watson black stain. From memory it is spirit based which was good because it didn't rub off when we applied an oil finish over the top of it (unlike some red stains i used at one stage which were water based). You can get your hands on small sample bottles that should give you a good idea of the result. Try it on a small piece of timber and make up your own mind. I really liked the way the grain came through once stained and finished with the danish oil.

One negative though, dust really shows on it as it's black but that's usually someone elses concern.
Best of luck and post some work in progress pictures of your progress

Originally Posted by AlexS

Staining is to be avoided unless absolutely necessary, IMHO. You'd be better off looking for a timber that's naturally the appearance you like.
You are probably best to have a look at some timbers, or maybe have a look in a gallery near you (Leura?) and see how they look when finished, then ask here for advice on how suitable they would be.

I agree with Alex. Do not stain wood and let its natural beauty shines. If you like darker wood then I would suggest Jarrah, Red Cedar or Tas Blackwood.

G'day and welcome Andrade,
I'm with Alex, if you have to stain the timber, you probably bought the wrong stuff. As you are beginning to work on things for your own home, start thinking about what you are going to build and how it will all fit together down the track. If you stain now and find later you want to change the colour.......hard work!!

As Alex says, take some time and look around. Go to a timber yard which has a variety of timbers and so what takes your fancy. You can get great Tassie Blackwood with it's different colours and prominent grain, or Jarrah, beautiful dark red/brown or Peruvian Walnut, which is quite cheap and is a very rich chocolate brown.

The choices are as wide open as your imagination. And when it comes to finishing, look around as well. Most people seem to use Danish Oil of one type or another, but there are far nicer ways to finish your furniture. Shellac is one I can think of.

Good luck with the build. Look forward to seeing it as it progresses.

Here are some pics of Jarrah and Blackwood stuff finished in oil.

Regards,

Rob

We should remember there is staining and there is staining and black is a special case. When I stain it is only a very weak wash. For example, Qld Walnut can have a cold, green look and benefits from a weak brown wash. My wash is usually a peanut paste jar of metho to 1 or1/2 cap of Feast Watson spirit based stain. The F.W. spirit stains are very strong and last me a fair while. When we try to radically alter the timber colour it usually looks cheap.
I give Surrian Cedar a very weak brown wash, White Oak gets maple and walnut ( for me heavily stained oak looks cheap, unless it is black ) The Pines are the hardest to do because they want to go blotchy.
In the old days I wouldn't stain but now I'm quite comfortable imposing my will on the timber.