The Framers Forum

What's the trick to get a nice yellow colour to oak?

Thanks

Really not being a SmartA** but I believe that it would involve using YellowOak.

Oak was huge here in the 1980's and it took until just recently for it to slowly die... but as I recall, wood workers and moulding producers would source out Red Oak, White Oak and Yellow Oak as timber. Obviously the stain in finishing also skews the results and appearance, but the wood itself contributes to the final look.

I'll have to Google "Oak Varieties" next to see what can be found.

John

Someone at the weekend was talking about chinese oak and how yellow it is compared to british oak, this was in relation to cheap imported chinese oak furniture.

You can buy a "golden oak" waterstain which will tint the oak a bit. Mix a little yellow ochre, burnt sienna and raw umber into the mix to give the colour some solidity and finish with a coat of shellac and wax.

Most of the oak I buy from arqadia and Simons tends to quite dark and probably wouldn't stain yellow, however I think Mainline does an unfinished veneer which is quite pale and would take a stain.

Larson Juhl Confetti - yellow - and then do a bit of nifty hand finishing to give a grain effect - bit of reverse thinking there for you.

Depends what you mean by yellow.

To achieve a nice polished finish you would need to use a stain. When you stain things you not only tint them but make them darker.
If the wood is quite dark already you are likely to end up with orangey-brown.
Antique Pine stain is quite yellow and would look very yellow on a pale wood. How it would look on oak depends on the colour of the oak
which as previously mentioned can vary a lot. Some has quite a pinky look which combined with a yellowish stain would lean toward brown.

Graysalchemy wrote:Most of the oak I buy from arqadia and Simons tends to quite dark and probably wouldn't stain yellow

Yes. I guess that was really my question: where can I buy light enough oak? I have a picture framed in a nice pale/yellow oak finish... except it's nasty polcore, and I want to replace it with the real stuff.

Phone rose and Hollis tell them what you want and I'm sure they'll pick you the light length out or keep an eye out until they get a light one.

I would look the mainline veneers then they are quite pale and unfinished, they also have the advantage that you can cut them easily on the morso and they pin well.