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Do I apply the expresso stain followed by a clear coat or do I stain and add some of the stain to the clear.
The cabinets are maple and there is only a hint of the wood grain.
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Got any close up pictures? W/o seeing it up close I'd guess it was done with stain followed by clear coat. If you can spray, look at Sherwin Williams BAC Wiping Stains. You can get deep, uniform color in one application. Amazing stuff. You have to spray a sealer over it, however, no wiping or brushing allowed until it's sealed. Go to your local SW's and ask them for a brochure. They can custom mix any color for you if one of the stock colors isn't quite right.
John
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+1 for John. You will get the best match if you can take a door of and take it with you—although they do a very good job from a cell phone.
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John, would you start with 1/2# shellac since it's maple? You recommend spraying the wiping stain, does it need thinning? Then what clear coat would your recommend?
JR, that's great advice to take the door into SW, they are very good at matching color from the actual example.
Not trying to high-jack, just clarifying. I'm trying to learn more about finishing and technique too.
Joel
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Sorry, I wasn't recommending spraying the stain. What I tried to say is that you have to spray the sealer coat over the stain once it's dry. BAC Wiping Stain has almost no binder in it, so if you try to wipe or brush anything over it it pulls up pretty easily and can leave a muddy mess. The stain goes on great with a foam brush, and it's amazing how far a quart of this stuff goes. The only caution is to stir it often to keep the solids suspended.
1/2 # shellac first? I would try it on scrap w/o that first and see how it looks before I did that. I used it on cherry w/o any sealer under it and had very, very little blotching. You definitely need to practice with this stuff. It dries much more quickly than typical oil based stains. I've used it 3 times now and found I needed to start wiping it off just about as soon as I finished applying it to a good sized panel. For small parts, one or two minutes wait time is enough.
Give it go. I think you'll be impressed with the intensity and clarity of the BAC Wiping Stains. And definitely take the part you want to match and several raw, sanded samples with you to SW. I spent about 45 minutes once with the tech. there to get a color just right. We started with a standard color and made three adjustments to it until the color and hue matched just right. There was no additional charge to do it either.
Also, you can add Transtint dye to these stains if you still need to tweak the color. Put one part of Transtint dye in four parts acetone and then pour that mixture into the stain.
John
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I'm doing it right now with black over oak. Espresso is also available.
I am using General Finishes black "milk paint". Applied with a foam brush with two coats it leaves a totally even and brush mark-free finish.
I then topcoated with clear semi-gloss. Over black I used Minwax oil based poly in semi-gloss. I tried satin but it looked awful over the black.
The milk paint applies beautifully but the matte finish scuffs easily so you do need to put on a top coat. But the color goes on flawlessly. I tried Sherwin-Williams best black finish and it did not do nearly as well.
I would get a small can (they sell pints) of espresso and give it a try.
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In production that finish would likely be obtained by:
1) background NGR stain - sprayed
2) wipe stain
3) toner (tinted sealer)
4) sand
5) clear topcoat
The steps may be adjusted depending on the manufacturers process and just how much grain they want to be visible. For example, some like to tone with the topcoat, some like to "lock in" the toner with another coat before sanding etc. It can be done many ways but multiple stain steps are definitely necessary to get it that dark.
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I don't disagree that that process may be typical but you can sometimes get really dark colors in one step. I built these dressers a couple of years ago from rift sawn white oak. I used SW's BAC Wiping Stain, applied with a foam brush and wiped off after only a minute or so. Sealcoat sealer and then 3 clear top coats.
I'm sure it wouldn't have worked that well on something like hard maple, nor would I even have tried that approach, but with some woods you can make it really dark in one step.
John
