# making light wood dark



## thespirals (Jan 25, 2008)

hi, i'm a total newbie with this.
i'm taking a furniture class at a junior college, and they have a large supply of pine. i want to make a frame that ends up being a like a dark umber color. i couldn't find walnut anywhere in my area, so can i turn the pine to this dark color i want when i finish it? how should i do this...should i stain it? what products could i use?


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## jerry (Nov 1, 2006)

If you want walnut you should use walnut. Pine is difficult to color with pigment stain only. You could dye ,seal,glaze,and top coat to get close to the color you you want but it still won't look like or wear like walnut.

Regards

Jerry


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## cibula11 (Feb 14, 2008)

Walnut can be expensive, especially compared to pine. You can buy sample stains and use a small piece to experiment with before you try it on your project. Ebony stain is pretty dark. Oak is another choice that would take stain well, but be cheaper than walnut.


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## [email protected] (Dec 28, 2007)

*Darkening Wood*

Hi thespirals, You've asked a good question, dark wood like walnut are getting expensive and hard to find. They generally have more oil in them and are hard to glue without treatment, so it isn't a bad idea to glue first if it's pine now. Not stain, but dye is good because it will preserve the grain texture better. A good source is TransFast, a water-soluable Powdered Dye, it doesn't take much, and though it looks expensive, see what the mix ratios are and you'll be amazed. I use a tight sponge for application, but a rag, or Brush works well too, however, with a sponge I wipe as I apply. Woodcrafters is where I get mine. Good luck, It goes through the wood a 1/4 of an inch.:smile: sltuttle


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## area123 (Jan 9, 2008)

If you use minwax prestain conditioner and a gel stain you can get pretty good results with soft woods like pine. Although I've never done it on pine, I've done it on birch plywood and it looks very good. 

Walnut would not be that $$ for a picture frame, even at $6/ft you couldn't need more than a couple feet for a nice frame. And it is so nice to work and not have to worry about the finish, walnut will finish well w/ just about any topcoat.


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