Hi all we purchased some barn doors made from douglas fir.  We want to dye/stain to a warm brown with black grain.

I figure dye warm brown  then seal with 1 lbs cut of blond shellac then stain with a black/very dark brown stain.

We want to stop blotching.  Have a consistent brown background and black grian similiar to gunstock on oak.

We need your help.

I think @kmealy will be able to offer some insight on this. He will probably see this and give you a hand.

I've never done that with Doug fir, but that more or less the way I do white oak (sometimes). Does pretty much what you want. You might try it and see.

Douglas fir is a closed grain wood so you will have to fake the black grain. You could produce a light brown wood color with a black grain using ash, red oak, white oak,  for they do have the open grain. Mahogany and walnut has the open grain but would become too dark with any kind of a stain..As far as I know , no lumber used to build homes has the open grain, only hard woods.

It would be a time consuming PITA but you could use some faux techniques as in this video. There are many other YouTube vids showing different techniques, also.  

 

15 hours ago, lew said:

I think @kmealy will be able to offer some insight on this. He will probably see this and give you a hand.

 

4 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

Douglas fir is a closed grain wood so you will have to fake the black grain. You could produce a light brown wood color with a black grain using ash, red oak, white oak,  for they do have the open grain. Mahogany and walnut has the open grain but would become too dark with any kind of a stain..As far as I know , no lumber used to build homes has the open grain, only hard woods.

 

8 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

I've never done that with Doug fir, but that more or less the way I do white oak (sometimes). Does pretty much what you want. You might try it and see.

Thanks all as it is a closed grain wood we will just dye it then seal it.  I will send pictures of my test.

 

Michael in the future if you are trying for a certain look when building something you might think of buying ash , white ash is so good to work with saw blades or router bits or other tools but where I like it is when it is time to put a finish on the wood.....it is so easy to do what ever one wants to do with it.

  All these samples are of ash.

  Then I have some with white grain, green  and a few other wild combinations. Or like in the long pieces, make your own grain and matching wood close to the grain and leave the rest a completely different color..

   So the first thing to do is try what you are wanting to achieve on some practice boards and with the right wood. Or when things you make are going to the kids, I decided to make the wood different for everybody.

17 hours ago, lew said:

I think @kmealy will be able to offer some insight on this. He will probably see this and give you a hand.

 

I don't think I've ever worked with Douglas Fir, but here are some of my rules:

 

 #2  Don’t let anyone describe a color to you using words alone.

http://thepatriotwoodworker.com/topic/19853-tgif-id-like-a-golden-oak-finish-may-16-2017/?tab=comments#comment-109634

 

#3 When you are using a new product or technique always do trials / samples

http://thepatriotwoodworker.com/topic/19907-tgif-try-it-before-you-buy-it-may-23-2017/?tab=comments#comment-110465

 

I think your layered approach is the right direction,though I'd probably work in a VanDyke Brown glaze in the place of the second stain.

 

If it's like most softwoods, the early-wood / late-wood contrast will reverse itself.   That is, in the raw ("white wood") stage, the late wood will be darker and the early wood will be lighter.  Applying a stain will reverse their roles.

 

Also you will have much different looks between quarter-sawn and flat sawn figure.

 

 

All what I found out is to get a consistent color I should have put down a wash coat (1 lb cut) of shellac before I dye.

I still owe you pictures but here is the new recipie that I will try.

1. Sand everything to 220.  (I over sanded to 400)

2. Vacum

3. Apply 1 lbs cut of clear shellac lightly wet the wood.  (Did not do this and got blotches)

4. Sand to with 350 to expose some of the wood fibers but seal the less dense early wood.

5. Dye with the water based dye.  (alternate spray the dye)

6. Spray shellac to not disturb the dye.  (First doors clearly show more blotching and lighter areas because I brushed on the shellac and it pulled out some of the dye)

7. Apply 2 coats of amber shellac 2 lb cut.

8. Sand to 400 

9. Apply a water based poly because these purchased doors will cover a laundry room and the chemicals and water vapor in there will kill the shellac.