The funny thing about woodworkers is they typically have very decided tastes on which woods they like. . . . and even more decided tastes on which woods they don’t like! We debated which six species should be the “guinea pig” samples for the coloring processes presented in this book and decided upon maple, quartersawn white oak, mahogany, walnut, cherry and alder. These woods are probably the most consistently popular with woodworkers across the country and across a variety of design styles.
Now there are a few considerations in choosing a coloring treatment for wood.
Three of the species in this book—oak, mahogany and walnut—are open-grained woods, which means that no matter how highly sanded they are, there will still be open crevices in the wood so that when finish is applied, there will not be a glass-like smoothness and sheen to it. If you were to run your fingernail across (rather than with) the grain pattern, you will find that it catches in the crevices. This feature expands the choices you have in ways to color your wood—for example, you can do grain filling!
Another aspect of wood to take into account is how UV stable it is. Over time, wood either lightens or darkens to varying degrees as it is exposed to light and polishes. Wood does not necessarily have to be in direct sunlight for these color changes to occur. The aging process that shifts the color of the wood is called patination. You may have heard of someone referring to an antique piece of furniture as having a “beautiful patina.” This means that the wood has developed a deeper, richer coloration that imparts a sense of history. Even the tones on the simplest of woods—such as pine, for example—will become heartily enhanced over time through patination. Chemicals and natural dyes will instantly lend a patinated effect to wood.
Mahogany, cherry and walnut are relatively quick to patinate—with mahogany and cherry going darker and walnut lightening over time. Oak, alder and maple are the most UV stable in this group of six. Consequently oak, alder and maple tend to patinate more slowly but they all do eventually darken as they age. Chemicals and dyes will not prevent lightening or darkening from occurring. Therefore, you should always consider the background color of the wood and in which direction it will patinate over time in choosing a coloring process—and in deciding how strong to make your formula.
One of the most prized features in wood is when it has chatoyance. This refers to a radiant, shimmering effect in which undulating rays of light seem to ripple across the grain, and these rays appear and disappear depending on the angle from which you view the wood. Chatoyance is amplified with chemicals and dyes, but deadened with stains because the pigments in stains trap the light.
The downside of some woods is that they are prone to blotching. Even though they are closed-grained woods, cherry and maple will have varying densities within their cell structure which means that these species will absorb liquid unevenly. This leads to notably darker patches in what is referred to as the “softer” part of the wood.
Some people think blotching adds a more “real” look to the wood, highlighting its character. And then there are others who regard blotching as a disappointing mistake.
Fortunately there is no shortage of advice on how to prevent it. The blotch issue provokes as much passion amongst woodworkers as the chili issue does amongst cooks. And everyone thinks their way is the best. You can go online to one of the woodworker forums for a range of ideas. The typical way to prevent blotch is to pre-treat your wood with a thinned-down version of your finish coat before applying chemicals or dyes. Brian typically does not pre-seal the wood to prevent blotch if he is applying chemicals or water-based dyes. However, he will do it if he is applying a stain because stains will make blotch much more apparent.
Another issue to consider when coloring wood is the presence of sapwood, which is the newest growth found directly under the bark. Obviously all species have sapwood, but its presence is more visually dramatic in walnut and cherry because sapwood is significantly lighter in color in contrast to the inner, older heartwood. Some woodworkers cut away the sapwood and use it for less visible aspects of a project, like the bottom of a drawer for example.
If sapwood is present on the outside of a project, though, you should know that it will not accept chemicals the same way as heartwood because sapwood does not contain tannins, which is what chemicals react to. (This issue is more thoroughly discussed in the Introduction to Chemicals chapter.) You can always apply a synthetic dye to the sapwood to bring it up to the color of the heartwood, but the heartwood will still patinate over time, while the sapwood will not—so in effect, you are just delaying the inevitable difference in tones that will ultimately prevail.
Of the six wood species featured in the book, alder and mahogany probably undergo the most significant transformation into a richer and more diversely colored wood when chemicals and dyes are applied.
Maple is characterized by its strikingly pale (critics would say boring) tones, subdued grain pattern, and dense pore structure. It is a closed-grain wood, and as it ages, it eventually develops a warmer yellowish patina. However, in the meantime, some people are not keen on maple’s light color and yet they desire its durability. This is where chemicals and dyes make the difference, providing a dramatic and immediate change in the appearance of the wood.
Woodworkers are more attuned to the differences between hard maple and soft maple, but basically hard maple (also called rock maple or sugar maple) is more frequently used for flooring, cutting boards, workbench tops and other things that require a high-density pore structure.
Soft maple is an umbrella term for any maple that is not hard maple—such as big leaf maple, box elder, and red maple for example. While not the workhorse that hard maple is, soft maple is nonetheless quite tough compared to other hardwoods.
Unfortunately, maple does not accept stain well. The pigments in stains lodge more heavily in the softer parts of the wood, which leads to a blotchy look. This is much more apparent with lighter stains. With darker stains, the blotching tends to add a background character.
Oddly enough, the distinguishing feature between red and white oak is not necessarily the color but pore structure. While both are open-grained wood, white oak has much finer pores and an inherently straighter grain pattern. This book features quartersawn white oak.
White oak in particular is also known for its sometimes striking medullary rays (also known as ray fleck or ray flakes)—highly pronounced semi-translucent ribbons of either a lighter or darker color that swim across the overall grain pattern. These medullary rays are greatly enhanced when oak is colored with chemicals—especially with the fuming process.
Well-known designers Gustav Stickley and Frank Lloyd Wright often chose quartersawn white oak as the best fit for their furniture—furniture which now resides in museums or in the homes of collectors with deep pockets. They typically fumed their wood to both darken it and to accentuate the medullary rays.
On the other end of the oak spectrum, flat-sawn red oak has the dubious distinction of being associated with the orangey-stained, coarse-grained kitchen and bathroom cabinetry of the 1970s and 1980s. Often the wood for these cabinets was milled to optimize a log’s yield rather than the lumber’s beauty.
The best way to minimize the jarring effects of mismatched boards and dark-grained cathedrals in this case is to darken the wood with stains. Even though we are not big fans of stains—as you will discover over the course of reading this book!—they are the best solution for improving the look of flat-sawn red oak. This is because the porosity of the wood is very even so it accepts stains well. The other option is to ebonize it.
In addition to its luminous reddish coloration, cherry has two distinctive identifiers. First are the pitch pockets or gum spots. These appear as black streaks of varying short lengths. Also interrupting the grain line are occasional pin knots—tiny dark spots with a mini-whorl of lighter brown encasing them.
Most cherry that is milled today is black cherry. It is widely available across the United States and was commonly used in kitchen and bathroom cabinetry in rural areas of the country.
If, when working on a project, some cherry boards are lighter than others, a quick way to “marry up” the color is to leave the lighter boards out in the sun to darken them.
Cherry is notoriously UV-unstable—its color deepens almost majestically over time. However, a cautionary note is in order. If, for example, you place a cherry table directly in the sun and have a lamp on it, you will discover that the covered wood is notably lighter than the rest!
Like walnut, cherry has sapwood; like maple, it is prone to blotching. Despite these caveats, cherry has an undeniably friendly warmth that is accentuated with the application of chemicals and dyes.
Alder is so similar to cherry that it is sometimes affectionately (and sometimes derisively) referred to by woodworkers as “poor man’s cherry” because you get a surprisingly similar look for a lower price.
The grain pattern of alder can be confusingly similar to cherry, although it tends to generally be more uniform. The dark streaking caused by pitch pockets in cherry is replaced by what look like fine cracks of varying lengths on the face of alder. Both woods have pin knots. Alder is not as prone to blotching as cherry is, although it is more pronounced when coloring with stains as opposed to chemicals or dyes.
However, alder has a more subdued and consistent coloration than cherry. Also, alder weighs less because it is softer and not as dense. Unfortunately, this means it is more susceptible to dents and dings. Another characteristic of alder that distinguishes it from cherry is that it has no sapwood.
Like oak, mahogany also has a history of being both a high end and a low end wood.
Cuban mahogany is hands-down the premium mahogany, but it is no longer available due to extreme over-harvesting. A deep, lustrous coloration and an extremely tight grain pattern made it a prized wood for high-end furniture, particularly Chippendale and French empire.
Honduran mahogany—also known as genuine mahogany, or big leaf, American or Brazilian mahogany—is a somewhat expensive substitute. More commonly available is African mahogany, which can sometimes have an undesirable pinkish cast to it. (There is a dye recipe here for how to neutralize that tone!) “Ribbon-striped mahogany” is an African mahogany that features bands of lighter and darker colors that are best revealed when the wood is quartersawn.
Mahogany imposters include Philippine mahogany (aka lauan), Santos and red mahogany.
You can easily make inexpensive mahogany look like the good Honduran mahogany through the use of chemicals.
Most walnut that’s available in this country is black walnut. A considerably more expensive type of walnut is claro walnut, which features exquisitely deep warm reds, browns, yellows, and maybe even purples swirling alongside each other down the length of a board.
However, usually when we think of walnut, we envision a warm, rich brown hue. This idea of walnut’s coloration is what furniture manufacturers reproduce through stains nowadays when they advertise products made of less expensive woods as having a “walnut finish.”
In truth, though, black walnut can sometimes have a pinkish or grayish cast to it and the depth of its brown color can vary from light brown to an even lighter brown. As a rule, walnut goes lighter over time rather than darker. Applying chemicals and dyes will not prevent this lightening but will make it less noticeable.
African, Caribbean, Patagonian and Brazilian “walnut” (also known as “ipe”) are not true walnuts because they come from a different genus.
Alder
Cherry
Mahogany
Maple
Oak
Walnut
