Best wood to stain out of this group

[pghmyn]

Allow me to add:
I do not require an exact match to the pictured stain above. However, if I can achieve something relatively dark with the gel stain and shellac method, I will be extremely happy!

 

[tiralie]

I want to find a good species of wood to work with and make some small-time "production" items like shelves and such. I am looking for the best species that will be easiest to finish. I have narrowed down a few choices by price at my hardwood dealer.

These are all "select & better" prices.

Poplar $2.00/BF
Soft Maple $2.00/BF
Red Oak $2.35/BF
Ash $2.14/BF
White Pine $3.15/BF

So, if I was to go with one of these species, which would be the easiest to apply a finish at the end?

I would use maple and a dye if spraying.
From the sample you provided it doesn't appear to be much grain coming through you don't need to glaze or tone unless you want to.
As always make a sample or step panel on a sample with the worst grain/color changes.
I you are using a water borne dye or wipe on/gel, you will need to spray a seal coat as a brush will pick up some of the color. If you don't have a spray system you can buy aerosol cans with clear finish.
If you are not spraying use a wipe on gel stain after spritz/spraying with distilled water and a light sanding.
If you use a dye, you won't need to condition the wood. I would use dye and spritz a wet coat (not flooded) with the appropriate color and then seal. I would recommend that you spray a sealer over a water borne stain because brushing will pick up some of the stain making the final color lighter and or blotchy.
Tim

 

[tiralie]

Have to purchase the wood tomorrow, so will report back soon with my progress. Thank you for the help

What's a fair price ballpark for this shelf? I'm not looking to strike it rich, but to make enough money over time to cover new tools as they are needed

Unless you are adding value (redesigning, solid wood, better finish etc.) I will assume you are copying this piece and therefore you cannot charge more than what a retailer would charge plus delivery.
In other words, the market price is set by the retailer of the original unit.
Tim

 

[Scott B.]

Tim,

I agree, wb dye stain on maple (or just about anything) can be spectacular. Not sure I would recommend it here if he has never used dyes and is not proficient with spraying. I have brushed it though, you have to fly, but if you can saturate, it can be pretty wild. Still, the mix and everything has to be right.

The Old Masters gel stain (oil) is pretty forgiving, and can just be wiped. Maybe just stab a chip brush into the corners, but thats it. Wipe on wipe off. It is an exercise in thorough wiping, but is pretty easy. In our recent Apollo hvlp video, we stained all that antique oak exactly that way. Sanding sealer isn't required, or even desirable, as a preliminary seal coat. The gel doesnt penetrate much (compared to dye or pennies) and can be manipulated. It is very stinky though.

 

[pghmyn]

Have to purchase the wood tomorrow, so will report back soon with my progress. Thank you for the help

What's a fair price ballpark for this shelf? I'm not looking to strike it rich, but to make enough money over time to cover new tools as they are needed

Unless you are adding value (redesigning, solid wood, better finish etc.) I will assume you are copying this piece and therefore you cannot charge more than what a retailer would charge plus delivery.
In other words, the market price is set by the retailer of the original unit.
Tim

Which is funny, because I thought their price of $160 was a bit high. Also, considering the piece is probably not all solid wood.

I went to my hardwood dealer today and picked up 19.50 BF of 4/4 Soft Maple. Very clear grain, and the boards are very straight (they are actually S2S skip planed to 7/8). I cut the boards to some very rough sizes and stickered them to allow acclimation in my shop for the next week before planing and final cuts.

I paid $40.99 (including tax) for the whole bunch, and I will get 2 full size shelves out of this purchase. With a possibility of something smaller.

I went with Soft Maple because I did not like the in-stock Ash they had on hand.

 

[tiralie]

Not sure I would recommend it here if he has never used dyes and is not proficient with spraying.

Scott:
Yes, I agree, it might be an exercise in frustration if you're not comfortable spraying. Looking at the photograph, it looks like a wipe on gel stain would get closer to the "look".

Tim

 

[HandyAndy]

I use alot of maple and found over the years to stay away from minwax stains, I am now using Mohawk stains and finishes which seem to give me consistant results regardless of the weather(hot, cold, dry humid days).  The most important thing I have found it to make sure every thing is sanded to the same final type and grit of paper.  I will go one grit finer on endgrain like the top and bottom of raised panels.  To achieve dark colors I stop at 120 or 150. 

 

[nehardwoodfloors]

Tim,

I agree, wb dye stain on maple (or just about anything) can be spectacular. Not sure I would recommend it here if he has never used dyes and is not proficient with spraying. I have brushed it though, you have to fly, but if you can saturate, it can be pretty wild. Still, the mix and everything has to be right.

The Old Masters gel stain (oil) is pretty forgiving, and can just be wiped. Maybe just stab a chip brush into the corners, but thats it. Wipe on wipe off. It is an exercise in thorough wiping, but is pretty easy. In our recent Apollo hvlp video, we stained all that antique oak exactly that way. Sanding sealer isn't required, or even desirable, as a preliminary seal coat. The gel doesnt penetrate much (compared to dye or pennies) and can be manipulated. It is very stinky though.

The Dye Stains do look awesome on maple or pine. I tried out dark brown on my oak floor with unfavorable results. Like you said you have to MOVE when using it. It turned out a bit blotchy(much like aniline dye). Def. made for smaller sized peices of furniture, not floors.

 

[Scott B.]

E-O

Yes, it would be really challenging to use dye stain on a floor. I would only do it on a prefinishing basis, which I have.

In general, I try to reserve dye stain for higher end cabinet work. Here is a shot from the shop of part of a cherry bar project we did in 2010 using wb dye through hvlp and air assisted. It sprays so well because its basically the consistency of water, and wood really grabs it on contact.

[attachimg=#]

 

[tiralie]

I would only do it on a prefinishing basis, which I have.

What do you mean on a prefinishing basis?

Here is a shot from the shop of part of a cherry bar project we did in 2010 using wb dye through hvlp and air assisted. It sprays so well because its basically the consistency of water, and wood really grabs it on contact.

Looks great Scott! Why did you have to use the air assisted to apply the dye or are you referring to the top coat?
BTW, nice saw horses. I built the same with out the lower support/shelf. Real handy for finishing.

 

[Scott B.]

I would only do it on a prefinishing basis, which I have.

What do you mean on a prefinishing basis?

Here is a shot from the shop of part of a cherry bar project we did in 2010 using wb dye through hvlp and air assisted. It sprays so well because its basically the consistency of water, and wood really grabs it on contact.

Looks great Scott! Why did you have to use the air assisted to apply the dye or are you referring to the top coat?
BTW, nice saw horses. I built the same with out the lower support/shelf. Real handy for finishing.

Thanks Tim

About every 2 or 3 years, we do a floor. It only works with the most meticulous of carpenters, but we have done some stunning prefinished floors on high end projects, where we take the floor into our shop as raw stock, do all prelim sanding and edge breaking, and apply stain and clears (minus the final clear, which happens post install). Thats the only way I would do a dye stained floor.

On the bar project, yes, the aaa was for the clear coats. It was a very large projects with a "front" and "back" bar, and the back had full uppers and lowers, lots of doors, drawers, shelves and wine rack, and there was an entire entertainment ctr to match. So, I was doing lots of batch work and the job justified purchasing my first aaa back for the clears, which I am glad I did.

I do like those horses, but they are a bit heavy. Speaking of, we just did a redesing/build on our wooden shop drying racks this week. Fun and practical project. Eliminated about 100 lbs of hardware by doing some bulk boring.

 

[Scott B.]

Not sure if I have posted this before, but this is the bar.

[attachimg=#]

 

[fastbike]

Oak doesn't blotch, or need a conditioner.

For the OP, the Maple will work well provided a dye stain is used instead of a pigment stain.

Red oak

A wood conditioner should be used to prevent blotching. Good luck.
Use scrap pieces first as a test run.

[big grin]

 

[tiralie]

Oak doesn't blotch, or need a conditioner.

For the OP, the Maple will work well provided a dye stain is used instead of a pigment stain.

Welcome to FOG fastbike!
Tim

 

[pghmyn]

Oak doesn't blotch, or need a conditioner.

For the OP, the Maple will work well provided a dye stain is used instead of a pigment stain.

Red oak

A wood conditioner should be used to prevent blotching. Good luck.
Use scrap pieces first as a test run.

[big grin]

My plan was to use shellac first, then a couple coats of a gel stain. Unless I could be convinced otherwise.

 

[thebicyclecafe]

Oak doesn't blotch, or need a conditioner.

For the OP, the Maple will work well provided a dye stain is used instead of a pigment stain.

Red oak

A wood conditioner should be used to prevent blotching. Good luck.
Use scrap pieces first as a test run.

[big grin]

My plan was to use shellac first, then a couple coats of a gel stain. Unless I could be convinced otherwise.

I've done this before and it works fine on cherry, birch, and maple. The red oak and ash should be easiest to stain without much pre-stain work. Ultimately, what kind of grain do you want the pieces to have? Red oak has a very pronounced open pore surface pattern, along with very, very obvious growth rings, that will only darken considerably with stain. If using a gel stain, the open pores will also pick up more of the stain and become more pronounced as well.

 

[tiralie]

My plan was to use shellac first, then a couple coats of a gel stain. Unless I could be convinced otherwise.

Why would you use shellac first? What's the intended affect?
Tim

 

[pghmyn]

My plan was to use shellac first, then a couple coats of a gel stain. Unless I could be convinced otherwise.

Why would you use shellac first? What's the intended affect?
Tim

From what I understand, the shellac seals the wood evenly (such as Maple in this case) so the gel stain can sit on the surface without blotching.

I learned it from this video:

 

[thebicyclecafe]

My plan was to use shellac first, then a couple coats of a gel stain. Unless I could be convinced otherwise.

Why would you use shellac first? What's the intended affect?
Tim

Typically you'd do this on a wood that tends to blotch- alder, maple, cherry, birch as a type of pre-stain conditioner. I use a 1 lb cut washcoat for this, but even then it's a bit more work than I'd like. The only woods I'll stain nowadays are red oak and ash.

 

[tiralie]

From what I understand, the shellac seals the wood evenly (such as Maple in this case) so the gel stain can sit on the surface without blotching.

I learned it from this video

Ok, got it. I thought you were going to apply the shellac at full strength, which would almost seal the surface of the wood.
I believe you (and Marc in his video)  are referring to a wash coat, which is why I was confused and thought you were trying to achieve some other effect (glazing or toning, etc.).
Tim