Staining Jarrah

[Redgy]

Hi, I'm currently working on a display case in jarrah. Most of the stock I'm using is fairly uniform in colour but some ranges from light pink to really deep red. I've managed to keep most of the visible parts from the same middle of the range stock but a couple of panels are are from varying coloured boards (not the extremes). So will staining them even out the colour a bit or just make everything darker so the dark/light relationship is still the same?

Thanks for any advice

Redgy

[Wongo]

Jarrah is a beautiful wood so why do you want to stain it? Just let its natural beauty do its job.

[BobL]

So will staining them even out the colour a bit or just make everything darker so the dark/light relationship is still the same?

Your second statement is correct up to a point. You will either have to stain them all virtually a very dark brown or experiment with different numbers of coats of stain on each piece to try to even them up. However, what then happens is, "just one more coat on this one, oh crumbs now this one is too light so it will need another coat, now this one is too light etc". In the end you can end up with everything dark brown anyway.

Then you may have problems finding a stain that is in the right colour range. Jarrah stain tends to be orange which is representative of only part of the range. If you put an orange stain on a pink piece of timber you may well end up with something that looks yuk! You will probably need to experiment with a range of different stains and try them out on offcuts of the timber you have selected. You may also need different stains for different boards.

So, unless you have a lot of experience the end result may have considerably less reality and character than you had at the start.

The best way to handle this problem (which I personally don't see as a problem but a feature) is to select timber in the same colour range to begin with. I actually gave up 20 years ago worrying about the kalidascope of colours in jarrah and now I celebrate the diversity of colour in this marvellous timber.

[Redgy]

Thanks guys, you're right and my own preference would be not to stain it at all, after all it's not pine that needs to be made look like something nice, it's already nice . Bob, I was worried that might be the case of just a bit more then bugger, $600 bux worth of jarrah looking like sh*t.

Cheers
Reg

[BobL]

Thanks guys, you're right and my own preference would be not to stain it at all, after all it's not pine that needs to be made look like something nice, it's already nice . Bob, I was worried that might be the case of just a bit more then bugger, $600 bux worth of jarrah looking like sh*t.

Cheers
Reg

30 years ago I wasted a week farting about with a jarrah double bed head trying to get the variable colours right. In the end it looked like a dull brown piece of crap from a cheap furntiture store and I gave it away (from memory the dressed Jarrah cost me $22 - which seemed a fortune back then!) and started from scratch. The final result was so much better (I just happened to have a ready photo of it - see below). Watching jarrah change colour over time is very interesting. We have some 30 year old bookcases that arrived at our place almost all salmon pink. Today they are a golden honey brown with a patina that is hard to match in any timber.

Also note in photo the gorgeous blonde streaks in the 85 year old jarrah floor. This floor was pretty beat up, lots of deep scratches etc but came up real nice. Pity the blonde streaks end up under the bed!

[Wongo]

Good luck with the display case Reg. I am sure it will be very nice.

Last time my neighbour asked how to stain his cedar. I told him that staining timber is a sin but because it was a Sunday so I forgive him.

I will say it once more. “Let the beauty of the timber do its job”

[Redgy]

Good luck with the display case Reg. I am sure it will be very nice.

Thanks Wongo, will put some photo's up soon, it's only been sized & some panels glued up so far. A slow process as for me it's a 1000km round trip to get more timber should I screw anything up

Will also be posing some questions about the finish when the time comes as this is my first "real" wood major project & I normally just stain & varnish everything I make from pine.

Redgy

[soundman]

I you want an absolute guarantee of consistent colour across the whole piece.










give it two thined coats of black nitro laquer and a couple of top coats of cleer and call it ebony.

[Stuart]

Also note in photo the gorgeous blonde streaks in the 85 year old jarrah floor. This floor was pretty beat up, lots of deep scratches etc but came up real nice. Pity the blonde streaks end up under the bed!

Looking very hard, but I can't see a blonde streaking anywhere


I've played with (selectively) oiling jarrah on a nautical instrument set - 5-6 applications produced a very nice dark backpanel, while the frames were given a single coat, leaving them much redder.

I have found with another piece, (a toy truck) that jarrah that starts a light red will never match another piece that starts off the deep red/brown colour! My opinion - work with the colours available, rather than attempting to force it to comply with a colour concept you have. It's too nice a wood to wreck!

[Chesand]

I agree with the others - work with what you have as it is too nice a timber to try and alter the colour.
I am currently finishing off a bookcase in recycled jarrah and have colour differences. I figure that when it is full of books the colour differences will not be noticed.

[Richardwoodhead]

The "purist" approach to working with Jarrah (if you have the luxury of doing this) is to obtain Jarrah milled from the same log. Pricey / high end furniture made with Jarrah (tables, cabinets, sideboards etc) is virtually always constructed from timber milled from one log / dried / and then used as a "package" so that, to the extent possible, the colour / grain / feature all match. Otherwise you can end up struggling.

However, from my experience, even if you start out with jarrah colour variations, over a few years, the colours do tend to darken and so match more closely.

Good luck with it.

Richard

[Redgy]

Richard, that would be a luxury indeed. As it was I had a 10 hr round trip to Melbourne to get what I got. And as I said this is my first real wood project so I'm learning. I think it will look good anyway (if I done't bugger the joinery & finish :eek: ) and definately no stain will be going near it now.

Cheers
Reg