# Does walnut burl take stain well?



## Tom Lilletveit (May 31, 2018)

I havent been able to find a single picture of burled walnut stained with something else than a brown color. Does it not stain well? I got a piece of burled walnut veneer that is rather light in color. I am thinking of popping the grain with a red dye (or maybe even white, but will try if this works on a scrap piece first). Then sand this down and apply a amber color then i will fether in purple from the sides so i get a purple burst. Is this even possible on burled walnut? I cannot seem to find anyone adding pigments to the wood other than brown or slightly red.


To me it looks like this piece is light enough to take both yellow and purple well.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Yes burl will take a stain but the darker stain you use the less the burl appearance will show. There won't be as much contrast between the light and dark wood in the grain.


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## hawkeye10 (Feb 18, 2015)

Tom, take a look at this video.


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## Tom Lilletveit (May 31, 2018)

hawkeye10 said:


> Tom, take a look at this video.
> 
> Walnut Burl Veneer Box - YouTube



Some good tips there, i had not thought of putting a tape on the veneer before drilling


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

As you can see in the attached picture, you can get pretty dramatic effects by dyeing, then sanding and dyeing a different color. I’ve mostly seen this done on quilted maple and figured maple, but I see no reason why it wouldn’t work on other burls. 

Be aware that your final color will be a combination of the colors you use. Amber over red will get you a somewhat orangish color. Once you have orange, I’m not sure how you would get a purple burst. 

Please report back on your experiments.


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## Tom Lilletveit (May 31, 2018)

Quickstep said:


> As you can see in the attached picture, you can get pretty dramatic effects by dyeing, then sanding and dyeing a different color. I’ve mostly seen this done on quilted maple and figured maple, but I see no reason why it wouldn’t work on other burls.
> 
> Be aware that your final color will be a combination of the colors you use. Amber over red will get you a somewhat orangish color. Once you have orange, I’m not sure how you would get a purple burst.
> 
> Please report back on your experiments.



I apply the amber and purple coat at the same time, first amber then purple right after. The purple is much a darker pigment so i believe it should be fine


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