Stain Options on Hickory(Pecan)

[MarvinWatkins]

I am working on a piece at a class at Durham Tech. It is a small dresser with two drawers and a slide out shelf. This is a storage system for my daughters' Barbie house.

The carcass is made of Birch plywood and pine secondary. The face frame is made of solid birch. I decided to make the drawer fronts and trim from some wood that came from a Pecan tree my wife used to play under when she was little. The drawer fronts will be inset, not overlapped.

I want the hickory to contrast with the birch, so I am going to stain it. The piece of hickory that I finally chose is almost a light as the birch. The hickory also seems to be more of an open grain wood.

Any suggestions on a good (reddish-to-orangish)-brown stain that looks good on hickory?

Any suggestions on filling the pores?

I am still unsure how I will go for the final finish. Oil and wax is an option. Poly is another choice. I've had good luck with shellac in the past. Any thoughts on final finish for a birch and hickory piece?

I'll be working on the drawers on Wednesday.:eusa_danc

 

[bluedawg76]

My big suggestion would be to check out Bob Flexner's book: Understanding Wood Finishing. You can pick up a copy either at the library or ebay for ~$8. Many of the questions you have can be addressed by his book: dye vs. pigment stains, shellac (amber, blonde, dewaxed), filling pores, etc.

But for other random suggestions, dye stains would be a start, with a few colors mixed just right you ought to be able to get the effect you're after. Alternatively, a gel stain which is available at the borg is generally much better than the liquid forms in terms of evenness i.e gel stains don't tend to have the issues with blotchiness that oil or water stains do. Filling pores is a matter of personal preference and depends on the "look" you're after whether or not you want to do this. As for a finish, dewaxed shellac is nice, probably blonde but could try either amber or garnet to see if it warms it up a bit. I prefer wipe-on poly for a finish (thinned poly 30-50% with mineral spirits) if it's going to be abused/ heavily used. It's much easier to apply than full strength poly from the can and stands up to abuse better than an oil finish or shellac. HTH

Sam

 

[Steve_Honeycutt]

This is a good looking storage cabinet. I can't wait to see the finished project.

I finished a small hickory cabinet recently and I would recommend gel stains. Here is a picture of the cabinet:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showphoto.php?photo=57928

This is two coats of General Finishes Antique Walnut with 4 coats of dewaxed shellac. For a slight reddish look you could try General Finishes Candlelite. The gel stains give you a little longer work time and as Sam said it avoids the blotchiness that some hickory exhibits. If interested, I could post a picture of the two stains on some scrap hickory.

 

[merrill77]

Any suggestions on a good (reddish-to-orangish)-brown stain that looks good on hickory?

If you want to emphasize the pore pattern, then use a pigment stain. Otherwise use a dye.

Any suggestions on filling the pores?

Typically this is only done for tabletops where you want a really fine finish. That said, I've used Behlens Pore-O-Pac with good results.

I am still unsure how I will go for the final finish. Oil and wax is an option. Poly is another choice. I've had good luck with shellac in the past. Any thoughts on final finish for a birch and hickory piece?

Shellac is my go-to finish for anything that won't see water contact. Easy to apply, easy to repair and pretty durable.

My #1 advice: before putting brush to wood - practice, practice, practice!

 

[bluedawg76]

That's a nice looking cabinet Steve!

I finished a small hickory cabinet recently and I would recommend gel stains. Here is a picture of the cabinet:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showphoto.php?photo=57928
.

 

[MarvinWatkins]

Nice cabinet, Steve. Thanks for the info.

 

[MarvinWatkins]

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

I actually found that I have some Bartley Pecan Gel Stain in my shop. I am going to give that a try on some scrap to see how it comes out.

I will post some WIP pics as we go.

 

[Jeff]

TransTint dyes don't obscure the grain like pigment or gel stains. They also don't cause blotchiness like pigment stains, but the blotch is much less with a gel stain because it just sets on the surface and doesn't penetrate.

TransTint #6003 may be a good one that meets your color requirement. It can also be applied as a toner to give a bit of color without being overpowering.

http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com/htdocs/TransTint.htm

+1 to shellac. Poly is a PITA and an absolute b...h to repair without sanding the entire surface, not just a scuff and go.

Consider Waterlox "Original" Sealer/Finish. Easy to apply, durable, and easy to repair when needed.

http://www.waterlox.com/

 

[MarvinWatkins]

So I thought I would post an updated photo and an interesting twist the girls threw at me.

First the pic...

Now for the interesting twist. I plan on finishing this where you get to enjoy the look of the WOOD in the project. I am going to put a Bartley Peacan Gel Stain on the drawer fronts and trim for contrast and then take some your suggestions for the finish. However, my daughter has informed me that she plans on painting some part or all of it...:confused_

Well, I am making it for them... but I would like to make it easy on me when they get tired of their 'paint job' and want to take it back to WOOD again.

So, if you wanted to plan to have to strip off a latex paint sometime down the road, what kind of 'under' finish would you use.

Hopefully, I can get them to just do little flowers or something other than a full cover-up paint job. :tinysmile_cry_t:

 

[bluedawg76]

Personally, I'd rather rebuild it than strip it b/c I strongly dislike stripping and much prefer sawing. Just a thought, but anyway, find out first which parts will be painted b/c there's no sense in staining/finishing those parts unless of course it's just some cute flowers overlaying the finish. Remember, to remove the paint, you'll have to strip it back to bare wood and remove any underlying stain. If it will be painted, I'd use dewaxed shellac -1.5-2lb cut to seal the wood and not allow the paint to penetrate and stain it. Zinnser sells a product at the borg as a shellac based seal coat, which should be just what you're looking for. Make sure you get the dewaxed version! It will also help the painted surface feel much smoother and require less primer/ paint.

Here's the stuff at Rockler, but they should have it at the local borg as well.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10310

Sam

 

[Canuck]

How about a coat or two of the Seal-Coat dewaxed shellac, stain and finish the "money wood" and then offer to put some nice wallpaper over the drawer fronts so they can paint on that with something like watercolors.:wsmile:

Then when its time...............just peel off the wallpaper and complete the finish.

May would work!?:dontknow::dontknow:

Wayne..................(who is just waiting for a request from a daughter who requested an ebony finish over nice RSRO on her coffee and end table!:swoon

 

[Jeff]

An excellent opportunity to school the daughters in the beauty of real wood without paint. Maybe try some scrap pieces with finish applied and some scraps with paint for an ugly contrast?

They may say "yuck, that's ugly", but you don't know which they'll choose! :icon_scra

 

[merrill77]

If you don't fill the pores, there is no way you'll get all the paint out without taking off a layer of wood.

 

[MarvinWatkins]

I'm with you all. I hope I can convince them to appreciate the wood. But I think a good layer of shellac may be in order. I will keep you all posted!

 

[MarvinWatkins]

Last night I put in the devider for the drawers, the drawer and shelf runners/guides. I set all the brads, filled and sanded. I also had to finish filling a big gouge on the bottom of the sliding shelf that no one will ever see (in normal operation).

Unfortunately, I used wood putty/filler from the BORG that comes in a little yellow tube. Now my project looks like it has a case of the Orange Pox!!!

I am hoping a little more sanding and maybe some cleaning will help resolve the pox. Argh!!!

If it doesn't, I guess the girls paint job might not be such a bad idea:cry_smile