Making new oak match old

[shingwell]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone here can give me some tips on staining/colouring/waxing some new oak repairs to a staircase to approximately match the old. The old is what I would describe as the same finish as most georgan-era oak furniture ie. quite dark (and the original parts of the staircase probably dates from the same era).

I have been experimenting on offcuts with Liberion spirit wood stain (Dark Oak) and Coloron wood stain (Jacobean Oak), both 3 coats so far, finished with Liberion Black Bison wax polish (dark oak). The latter gives the right finish in terms of sheen and texture, but the colour still isn't dark enough.

I have some modern oak furniture that has the right colour so it's obviously possible. Do I just need more coats or is there a different stain to use?

Thanks in advance!

 

[worms]

The new furniture might have been fumed with ammonia (for technique see http://www.codesmiths.com/shed/workshop/techniques/oakfuming/ ) might be difficult to achieve by this method if the repairs are already in-situ.

 

[Carol]

Shellac gave a dark appearance to a 'new' beam which we had put in a few years ago.

Although we were advised not to try to conceal it as it was an 'honest' repair.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Welcome to the forum Shingwell.

Give it 250 years and you won't be able to tell the difference in the new and old oak! I think Carol's remark about visible "honest" repairs is a very good one, although I can understand wanting a staircase to match in a way we are happy for spliced beams not to.

 

[shingwell]

Thanks for your comments. The new bits, which include some replacements for missing spindles, are not yet in-situ.

I'm not trying to pretend the repairs are not what they are or older than they are, just trying to get a closer colour match (it will be obvious which the new bits are anyway because they don't have 250 years of knocks, dents and chips. I'm not intending to try and artificially "age" the new bits as they would look just that - artificial.) I have several pieces of old furniture that have had repairs in the past and it's obvious that's what they are, but the colouring is a better match than I have achieved so far.

I really just wanted confirmation from someone that I am on the right lines. That ammonia fuming link looks interesting, thanks; I might give that a go on some offcuts.

 

[Penners]

I agree with Carol and Wiggy. The new bits are new and the old bits are old. In a few dozen years the new bits will be old(er), but meanwhile, enjoy being able to see the bits that you have added to the house. It's immensely satisfying.

 

[Tom]

I used a heat gun on some of mine. Just keep flashing it over until you get a nice dark colour. Obvioulsly not to the point of smouldering, though!!!

Jaqy

 

[masochists-r-us]

I would suggest you use Van Dyke crystals which I believe are made from walnut shells. Just mix them with water approx 1:20 leave 24 hours to develop and apply to a test piece of wood. Add more or less water as required or add additional coats to increase depth of colour.When you are happy you have the right shade, cover with two coats of shellac to seal the colour in and finally wax polish.However, whilst you will get a good and natural looking result, you will lose some of the glorious oak grain by doing this so I would suggest less is more. Good thing with this stuff is that it is water soluble so if you add too much colour you can usually wipe it off and start again unlike with other stains.Best of luck. Post a piccie of the finshed article if you can.