Black stain

[PAFaller]

Im hoping someone here knows how to do this. Im trying to achieve that 'almost looks like paint' finish on some floating shelves I made for our kitchen. My wife and I have a dining set, its nothing super fancy but it works for us,  and a pair of barstools that have a contrast in color, so our table has a cherry colored top and these dark black legs. Same with the chairs and stools, the seats are a nice cherry color and the legs are black, but you can still see a bit of grain. I want to try and get that real dark finish on these shelves. I know its going to be a bit of a challenge because the frame of the shelf is white pine and the top and bottom is just 1/4 maple plywood. But Im wondering if there is something that will give me that particular look. I know wipe on stains like minwax or cabot probably wont get me as dark as I want, and I dont really want to just put satin black paint on unless I have too. Any ideas?

[Texas Ranger]

Ebony stain gets it pretty dark.  Might try a bit of it.

[Magicman]

Ebony is the blackest and Jacobean is the brownest stains that Minwax has.  LINK  Most commercial "Cherry" furniture has a sprayed on lacquer finish.

Another LINK

[Texas Ranger]

Yep, and with multiple coats it is BLACK.

[mdennisusa1]

You might want to look up "How to ebonize wood" on you tube. 

[PAFaller]

Ok, so what should I do for prep between coats of stain to make the wood take more and darken? This is all kind of new to me, the few things Ive made have either been painted or given a natural finish with Linseed oil. So far Ive got everything prepped and finish sanded down to 220grit, and I bought some ebony minwax. Im sure the first coat would soak in ok, but does the wood reach a saturation point? Do you sand between coats? Sorry if this sounds elementary, I got the cutting trees down part pretty good, the putting parts back together and refinishing...not so much ;D

[Magicman]

Do you have a test piece that you can use?  That always works, just be sure to keep notes so that you can duplicate your test piece.   ;D  The white pine and the maple plywood are going to take the stain much differently.

I am still thinking that your legs are sprayed lacquer.

[PAFaller]

MM, I think you are probably right. Ive never had the opportunity to see a furniture mill up and running, so part of me is curious how they color the woods you find in these furniture stores. I know a lot of that sector has moved off of our shores to where labor is much cheaper, but the process must be similar regardless of where its made. As I said before, if all else fails I will paint them a satin black and be done with it, the shelves arent really supposed to be a focal point. As grandparents have passed in my family Ive inherited some really cool old stuff that we would like to display in the kitchen, which is what started this whole thing in the first place. That said Im always learning something.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Have you considered black milk paint? Perhaps you could keep some grain appearance by rubbing it down heavily with a scotch bright pad, then put a finish over the top such as danish oil, acrylic or even polyurethane to get an almost glossy sheen, very hard, like a piano would be finished.

http://www.milkpaint.com/path_easy.html

[Lud]

I used a Minwax black last year  on two tables, five bar trays and a lamp and was very pleased.  Keep it thin and do two coats.  It is black.

Years ago I carved a swan out of walnut and there was no black stain to use.  I wound up using black ink to get it dark enough! 8)

[Axe Handle Hound]

+1 on the milk paint.  If you haven't tried it before you might want to now. It lays on the wood like a second skin and the grain shows right through.  I use black milk pain on picture frames that I want to see the grain of the wood on, but still need a dark frame to set off the art work.  It's also nice that it dries very quickly and you can adjust the final sheen from dead flat to glossy depending on the top coat you use. 

[5quarter]

PAfeller...I routinely use aniline dye stains in my business. They provide the most consistent color across a wide range of woods and can be mixed to get just the right color. Milk paint will work, but still cover too much IMO. Analine stain will give you the exact amount of opacity you need, though you may want to practice on some scrap first. I buy mine locally, but you can order from here:
www.vandykes.com
Don't apply any oil based stains and let dry without wiping the excess. It will not take a finish as the solids will interfere with adhesion.
Also, you can spray an Aniline stain as well as brush it. If you are so inclined, you can also mix with Lacquer (alcohol stain is soluble with solvent based finishes) and use as a toner when spraying a finish to deepen the color and increase the opacity.