Staining help

[Gothichome]

I could use some advise on wood staining. Restoring the wood work in the old girl.


This is what I've got after stripping the paint.



This were I'm at in the project. Matching the red and the dark stain was just a matter of mixing stains. The issue I'm having is the light staining. It was originally a golden colour. But I can not get the gold colour back. If you look at the bottom of the door base board you can see my test area.Originally there was a base stain of greyish tint and a final stain on top of that. That gave it more golden colour. Now I know pre staining was common to change the shading of the wood before the final stain. My question to the learned is how do they make golden colour by using a grey base stain?

[ekane25 (WavyGlass)]

If you used chemical stripper, it can strip out the color in the wood, leaving that dead gray look. You could maybe try a gold toned stain of some sort to bring back the color.
The color could have also come from the finish too. If it was a pretty old finish, it was probably shellac. The common amber type gives a nice gold tone after a few coats. Even if I do a varnish or poly as the final layer, I'll do a few coats of shellac for color - just make sure the last coat of shellac is dewaxed, otherwise you'll get adherence problems. For doors and trim though, just the shellac makes for a beautiful finish that ages and wears nicely, and looks right with historic interiors.

I hope I'm understanding you correctly. When in doubt, test and test some more. I've spent months testing stains and finishes until they're just right.
Good luck!

[Gothichome]

Ekane, thanks for the reply. I did use circa paint stripper. It seemed to make sence to me being I had only one coat of paint to remove. It never occurred to me that the shellack would be the gold colour I was seeing. Also, It must have been the stripper that gave the shellac a greyish tint. I'll put a couple coats on my little test section and see what happens.



Here is a pic of the removal. You can see the original stain colours under the green paint.

[Gothichome]

I found this pic amongst all the other pictures, the colour from under the old thermostat is what I'm trying to revive. It's not as gold as my minds eye rememberd it and the colour on my test piece is pretty close. A few coats of amber shellac should make it almost perfect.

[Casey]

I think you need to adjust the red. Right now it is 1) opaque-looking and 2) very bright. I think if you steel wool it until some grain shows through,then tone it down with a dark brown over-stain applied quite thin, you would be closer to the intent of the original, which I think was a faux-rosewood bordered by ebony molding.
To make the light wood more golden, perhaps Provincial stain and dark shellac. I always use Garnet shellac mixed fresh from flakes for each job. It dries very fast, has a dark but clear color, and is dewaxed so there are no drying or blushing issues (white water stains).
Casey

[Gothichome]

Sombrueil, thanks for the insight. You have given me more info to think on. I can see how the red tinge to my stain would make for a closer match. The thin second coat of brown to darken I would have never thought of. I'll have to make another test section and compare the two. Ekains thoughts and yours, the descision will have to be from a higher authority than I though. She has more of a honey gold colour in mind.

[Gothichome]

Got a chance to tinker with my staining project.



My latest test, sorry for the blurry pic. I went with more of a redish brown stain as Sombreuil suggests This test has not been steel wooed yet though. It's a little closer to the colour.