# Matching stain on pine.



## Lesrace82 (Jun 14, 2010)

I built a new night stand for my wife, to match our existing bed room set. Took one of the original drawer fronts in to match up with the display colors and found one that matched almost spot on, but stained up a practice piece with just one coat of stain and one coat of Poly on top. The sample piece color is lighter than the original night stand. Not sure if more coats of the stain would darken it up enough?

My question is if the wood on the display is aged and my bed room set is 8 years old they could have darkened to the same shade. How long would it take for the new piece to darken to match up? Does it get to a point that pine stops darkening so its not always trying to catch up to the older pieces? Or do I just go darker on the new piece and hope it doesn't go too dark with time?

Thanks in advance, Ill get a picture of the difference up tomorrow.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

*Color Matching*



Lesrace82 said:


> .... Took one of the original drawer fronts in to match up with the display colors and found one that matched almost spot on......*Display colors are close to useless when trying to match an existing color. The color you get on your work piece is largely dependent on the type of wood you are using and that particular piece. More coats of stain will darken the piece somewhat but usually not much after the initial staining. If you want darker, leave the stain on longer before you wipe it off.* Tony B
> ..... How long would it take for the new piece to darken to match up? No tellin'. *Darkening from age has to do with amount of sunlight and air the wood has been exposed to.* Tony B
> 
> Does it get to a point that pine stops darkening so its not always trying to catch up to the older pieces? Or do I just go darker on the new piece and hope it doesn't go too dark with time? *When it comes to matching, don't even think about 'catching up'. Not only is the wood darkening but the finish is also aging.* Tony B
> ...


Keep in mind that the furniture manufacturer is not using the same kind of stain that you are using. More than likely they are tiniting the finish without even staining or dying the wood. The best thing you can do is to use the same type of wood that the manufacturer used and make a bunch of sample strips - final sanded and all. Then test out with different stains while keeping the drawer fronts with you for comparison. Oftentimes (wow, that sounds cool) I use several stains and not by mixing them but by layering them. Lay down the closest stain you can find and examing the pieces. Then determine for example that it needs more yellow, so look for a stain with yellow in it such as a golden oak and put this on top. Now it needs to be darker so add the next layer of dark walnut and so on. 
Make sure you write down what you are using so you can duplicate the process. This whole procedure can be accomplished in the paint department in probaly 15 minutes with a total of no more than 2 or 3 stains. 
After your piece is stained by layering, any final 'adjustments' to color can be done by tinting the finish. This is where lacquer products really do their thing, but it still can be accomplished with other finishes.
Another thing to keep in mind is that unless a furniture set is really dark most pieces dont match eachother exactly either. This is the nature of wood. Within an individual species even the density and grain pattern affect the color. All you can hope for is 'close enough' and if it is better than close enough, then you are ahead of the game. 
Anyway, look at your furniture set with great scrutiny and you will see the color variations from piece to piece and even the variation in the same board from one end of a dresser top to the other.


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## H. A. S. (Sep 23, 2010)

Tony said it all, about the "Test Strips". Experiment!


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## tom427cid (Mar 23, 2009)

Tony said it all,particularly the concept of "layering".
tom


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## Lesrace82 (Jun 14, 2010)

Thank you for the replies, gives me something else to look in to.


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