How do youget two types of contrasting wood that isnt like black and white?

[karen12]

I've got a 4 inch wide by 9 inch tall clock. Picking out the wood for the background thick piece is easy. I like walnut or mahagoney. My problem is to find the 1/4 inch thick piece of wood that has the flowers and humming birds on it and also surrounds the whole clock in front. It seems like all the wood I look at is way too light. I don't like that black and whilte look in contrast. I'd like to find a shade of the background wood and use something like that but I can't find any. Can I take something like maple or ash and just stain it the color I want it to be. Is there a wood that you can use to do that with all the time? I could always make the front the same as the background too but I wanted it too look a little different. I saw some satinwood that was bright yellow but I think it might be a bit bright. I love bright colors and wouldnt hesitate using with purpleheart if I could keep the colors bright on it. I just dont know if the diff between the walnut and the yellow would be too much. Well if anyone can enlighten me on the staining issue and I can find certain names of woods I can stain any color it would help alot. anything you guys know would help alot

[shell7089]

Check out ebay - craftwood, I buy a lot of my wood from deer56hunter, he is reasonably priced and he ships fast. I usually get my wood well within a week after paying via paypal....

[Wood Dog]

You could use mahogany on both, oil just one piece and leave the other un-oiled. There would definitely be a color difference. Only potential problem would be the glue up, but you could tape (Frogtape) the part that you want glued, so no oil would get there, then glue it. Then use finish of choice on both pieces.

[karen12]

Thanks for the ideas. BUT haha.. I really would like to know if the is a species of wood that will take a stain so I can make it exactly what I'd like to

[Bill Wilson]

Getting precise, consistent colors and shades can be tough to do with pigment stains, like those most commonly available at the home center. Maple is a tight grained wood that doesn't take pigment stain very well or at least not consistently. It's probably not the best choice for this kind of application. Ash is more open grained, so it will probably take the stain a little better, but you will have the alternating dark & light streaks of the ash grain, which will be emphasized with a stain. Birch, beech or alder may be better alternatives.

Personally, I would look to find a wood with a natural color more suitable for your project. There are several with medium brown colors that would provide some contrast with the walnut or mahogany, but not the sharp contrast you are trying to avoid. Personally, I like African mahogany with Walnut. You might also try sycamore, sassafras or cherry. Cherry will darken over time, but will maintain a reddish hue that should maintain contrast with walnut.

Failing that, you may want to look into dyes. They will require some testing and trial & error to get the exact color you want, but with a dye, you could more readily use maple or poplar.

[karen12]

Thank-you for sharing your knowledge. I don't know what I'll do yet. Even though the ash has the lighter and darker grian lines and they will show up way more it might look alright if I happen to get the right color stain. I will also think on those other choices of wood to try too. Thanks again Karen

[Berone]

If you're going to stain a wood like maple or cherry, use a pre-stain. There are ways of mixing up your own, but I've had pretty good luck with the Minwax stuff. Otherwise it gets blotchy. Personally I don't like the way stained wood looks if you try to stray too far from the natural color. I, too, would suggest dyes. They are fussier to work with, but give you a better range of color choices. Either way, you're going to have to experiment to get what you want to look right. And for the record, I think mahogany and walnut make a nice contrast.

[dedijerry]

I love the look of Cherry with Walnut. not to stark ad easy to work with Mahogany is also nice. I think that if you can find ans use a piece of wood without stain it is not only easier to finish but much more impressive in the final look.

[Mike_Fehring]

I use alot of cheery for overlays on top of walnut and it looks great. I normally only use natural color stain to help bring out the wood. I mix alot of other light woods in with the dark woods, you just have to see if what the different combinations look like and whether that is what you are looking for. I can post a few examples if you want or you can look at the desk clocks on my web site in the gallery.

[Stoney]

I made some toy cars for Christmas from red oak and cherry. The main body

of oak and cherry for the fenders. I used butcher block conditioner for the

finish. It made for a very nice contrast.

[Spirithorse]

In looking at the variety of colors Judy Gale Roberts gets with ordinary Red Cedar,
would that be a possibility for the contrast color you are looking for? A dark portion of
Red Cedar contrasted against the Walnut?
God Bless! Spirithorse

[karen12]

Thanks for all the input. Its given me lots of things to think about. O think you guys are right about choosing something that naturally will contrst the walnut instead of trying to stain something into what its not. A nice fella sent me some walnut to work with so hubby and I are saving some bucks up to take a drive to a lumber yard thats sells quite a few different woods. Ill take my walnut with me and see what I can find down there that I like. Thanks again everyone!

[Bill Wilson]

I think you will enjoy the lumberyard. Getting a first hand look and actually being able to lay your hands on a wide variety of woods, with all the different grain patterns, textures and colors will be an eye opening experience. Of course, some of the prices will be pretty eye opening as well, but you won't regret it.