Try it on scraps of both woods before you start finishing the whole piece. Hand sanding with the grain is the best way to massage this hardwood into bringing out its beautiful grain, working with progressively finer grits of sandpaper as you go. Varying a drop as you add the dye to the shellac is not going to create a significant difference in the final look of the finish, but try to keep each batch consistent. Walnut takes dyes and stains very nicely. I was most interested in your suggestion as it seemed very doable for this project. Spray an even, wet coat of lacquer on the wood. Products used: I am preparing a sample door in black walnut with a veneer center panel. However, I found that a 50/50 mix of Minwax Special Walnut and Dark Walnut applied after necessary sanding, using an old cotton T-shirt, was nice. Hi all, Nearing completion on my first-ever project, a black walnut slab coffee table with an ash base: 247050 I'm just starting to read up on finishing (purchased Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner) and am leaning towards using wiping varnish on the slab, probably the same on the ash base. I also have an inexpensive gravity fed pot gun for applying WB SNW stains. Sand to 320. November 14, 2009. I've never done black walnut, and the WB finish doesn't really enhance grain the way solvent does, so for this special project, I'd like to know if there is something I can use to enrich the wood and help it pop. Question You are using a spray and wipe stain, *and* a dye? I'm getting the materials together to try Paul's suggestion of pre-treating with diluted oil-based poly. Spray final topcoat. Fuhr 155 spray dye stain However, this does not impact our recommendations. Discussion Starter • #1 • Oct 20, 2016. Then wipe off the excess and let it dry. I'm very ignorant of stains and dyes, as we try to encourage people to choose a wood that is naturally a color they like (or enhanced with glazes), hence using black walnut instead of a dark stained oak or painted cabinets. As I understood the job, it required slicing up 10/4 walnut lumber into a fairly complex geometry, sanding them mirror smooth and then routing a recess for the brass plaque. I had always thought you weren't supposed to sand raw wood finer than about 180 grit when staining. Contributor B, I want to compliment you on the beautiful photos you posted! Any suggestions practical for a room-sized project? So could you tell a little bit about why you take the steps you do in your schedule? Forum Responses This will be my first time working with it, so I thought id ask you guys for any tips or advise in regards to sanding/finishing. By Glen D. Huey. The appearance is only slightly different – but different nevertheless. More about how I finished that in “Part 1” > The solid walnut top, above, is a slightly different story. We've been using WB finishes for about 6-7 years now. Walnut can have some amazing grain patterns that, while quite dark, can be extremely attractive when finished properly. The local Sherwin-Williams store suggested pre-treating with their neutral stain base, untinted. 2.) 8.) You could always use lacquer on the base if you want a completely clear finish on it. Im about to begin a project using some beautiful american black walnut i purchased. I use a lot of walnut in my woodworking and I have problems getting all of the sanding marks out of it. Here is mahogany after topcoats. We had some older scraps around from another source that has a warmer brown tone, both on the finished and unfinished sides. We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. The fruit (nut) is often eaten as a food. Waited 24 hours, then took a cotton rag soaked in mineral spirits and wrung out real well, then lightly wiped off any excess pigment. Thin it with 2 parts naphtha or mineral spirits to one part finish. I'm concerned about yellowing though. Buy red, blue, yellow and black water-soluble dye powder and custom mix a sapwood. Warm browns and orange-ish browns look good on the steam dried walnut. The nut, the shell of the nut (hull), and the leaf are sometimes used to make medicine. 3.) Dust Collection, Safety and Plant Operation, Job Opportunities and Woodworking Services, A detailed discussion on staining kiln-dried Walnut. 0. Overview Information Black walnut is a tree. 1 coat of spray dye stain to help pop figure and get even color. I like to use the fast dry poly from the local home center because it's cheap and really does dry fast. A local bank needed about 60 blocks of black walnut machined to hold brass name plaques for its big muckety-mucks. Hold the gun 8 inches from the walnut at a 30-degree angle. You just have to work fast and wet the entire surface quickly to avoid overlap marks. I've had the same success with walnut. Spray and wipe stain. You can get a water-reducible dye that's lightfast (resists fading) and apply it by spray and wipe or by hand using a wetted cloth. I have a couple of questions after reading your schedule. The black walnut I've been working with has topped out buttery smooth at either 200 or 220 at a final sanding working up from 80 on a random orbit and palm. 7.) The first step to showing off these grain patterns is to sand the wood properly. Wipe door with damp clean rag to pre-raise the grain. Sounds like the walnut you have is steam dried, which washes out a lot of the color (like the piece on the right in the picture below). The clear oil-base finish will pop the color, figure, and grain in the wood pretty good and once it dries completely, you can topcoat it with the waterborne finish without any problems. Tung oil varnish can be used by itself, and then buffed to a semi-gloss or satin sheen with paste wax after 3 or 4 coats. Two full coats of top coats back to back with no sanding in between 4-5ml. With all large projects, you want your steps and techniques to be easy and repeatable over large and numerous surfaces. How would you suggest applying the diluted poly? That's a pretty good sized piece to get a consistent wet edge if you go with shellac, but I'm not the finish expert. This finish gives walnut a dark yet warm color, and if you choose to apply it by wet-sanding, this too can fill the grain as above. Home / Techniques / Finishing Walnut. Lightly sand with 400 to knock down fur. Looking back, I even believe that is what happened in our shop many years ago when we sanded red oak with 220 grit before staining (this was all solvent based products). It is solvent based, but can be sprayed with WB coatings within 2 hours. 72 Posts . For this particular project, im going for a somewhat modern look, dark, smooth and glossy. Self sealing topcoat thinned 5-10% sprayed around 2ml. After that, you can use whatever protective finishing you like, but that'll pop the grain all you'd like. I never soaked or applied too much, just a nice even coat. It takes a lot more sanding than any other wood. Finishing Walnut. From Paul Snyder, forum technical advisor: If you were working with air dried walnut that had good coloring, then you could just use a coat of highly thinned fast drying oil-base varnish or polyurethane like a stain on the bare wood before topcoating with the WB. I'd like our current project to have a similar brown/black tone possibly. We gradually adjusted the color of the dye by adding drops of blue and black to reach the purplish gray hue of kiln-dried walnut. Target Coatings Emtech 2000 clear. 5.) The piece on the left is an example. I am preparing a sample door in black walnut with a veneer center panel. I'm not adverse to taking a solvent step to start, if it will enhance the end product. Posted October 2, 2008. 9.) Too fine of sanding was supposed to close off the grain and cause the stain to pool on top instead of penetrating. Freshly planed, this wood has an overall greyish look. 6.) Additional info if needed: I'm using a Kremlin air-assisted airless with #6 tip. In Techniques. Sand with 400 or de-nib with maroon pad if grain didn't raise too much. The Minwax clear poly, to me, let plenty of detail come through and didn't darken, just highlighted. 1.) It's easy to apply and is very water protective. You can even add an overall burnt umber glaze after the first coat of finish for added effect and to enhance the grain. The money spent on the black walnut is offset by what I'd charge them for staining. Waterlox original sealer/finish usually gives a very nice finish to walnut. We've been using WB finishes for about 6-7 years now. I'm not trying to mimic the yellowing effect of oil-based finishes (that's the main reason we switched to WB), just bring out any shimmer and enhance the grain and not add a greyish cast. 4.) Walnut door: I've never done black walnut, and the WB finish doesn't really enhance grain the way solvent does, so for this special project, I'd like to know if there is something I can use to enrich the wood and help it pop. Fuhr 165 spray wipe stain For additional color and depth, add 1/2 - 1 ounce of the dye to your second coat of finish and spray that evenly over the first coat after it's sanded smooth. Since the ash base is dyed black and glazed with a gray stain for a unique look, I put that in a separate tutorial.