Staining a maple table black

2 years ago

I had a table custom made for our home. We have changed the colour palette of our interior and would now prefer to have the table stained black. Unfortunately, it’s maple and a true black seems difficult to achieve. Our manufacturer asked us to provide a black stain if that is what we want. Does anyone have any experience, tips or suggestions?

Featured Answer

G W

2 years ago

I have experience sanding maple for hours to get off a dark stain that turned out very splotchy. Believe the pros when they say maple doesn't take stain well. On the other hand, they may know some conditioning steps we didn't that may help.

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Comments (7)

klem1
2 years ago
You may as well paint it because the best stain job will look auful. If the wood has some nice grain,how bout finishing it natural with black paint accents? Shame you didn't choose walnut or oak. Fummed oak is black and classy.
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Nicholas Naidu
Original Author
2 years ago
Is painting a dining table (top included) a normal thing to do? Although I would have liked the wood grains to show through, I really don’t mind just painting it all black. I’m thinking that would look best in our space but I’m afraid of how the table itself might come out looking.. cheap looking, tacky... Is there any black paint brand/colour recommendations on wood.
klem1
2 years ago
Best advice I have is hire a finisher,tell them the look you are after and alow them to chose material and method to get that look. If you are unable to explain the appearance you want,find pictures (not neccessarly dining tables). 2 part water base finishes offer more toughness and gloss than were only attainable with finishes requiring special ppe and equipment a few years ago. If it was possible to preserve maple grain under black stain it would be similar to burled walnut. Burled walnut veneer or laminate on top with paint other parts would look interesting. You might talk to cabinet shops specializing in retail and office fixtures,they do more painting,laminating and veneering than stains and clear coating. Their finishes have to stand up to heavy use.
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Lori A. Sawaya
2 years ago
It's beautiful. I might be tempted to lean into its natural, organic feel. Black almost seems too simple for it. A clear stain would be such an interesting contradiction to its scale and clean lines. Also a vinegar and steel wool mixture on maple is stunning - and timeless. That too would lean its specialness as well.
Nicholas Naidu
Original Author
2 years ago
Thanks for all your insight everyone!
I will have a chat with my finisher again and reach out to some other professionals in my area as well to get some more ideas. I’ve attached an example of a table that looks to have been painted black - I like this look.
I am also looking at black oak tables and realize that would’ve been ideal!!
My finisher showed me a sample stain on Maple of a toffee colour that they have - this could also be an option. They’re unsure how a large area of this would look though.
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Rockin' Fine Finish
2 years ago
I can be done but you need a very good finisher. It will need to go through a10 step process. Sand, water pop,sand, Benite, sand lightly analine dye then stain and then finish