Walnut Worktop - how to darken it!

[gem23]

I recently bought a black american walnut worktop from Wood n Beyond. They looked fantastic but when they were oiled the bottom of the worktops were much lighter than the top of them. Anyway I asked my joiner when fitting them to make sure he used the darker side as the top side as it looked so much better. Unfortunately, he didn't heed my instructions and used one of the lighter sides instead for my kitchen island. Although the worktops were meant to be SOLID walnut I now think that a lot of sap wood has been used which is why the bottom side is much lighter. I have tried oiling the lighter side but they won't darken and now my worktops look completely different to each other as one is much darker than the other. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I could darken the wood? I don't think I can stain as it's a worktop and I don't think that's a good option when preparing food on it!

Any advice would be appreciated!
Gem

 

[ladylola]

Ideally you will need an off cut to play with rather than attempting to do anything with your worktop.
You can stain wood with any number of things many of which are completely safe for food use, for example tea ,coffee and wine can all be used ( and I've seen it done. Apparently the Camp coffee in bottles works very well). Also some oils are darker than others.

 

[foxhole]

You can add wood dye to oil , this colours timber very evenly but dilutes the colour, try ebony on an offcut.

 

[Jasonb]

The best colouring to try would be Van dyck Crystals, these are made from walnut husks and you mix them into warm water, the dilution determines the darkness of colour.

It won't work on an oiled surface so hopefully the area you tried oiling was just a small test patch that can be sanded away.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/liberon-liberon-van-dyck-crystals-prod21990/

J

 

[gem23]

Many thanks for all your help! I will try it out and see if it works.

CHeers

Gem