# Antique Black Stain



## Goldfinger (Aug 17, 2010)

Hi-

I am having someone make a plate holder for a wall. I would to like have what looks like a "antique black" finish on it. From a distance it looks black but when you get up close to it you can see areas of reddish brown on it , which leads me to believe it is some type of really dark brown stain or some another type of dark stain. I see this same type of staining on antique reproductions of cabinets, plate holders, desks,etc

Can someone tell me how to get that same type of stain as I described?

I am enclosing a couple attachments of another plate holder to give you an idea of what I am talking about.

Thanks

GF


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## wdkits1 (Jan 16, 2009)

Hi GF
During my work in the furniture repair and refinishing business I have to match the colors of antique furniture. Most of the time it is hard to use the commercial off the shelf stains to get good color matches so now I use Transtint dyes. You can mix the different colors to achieve all of the shades with a little experimentation. I have had to match the antique black with the red tinge on quite a few pieces by mixing 3 parts black walnut with 1 part red mahogany with 20 parts denatured alcohol. The good thing about using dyes is that you can add more coats until you get the tone that you are looking for.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

What I am seeing here is a red base coat and a thin black coat on top. The black is thick enough to hide the red but yet thin enough that 320 or 400 grit paper will wear right through it. When you get it where you want it, give it a clear coat for protection against further wearing through. The sheen level is irrelevant as far as the technique goes so apply any sheen you like.


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## Rick Mosher (Feb 26, 2009)

I agree with Tony. It is a red base coat with a thin black colored paint sprayed over it and then sanded or scuffed with a scotch brite pad to reveal the red in some areas. I like to rub an aging glaze over the whole thing after scuffing, (Gilsonite is my favorite aging glaze) I then top coat with a dead flat finish and rub and burnish wax on the high spots when dry. These are some covered wagon wheels I refinished for a conference table we built in Reno.


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