Staining Oak Woodwork

I fully intended to get started with staining the interior front door and sidelight woodwork this last weekend, but after trying out various stains and combinations of stains and multiple layers of various combinations of stains all week, I knew I needed to take a break and figure out what the hell I was doing.

I want really dark woodwork - dark like you're lost in the haunted forest at night with no moon dark.

My inspiration is the house in that movie Practical Magic.  Of course it is a witch's house and the dark-stained floors and woodwork are perfect for that mysterious "witches live here" old mansion look.

 

 

But I'm dealing with oak woodwork - some of it salvaged 1922 old growth oak and some of it new.  I'm finding that oak doesn't like to stain as dark as I would like.

I tried mixing Ebony in with the Dark Walnut and that wasn't getting the right effect.  Then I tried a light wash of watered down black paint followed by Dark Walnut and that was getting closer.  After doing some research on the internet, I think I may have the solution.  I was reading that to get a really dark stain on oak, one can use a water-based dye followed by a stain.  So I ordered two of the dyes, a Dark Walnut and one that looked even darker, Dark Brown, because even darker is what I want : - )

So I had to tell the husband to settle down because he just wants the staining to start - just get the thing done!  He will just have to have some patience.  Needless to say, he is not obsessed with the fiddly details like I am.

Oh and I ordered a wood screen door for the front and also wood screens for the sidelights.  Our door guy, Jeff, was supposed to make these for us before he left for another job, but you know how that goes.  Luckily, I found Coppa Woodworking and they are in Redondo Beach, so I can drive over and get them when they are finished.  I ordered the most simple wood screen door (so as not to detract from the nice diamond-paned pattern on the front door) in Doug Fir, unfinished, with no screening.  Same for the sidelights - just the frames, then we will prime, paint and use the copper/bronze screening roll that I purchased and put half-round moulding over where the screening attaches.

I found some great spring-loaded hinges from my new favorite long-distance salvage store - Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage up in Oregon.  I discovered them when I was searching for window screen hardware and they had 11 pairs of original Stanley window screen hangers - new old stock - with a cute little bag of original screws.

 

And only $3 a pair!  Of course I bought all of the pairs.

Screen door hardware from House of Antique hardware is on the way and that should be all I need.  Somehow anytime I order something from House of Antique hardware, it is on back-order.  I am beginning to wonder if they wait until they get an order before getting their stock : - )  I'm sure that's not the case.  I really wanted to use some salvage screen door hardware that I had - the knob and mortise lock, etc, but unfortunately the mortise lock was broken and unfixable, so I had to go with the repro stuff.  David is happy though because the repro one won't have to be mortised in like the old one would.  He dodged a bullet on that one.

 Pretty PD : - )