Finishing oak to match existing furniture

[Raymien]

I was hoping for some advice please in the type of finish to apply to bare oak to match some existing furniture?

I’m building some alcove cabinets and shelves for a client which are made from American oak. They’ve sent me an image of some furniture they have in the room already that they would like to match. Below are a couple of images. The first shows an offcut of the oak I’m using against their furniture, and the second gives another look at the furniture itself.

I predominantly work in painted materials and don’t often use solid wood, so I’m not sure which product would most closely match?
I’ve used Osmo before on some walnut and that was nice to use/came out really well so would be happy to try that product again, unless there’s something better you’d advise.

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

 

[recipio]

It's going to be trial and error. I would probably use a solvent based satin polyurethane for durability. A good varnish brush makes all the difference and don't forget the piece will continue to mellow over the following year. Ask your clients to be patient !

 

[Jameshow]

I was hoping for some advice please in the type of finish to apply to bare oak to match some existing furniture?

I’m building some alcove cabinets and shelves for a client which are made from American oak. They’ve sent me an image of some furniture they have in the room already that they would like to match. Below are a couple of images. The first shows an offcut of the oak I’m using against their furniture, and the second gives another look at the furniture itself.

I predominantly work in painted materials and don’t often use solid wood, so I’m not sure which product would most closely match?
I’ve used Osmo before on some walnut and that was nice to use/came out really well so would be happy to try that product again, unless there’s something better you’d advise.

View attachment 157659View attachment 157660

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

O think about would be easier to add to darken rather than a varnish which may look heavy if too many coats are applied.

 

[Agent_zed]

Will the two ever be directly next to each other? There is so much variation in the woods anyway along with light variation in different parts of the room it should hopefully be pretty difficult to tell.

I made an oak frame to hold some new bifold doors as the hole I had was non-standard. The doors came stained and i finished my frame in osmo oil. Most people wouldn't notice, although there isn't as much of a shine on my frame.

Looks like a varnish to me as mentioned above though so I'd probably go varnish also.

 

[johnbs]

Osma wax-oil will darken the wood to a shade not far off what you want. Two or three coats. Polyurethane just doesn't suit oak in my book.

 

[HOJ]

The pulls on that piece look like the ones Oak furniture land and the likes all use, be very suprised it has a varnish finish more likey a wax, have a look inside and see if it shows around the edges, I use Fiddes Hard wax oil on my Oak indoor fittings such as furniture, stairs, cupboards etc, quicker drying than Osmo.



Recently made these 2 doors to match an existing, finished with Fiddes clear satin, and a quick wax over with 0000 ww, got fairly close, didn't get a piccy before they went though..

 

[HOJ]

This is Fiddes on an Oak slab and Oak newel post I have just done, lighting's not very good, it looks richer than it shows.

 

[thetyreman]

it's not easy getting a 100% match, the furniture looks like oak furniture land stuff, which my parents have and it's quite yellow for some reason and light compared to traditional oak, they probably make their own formula for the finishes, it could be a laquer that has a yellow tint to it that's my best guess, this is one of those jobs that you'd have to do by eye manually adjusting until it's just right, which could end up being very time consuming.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I’m building some alcove cabinets and shelves for a client which are made from American oak. They’ve sent me an image of some furniture they have in the room already that they would like to match. Below are a couple of images.

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

The appearance of the finish in those images suggest it's a sprayed lacquer that's been applied, and if that's the case it's likely to be something along the lines of pre-cat or acid cat lacquer, or similar. To replicate that, if it is lacquer, you'd ideally have spraying facilities. Whatever is on your samples most certainly doesn't have the appearance of a varnish, either oil based or water borne, not linseed oil or Danish oil, nor any of the wax oil finishes such as the Osmo or Fiddes products. Slainte.

 

[pat from Marck]

If you got any of cuts stain them up with the products you have and see which one comes closest if you have the time

 

[DavidRa]

I was hoping for some advice please in the type of finish to apply to bare oak to match some existing furniture?

I’m building some alcove cabinets and shelves for a client which are made from American oak. They’ve sent me an image of some furniture they have in the room already that they would like to match. Below are a couple of images. The first shows an offcut of the oak I’m using against their furniture, and the second gives another look at the furniture itself.

I predominantly work in painted materials and don’t often use solid wood, so I’m not sure which product would most closely match?
I’ve used Osmo before on some walnut and that was nice to use/came out really well so would be happy to try that product again, unless there’s something better you’d advise.

View attachment 157659View attachment 157660

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

On a smaller scale is had to sand the very top of these chairs down to bare wood and used Ronseal Natural Oak 10 year wood stain to match

 

[russell molyneux]

The pulls on that piece look like the ones Oak furniture land and the likes all use, be very suprised it has a varnish finish more likey a wax, have a look inside and see if it shows around the edges, I use Fiddes Hard wax oil on my Oak indoor fittings such as furniture, stairs, cupboards etc, quicker drying than Osmo.
View attachment 157674


Recently made these 2 doors to match an existing, finished with Fiddes clear satin, and a quick wax over with 0000 ww, got fairly close, didn't get a piccy before they went though..

Fiddes also do a good range of colours to experiment with.

 

[cowtown_eric]

I don't think any "interweb" colour match will be successful

You could end up buying dozens of stains/finishes which might come close, but no cigar!.

It is much fun, and when you haven't got a close match, be glad you spent all that money on what will be hazardous waste! which will likely dry up in the can before you find another use for it!

OR you could just call around and find a paint supplier that does stain matches! many will only do a minimum of 1 gal, but some will do quarts.

It may seem expensive, but I assure you it will be less than the cost of "experimenting.

Moreover, if there's an complaint that it ain't perfect (and I'd only promise "very close" ) your fall back is that the stain match was professionall done

By doing that, you have minimized your time spent, end up with less hazardous mtl,

typically thy need a sample to match and stock sanded to whatever your going to do, and typically overcoat it with the matching finish.....but every shop is different!.

That's what I'd do

Eric in the colonies

 

[Brains]

I was hoping for some advice please in the type of finish to apply to bare oak to match some existing furniture?

I’m building some alcove cabinets and shelves for a client which are made from American oak. They’ve sent me an image of some furniture they have in the room already that they would like to match. Below are a couple of images. The first shows an offcut of the oak I’m using against their furniture, and the second gives another look at the furniture itself.

I predominantly work in painted materials and don’t often use solid wood, so I’m not sure which product would most closely match?
I’ve used Osmo before on some walnut and that was nice to use/came out really well so would be happy to try that product again, unless there’s something better you’d advise.

That would be easlily matched by using tea. Make a pot of tea using one or two tea bags. Let it stand a while after a good stir. Test the colour on a test piece and if required it can be made darker by a second treatment. Finally wax it.

View attachment 157659View attachment 157660

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

 

[Raymien]

Thank you all for the replies. After getting a sample and doing a test piece the customer decided to go with one coat of Osmo wax oil tinted colour amber. The shelves are fitted now and the client is over the moon with them. The fit the other wood in the room wonderfully.
I’m very happy