Staining or dyeing beech

[Pushfit]

Hi,
I am trying to refurbish some old fireside chairs which are made of beech, and I want to re-colour them darker, sort of afromosia or teak sort of colour.

From what I have read it appears that it is very difficult to stain or dye this wood. So before I set about trying various products I thought I would ask whether anyone has had success doing this, or whether any particular product does the job well.

Any thoughts, experience, guidance would be much appreciated.

Thanks, John B.

 

[Scrit]

You can stain the timber, but the problem is that the ray fleck is not porous and won't take stains. If you don't have any visible ray fleck, then just use a stain. If there is ray fleck visible you may need to resort to using a tinted lacquer/varnish and building the coats to the correct colour instead

Scrit

 

[Pushfit]

Hi Scrit,
Thanks for that.

I didn't realise that the problem was with the fleck. These chairs do have quite a pronounced fleck, and will probably look somewhat sad if the fleck retains its own colour amongst the stained wood!!

To tell the truth I was hoping for a natural-ish looking finish rather than varnish, but I shall consider your advice.

Thanks again,
John B.

 

[Scrit]

You could always try a small area under the chair to see what you think.

Scrit