Henry Rifle Forums

I bought an 1920s oak farm table for my 1920s farm house . .
Put together some wooden kitchen chairs off Facebook market place all are oak but all the oak stain is a little lighter than the oak table... is there anyway I can slightly darken the oak stain without stripping and refinishing them?

Without knowing what species of oak, and examining them personally, it would be difficult to advise you. What I would suggest is that you test a small (a couple sq.inches) patch on the underside of the seat of one of them with what you think might work. Sand it lightly first, and wipe it off with a tack cloth. You may have to do more than one test patch. You may also want to seal the wood with a 1 lb cut of shellac before applying a stain (that would also need light sanding and tack cloth after drying). Once your satisfied with the test results you can be more confident on the show side of the chairs.

More coats of stain will darken it. A little bit of stain in the varnish will help.

Thanks

Any chance of posting a picture. Varnish can crack and turn yellow. Spar varnish won’t crack but still turn yellow. If the darker color is yellower it might work.