Matching Color the Easy Way
In my opinion, color matching is something of an art form. There are so many different ways to arrive at a final color and look that it can drive you nuts! Lets see, there are alcohol and water soluble dyes in liquid and powder form, oil stains, water-based stains, pigments, toners, gel stains, glazes, and the list goes on and on. But does it always have to be this convoluted?? Let me spoil the ending for you: NO!
I was fortunate to work in a refinishing shop for a while and I had the opportunity to learn about color matching using various techniques and materials. We used to mix all kind of crazy stuff together to get that perfect match. Over the years, I began to realize that many times the perfect match is sitting in a can on the shelf. And if you can find the perfect color in a commercial product, I say “why not?”. The formula should always (hopefully) be consistent and if you ever need to reproduce the color again in the future, you’ll thank yourself.
This weekend, my buddy Ron from RJones Woodworks stopped by to bring me Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. Well, to tell you the truth, that’s my standard color matching consultation fee. Pretty reasonable, right? Well anyway, he’s building a custom piece for a client who wants the color to match a particular bamboo cutting board. Now lets get one thing straight: there isn’t a damn thing you can do to oak to make it look like bamboo. This is an important detail that many clients don’t realize. I have had more than one customer ask me to refinish something made from pine so that it looks like something else made from oak. I would match the color perfectly, only to find the customer disappointed on delivery day because the pieces don’t look the same. So if you are ever doing a match for a client, its incredibly important to manage their expectations. OK enough business advice.
So we were all prepared to pull out the pigments, dyes, lacquer and the HVLP. But before diving into that craziness, we decided to take some dyes and stains from the cabinet and see if we couldn’t find a pre-made solution. We tested numerous water and oil based stains and dyes (all General Finishes). From left to right we have oil-based Pecan, oil-based Antique Cherry, American Cherry gel stain, Nutmeg gel stain, Light Brown water-based dye stain, and Pecan water-based wood stain. The differences were subtle: some had more red, some had more brown, others had more yellow. But all of them were, of course, affected by the red oak laying underneath the color. This is why its always important to test your stains on an actual scrap piece of the material you plan to work with.
Now the bamboo itself contains a range of colors from light to medium to dark brown, and mimicking the exact look would be nearly impossible. But if we could find a color that was a happy medium between the light and dark streaks, we would be in business. When it was all said and done, we decided on the Light Brown dye stain. We stained a larger area to confirm the match and I think we made the right choice. Honestly, I don’t think we could get any closer even if we tried. 
So once Ron gets the client’s approval, this is a done deal. Instead of spending hours trying to experiment with color, Ron can now hop online and order up a can of Light Brown Dye Stain. And if his client ever commissions another piece in the future, its going to be incredibly easy for him to match the color.
All in all it was a fun morning. And if anyone else wants to bring me free Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, I’ll be more than happy to help you do some color matching.
Spraying Oil Stains? – Question of the Week
This week’s question comes from Jorge who writes:
I’m finishing some maple kitchen doors. I have a Fuji Mini-Mite 3x to apply the finish. I first applied a 1.5 to 2 pound cut of shellac and now I’m spraying the oil based stain. The problem is that I get what I think is called orange peel. Basically I can see the stain dots in the doors. Definitely the stain is not applied uniformly. Here is what I’ve tried so far:
– Applied a thinner cut of shellac thinking perhaps the shellac was too thick. Initially I used a 2.5 to 3 pound cut.
– Sanded the shellac coat more aggressively using 220 grit.
– Adjusted the hell out of the gun. I adjusted the air pressure, fluid control, fan size and any combination of these three knobs with no success.
– I bought a #3 air cap thinking that the #4 was too big for the viscosity of the stain. No success here either.
– Thinned down the stain to 3 parts stain and 1 part solvent. This helped a little bit but still the result is not what it should be.
I’d appreciate any pointers you can give me because this thing is driving me crazy.
And this is my response:
Hey Jorge. Take a deep breath brother! I don’t think the problem is in the gun or your technique. Its in the materials. The shellac, even at 1.5-2lb cut, might be a little excessive in this case. Traditional oil-based stains rely on absorption into the wood to work properly. By sealing with 1.5-2 lb cut of shellac, you essentially created a barrier on the surface of the wood. So now the stain just pools, much like trying to use a marker on a glossy surface.
So here are a few recommendations. If you need to seal the wood first (which is not a bad idea for a blotch-prone wood like maple), just use a 1/2lb cut of dewaxed shellac. After it dries, sand it very lightly with 220 grit. This usually results in a surface that is only partially sealed and will still allow the some stain to absorb. So you can then spray on the oil stain, and wipe off the excess. Do not let it pool up. You may even skip the spray at this stage because all you really need to do is wipe the stain on. Now to be honest, I might even be a little hesitant to do this. I just don’t trust traditional oil stains over even partially-sealed surfaces. So for more predictable results, you may want to switch to a gel stain. The gel formulation does not rely so heavily on absorption and will give you a much better distribution and intensity of color, without any blotching. Once the stain dries, you can then apply the top coat.
Now going back to the shellac surface. Lets say you had that heavier coat on and you still wanted to add color. How would you do it? Well, you could always add some dye to the shellac itself. That’s a great way to bring some base color to the party. You could also add dye to lacquer (if lacquer is your top coat). I like to make very light dye mixtures (using both shellac and lacquer) that are mostly thinner and dye. But I like to add a little of the finish itself to the mix as that helps bind the dye to the surface. Basically, this is what is known as a “toner”. Hopefully that gives you enough to chew on. Good luck!
32- Pop Goes the Maple
High Resolution Version
In this episode, I put the finish on the pencil holder. But its not just any finish. Since we are working with a beautiful curly maple, I think the finish deserves a little extra specia attention. Curly maple looks fantastic with a few coats of an oil based varnish. But it will BLOW YOUR MIND if you “pop” the grain with a dye first. So that’s exactly what we do in this episode. Thanks for watching.
Update
The finishing materials I used in this episode are available from Rockler via the affiliate links below:
Alcohol-Based Stain- Question of the Week
This week’s question comes from Bill. He writes, “I’m building some extra cabinets that match the kitchen cabinets that I installed last year. I ordered extra stain, so that everything would match. The stain would appear to be a dye in an denatured alcohol solution. How would you apply this stain? I’ve been applying a the shellac sanding sealer by zinser, but the dye mixture has a tendency to pull up the shellac. As long as I keep a wet edge it works (example baseboards), but it isn’t working very well on large panels.”
And here was my reply, “An alcohol based dye is actually best applied by spraying, but that may not be an option if you dont have a spray setup. The problem is that the alcohol evaporates too quickly and you dont have enough time to even out the color. And to further complicate the problem, your alcohol based dye mix is redissolving your sanding sealer. If you cant find a way to spray, I would recommend getting a little creative.”
“First, I assume you are using Zinsser SealCoat? Or are you actually using a true sanding sealer? If its sanding sealer, I say skip it. Get yourself the Zinsser SealCoat. SealCoat is a dewaxed shellac and will be a great sealer. Now instead of applying the sealer and having your dye mix mess everything up later, I would recommend adding some shellac to a portion of your dye. Since the dye is pretty much all alcohol, it will dilute out the shellac. I would say fill a container halfway with your dye, and fill it the rest of the way with the Sealcoat. This will give you a solution that is dilute enough that you should have time to apply it evenly. Consider using a brush. When the alcohol evaporates, you will be left with a sealed surface that contains some of your color. But since you diluted the color, it might not be intense enough. If thats the case, just sand lightly and apply another coat. Keep in mind with shellac, you need to move quickly and only do one or two strokes. Any more, and it becomes smeary.”
“Now this method isn’t perfect, but it should give you alot more control. Make sure your try this on an inconspicuous area first. If the color is too intense, then apply a diluted coat of the Sealcoat alone first, sand, and follow up with a coat or two of the mix I described earlier. Good luck!”
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