Walnut Cabinet Finishing Advice

[ShilohWood]

Hello fine, fellow Festoolians!

I'm preparing to initiate a venture to construct a set of cabinets for my bedroom and I was looking to see if I could get any advice as to the finishing process. I'm definitely wanting to achieve a VERY dark finish but I'm not sure as to the sealer that I want. Perhaps like the image attached. Thanks in advance for any help as to achieving that kind of look[emoji4]

 

[Healeyjet]

Shiloh, are you sure you want to apply a stain/colouring product/sealer to the walnut?  It is a beautiful wood with a boiled linseed oil/varnish mixture of which there are probably recipes for lot's online.  The walnut will lighten over time as well which it doesn't sound like a feature you are looking for.  Can I ask why you would be using walnut and then "finishing" it to a very dark colour?  Just trying to get a handle on what you are looking for as an outcome?  Do you need a surface protection to be provided by the finish?  Some more information on your project would be helpful as well.
Ward

 

[ShilohWood]

I'm trying to closely match the stain of the hardwood floors of my house, that's my reasoning for the dark stain. As far as the protection goes, I would like there to be a layer of protective sealant beyond what I've gathered from using Tung Oil. I don't necessarily like the idea of having to oil my work at some point when it decides to dry out. I'm just not sure as to what exact products to consider i.e shellac/poly/pre-stain.

 

[mouppe]

If you're going for such a dark, almost opaque stain, why not use a cheaper hardwood such as ash or oak?

I finished my oak library, which ended up very dark with two coats of dark brown walnut water-soluble stain by WD Lockwood- flood the surface, let it soak in and wipe off the excess, followed by an oil-based wipe-on poly.

Filling the pores is up to you, but that would be an additional step.

 

[Scott B.]

Shiloh

I would highly recommend that you use Lockwood dye stain antique cherry color on the walnut. I did a rather large cherry cabinetry job a few years back with it, and it is the best dark tone I have seen on softer woods that have such natural depth.

Here is how that looked:

[attachimg=1]

 

[tiralie]

I'm definitely wanting to achieve a VERY dark finish but I'm not sure as to the sealer that I want. Perhaps like the image attached. Thanks in advance for any help as to achieving that kind of look[emoji4]

The short answer is experiment with your color/stains.
Depending on the
If the image is the correct color, I agree with others that using Walnut might be kind of overkill.
You can stain Yellow poplar to look like walnut and the grain is very close. They are both medium grained woods. Oak and Ash are too coarse, and maple is too fine. You will have to carefully pick your poplar to make sure that there isn't a lot of color variation in the grain for your show surfaces.
To start with, I would use a light toner with walnut color as an under coat and then seal with 1lb shellac that has been thinned at least 50%. Then use a wipe on dark walnut gel stain to achieve the wiped look in your photo. You can coat it with 2 lb shellac and then apply some wax and burnish with burlap or wood chips to get the look in your photo. Alternatively, just spray it with some polyurethane for a tougher finish.
Once you establish a benchmark you can add or remove color in subsequent test to get the color depth you want.
Tim

 

[ShilohWood]

Thanks for the advice so far fellows, my main inquiry for clarity was for the finishing process not necessarily the wood species(even though the input was very valuable[emoji6]) It seems that almost everyone's finishing process is different at some point, but having something to work from would be infinitely helpful.

 

[tjbnwi]

Pick your color, stain without toning out the grain, oil, let sit at least a month, top coat with a water bourne sealer.

Tom

 

[Pnw painter]

Another potential option are Aniline dye's. At the end of the day its all about trial and error.