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Question on finishing, matching walnut

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Question on finishing, matching walnut

#1

Question on finishing, matching walnut

Barry Irby

I have rebuilt the front of the base on the grandfather clock I built fifty years ago. I used lumber from the same batch. I actually saved it all these years. Pretty crappy stuff but I hated to throw it away. The new part looks fresh and I guess its what we call purple. The older parts look darker and redder. The question is what to do? Let the "new" stuff age for another fifty years? Stain the new stuff? Or stain the entire thing? I believe the original finish was Minwax Antique Oil, which is still available, but I wonder if it is the same stuff.

Any help would be appreciated.

Re: Question on finishing, matching walnut

#2

Re: Question on finishing, matching walnut

Lee Schierer in McKean, PA

Walnut gets lighter in color with exposure to light. The effect is not very deep and sanding will remove it. The unfinished walnut tough it is the same age has not been exposed to the light. I'm not sure you want to sand down the entire piece and if you use stain the pieces will still age differently. The good news is that the darker wood will age more quickly than the lighter wood after about 5 years you may not be able to see the difference depending upon how much light exposure the piece gets.

Lee

Re: Question on finishing, matching walnut

#3

Re: Question on finishing, matching walnut

Paul Leuba

I have heard of accelerating the darkening of cherry by placing a piece out in the sun for a couple days. Maybe this technique would accelerate the lightening of the new piece of walnut in your clock.

Re: Question on finishing, matching walnut

#4

Re: Question on finishing, matching walnut

Hank Knight

Barry,

Ellis and Bill Tindall both posted last year about staining walnut. Both posts were on May 27, 2017. If you can't find them, I saved them, so I can copy and repost, or send therm to you via email. They should be helpful to you.

Hank

Re: Question on finishing, matching walnut

#5

ebd

Re: Question on finishing, matching walnut

ebd

My experience is that sunlight bleaches black walnut. A large BW platter I made now is a light tan.

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