Expert: Eileen Cronk - 10/18/2008

Question
Hi,  I purchased some unfinished maple wood corbels to place under my kitchen bar.  I have all oak cabinets through out my home in a nice light golden honey color.  Can I stain the maple to look like the oak finish I have everywhere else?

Answer
Hi Sandy
Nice to hear from you.
Sandy this can be done with lacquers but of course it won't have the graining that your oak cabinets have.
Normally I would say take a door off your cabinets, and take the corbels to a shop that does this work.
But what the heck, you can try yourself then if it fails, take it to the shop.
First understand that new maple is terrible stuff to blotch.
I have never found antique maple to do this and I have no idea why LOL.
So first off its recommended that we use a pre stain.
This is simply brushed on.
Next your stain color.
Sandy if at all possible, choose a hidden area of a corbel to do a little test of your stain to see if you can get it right.
I think you will know right off if you can do this and it will save time and money if you stop there and send the corbels out.
You may have to experiment with different stain also.
I'm not really hopeful for a good result, but certainly try..you may just be lucky.
Kind Regards
Eileen