# choosing the right wood for knife bar



## chiffonodd (May 4, 2015)

My folks recently got their humble but well loved kitchen a bit of a facelift:







I want to make a magnetic knife bar that can go on that back left wall, but am having trouble finding a wood that matches the cabinets and drawers. I want it to look basically identical. I am guessing it is some sort of composite/laminate that is supposed to look like dark mahogany? I am not sure though - definitely not an expert in this area. I asked my folks but they have no idea.

I've been perusing mahogany online and a lot of it seems to have redder tones. Black walnut and wenge get get closer in color, but have very different grains/patterns. Same with some ebony and blackwood.

Any suggestions?? :dontknow:


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## Bigbadwolfen (May 4, 2015)

Would go with black wallnut or ebony, on a piece as smal as a knife rck the grainstructure wont matter so much  will look amazing anyways


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## chiffonodd (May 4, 2015)

Thanks for the suggestion  that is what I am leaning toward. Here are a few more pics in case they are helpful:


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## toddnmd (May 4, 2015)

It's gonna be difficult to get an exact match. If you get specifics from the cabinet manufacturer, you might be able to determine the wood used, which would give you help in matching the grain pattern. They probably used their own stain, or they might have added some coloring to the finish. You might be able to experiment by mixing colors of stain (from something you can buy at Home Depot or Lowe's) to get something close.


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## chiffonodd (May 4, 2015)

toddnmd said:


> It's gonna be difficult to get an exact match. If you get specifics from the cabinet manufacturer, you might be able to determine the wood used, which would give you help in matching the grain pattern. They probably used their own stain, or they might have added some coloring to the finish. You might be able to experiment by mixing colors of stain (from something you can buy at Home Depot or Lowe's) to get something close.



So in other words . . . might be a wild goose chase  what would you recommend to get something close without experimenting with mixing stains? An ebony or walnut?


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## apicius9 (May 4, 2015)

Just cut out a piece from the refrigerator door  Couldn't you just get an exrtra drawer front or another 'cheap' piece from the kitchen manufacturer and have a perfect match that way? If not, my personal preference would be contrast rather than a bad match, so something like blackwood, cherry, maple etc.

Stefan


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## Bill13 (May 4, 2015)

Looks like a dark stained maple to me. I would look for the manufacturer of the cabinets and give them a call. Usually they place a logo on the interior of every top pull out drawer.An email to them with the photo might get you the wood and stain they used.


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## chiffonodd (May 4, 2015)

apicius9 said:


> Just cut out a piece from the refrigerator door  Couldn't you just get an exrtra drawer front or another 'cheap' piece from the kitchen manufacturer and have a perfect match that way? If not, my personal preference would be contrast rather than a bad match, so something like blackwood, cherry, maple etc.
> 
> Stefan



Stefan, actually an extra drawer front would be a great way to do this - if it is laminate, it would be covered on three sides. I will look into that!


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## chiffonodd (May 4, 2015)

Bill13 said:


> Looks like a dark stained maple to me. I would look for the manufacturer of the cabinets and give them a call. Usually they place a logo on the interior of every top pull out drawer.An email to them with the photo might get you the wood and stain they used.



I'll look into that too, thanks for the suggestion


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## CPD (May 4, 2015)

apicius9 said:


> Couldn't you just get an exrtra drawer front or another 'cheap' piece from the kitchen manufacturer and have a perfect match that way?



+1. If the cabinet frames have solid wood face-frames instead of a veneered finish (impossible to tell from the picture), you should be able to get some pieces. Most cabinet makers, unless 100% custom shops, will sell trim strips so you can space cabinets a little further apart, fill in a gap near a wall etc. Actually, custom makers will too...but if it wasn't part of the initial order it's less likely to get one if they don't already have pieces finished to that color on hand. I'd try them to get a piece of material. 

Otherwise, to get a close match - looks like they are stained birch or maybe maple. (I'd guess birch based on the grain that I can see but it's hard to tell). I'd pick up a small piece of one and do some test strips laying down a few different stain combos. A few tester size stains and some disposable brushes, you should be able to get very close to the final color. 

If you want to go with no stain, or limited, and don't mind different grain patterns - go for piece of walnut. Walnut's easy to work with and in the right color range. It might need a little coloring too but it's a much closer start. Ebony's and other dark exotics can be tricky to work with if not familiar with them, especially if you're plan is to recess your magnets from the back of the block so that they're hidden.

another thought - maybe glue up a piece of walnut between two maple strips to break up the look and give you a mix of matching vs. contrast?


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## Castalia (May 4, 2015)

just get a suitably sized and stained piece of wood from their cabinet maker, if you want an exact match. otherwise use walnut or stain some maple yourself.


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## pkjames (May 4, 2015)

All you need is a bit of stain. Mahogany with ebony stain will look exactly that.


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## chiffonodd (May 4, 2015)

CPD said:


> +1. If the cabinet frames have solid wood face-frames instead of a veneered finish (impossible to tell from the picture), you should be able to get some pieces. Most cabinet makers, unless 100% custom shops, will sell trim strips so you can space cabinets a little further apart, fill in a gap near a wall etc. Actually, custom makers will too...but if it wasn't part of the initial order it's less likely to get one if they don't already have pieces finished to that color on hand. I'd try them to get a piece of material.
> 
> Otherwise, to get a close match - looks like they are stained birch or maybe maple. (I'd guess birch based on the grain that I can see but it's hard to tell). I'd pick up a small piece of one and do some test strips laying down a few different stain combos. A few tester size stains and some disposable brushes, you should be able to get very close to the final color.
> 
> ...



It's a cool suggestion, especially because the maple strips would sort of match the coloring of the granite counters. Thanks!


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## chiffonodd (May 4, 2015)

chiffonodd said:


> Stefan, actually an extra drawer front would be a great way to do this - if it is laminate, it would be covered on three sides. I will look into that!



After reading more of these comments, I think the word I should have been using is veneer, not laminate?


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## CPD (May 4, 2015)

chiffonodd said:


> After reading more of these comments, I think the word I should have been using is veneer, not laminate?



If this were a woodworking forum, you might be in trouble. Here, I think you're safe. 

For what it's worth, in this context - laminate usually means a faux wood layer (wood grained paper, vinyl, plastic) and veneer is an actual (usually very thin) slice of real wood. Both are glued on top as a finish layer above some engineered substrate (plywood, MDF etc).


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## chiffonodd (May 4, 2015)

CPD said:


> If this were a woodworking forum, you might be in trouble. Here, I think you're safe.
> 
> For what it's worth, in this context - laminate usually means a faux wood layer (wood grained paper, vinyl, plastic) and veneer is an actual (usually very thin) slice of real wood. Both are glued on top as a finish layer above some engineered substrate (plywood, MDF etc).



Thanks for the clarification. Always lots for me to learn around here!


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## CutFingers (May 10, 2015)

Honestly I would use birch ply it's cheap and you can make a few designs out of one sheet. For the staining use a basic artists grade acrylic...just enough to smear and stain into the wood. Then hand rub shellac into the stained wood, it's amazing how great shellac is. Plus it's such a fun process to see the magic happen. With artist grade acrylics you can mix the color tones to get a good match. You only need a few tubes. The acrylic stains wood well and it's not as toxic as the other stuff.


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## daveb (May 10, 2015)

For something different have you considered stainless? I used these when I started hanging knives: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000C8T98/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

They "match" everything and I did not scratch any blades. The easy button.

Over time I've been replacing the stainless with Mag Bloks that I've stained to desired color.


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