Can a wood as hard and as dense as Brazilian walnut be stained? It is unfinished and I want it dark as possible.

Jared

Yes Brazilian Walnut can be stained. We are preparing to stain 1000sf and a staircase now. The home owner also wants this floor to be very dark so we are making color samples and antique brown, coffee brown or ebony get it dark enough for most. I have some Glitsa sable black I plan to try next if I can find it, that will make it very dark. I like a natural finish on this wood. It will darken over time but probably not as dark as you and my customer want it.

When the stain is thoroughly dry we will apply one coat Glitsa Snap Dry sealer and two coats Glitsa High Performance two component water-base finish. We did a job with this system on B. Walnut about three years ago on a yacht that gets very heavy traffic and a lot of moisture. The floor still looks good today.

Do some test on some of the same wood or in a closet with the stain and finishes you plan to use. I would not use oil-based finish on this wood. I tested different finishes on this wood on my first B. Walnut job about four years ago and all the oil-based sealers I tried failed. Water-based worked best and looked better than expected. I have used Zinsser Sealcoat on another B. Walnut job we did and it is doing great.

Can someone tell me why the oil-based stain dries normally on this wood but oil-based sealers do not? Could it be that wiping the stain off allows it to dry before the oils in the B.Walnut contaminate it?

I dont know about oil based finishes but I know Acid cured sealers always work for me on just about anything i put it on. I like Glitza's Bacca, And I too use Glitza HP,but we use the hybrid system which is to use HP over Bacca.

Thanks for the advice guys. Much appreciated. I have already ordrered Waterlox Satin Tung oil based finish. I've heard from many that it is one of the few that you can mix stain with. Can the Glitsa stains be added to the Waterlox and applied it one step? Or should I stain with the Glitsa first then apply the waterlox? Or should I just call Waterlox and ask them?

Also, can the Glitza be purchased online?

Thanks

[quote]It is unfinished and I want it dark as possible.[quote]

If you want the B. Walnut to be as dark as possible you will need to stain the wood then apply the finish.

I have used Waterlox on that wood and I am pretty satisfied. However, be prepared for a killer smell when you use it. That's the only thing i don't like about it. Also, I think you need to start with their "original" product first, not the satin. Their instructions specify to always use the origial (glossy) formula first, then go to satin for next coat. I would read their instructions very carefully before starting this work.

Also, if you are going to add stain (I have never done it personally), make absolutely sure you do some test samples first, and when you decide on a stain, make sure you mix that stain with waterlox consistently! You do not want one room 2 shades lighter than another becuase one gal of waterlox had a little more stain than the next. Actually, I would get all the waterlox you need for the first coat for all rooms, mix it all together with the stain, and do the first coat on all rooms from the same "source" to avoid that problem.

One other thing to consider: In my experience, I had about 10% of the IPE boards that appeard very light in color -you could always pull these out and not use them, except maybe in closets and other areas not that noticeable. That may cut down on the variability of the color for you. Also, just by applying waterlox (or I suspect other oil based sealers), it will darken the wood a bit without any stain. Have you tried that and seen if that is dark enough for you?

amt,
Thanks for the info. Your right...just recieved the satin in the mail today. It says you must apply the Original Sealer/Finish first. So I'll be ordering a can of that too.
I'm going to go with BuddyJ's advice and stain the wood first. It just makes sense that the wood would absorb more of the stain that way. I will call Waterlox and consult them first though.
I ordered 13% extra for waste so I should be able to toss most of those light boards. I do have three sample pieces that I'm going to apply the waterlox to now that I have it.
Thanks for the info guys and I'll let you know how it turns out.

Jared