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Corbels: Which wood should you choose?
Most of wood corbels are available in your choice of Hard Maple, Red Oak, White Oak, Cherry, Alder, or White hardwoods. They come to you triple sanded and ready to accept your desired finish. Before you choose your hardwood, we strongly suggest you consider your specific project:
If you intend to paint your corbels one solid color; the best wood types for your project is Alder, Maple, or White hardwood. A nice, tight grain is a characteristic of these wood types, and since the opaque quality of the paint will cover the grain in the end, these wood varieties are the most cost effective for your project.
If you intend to stain your corbels and wish to match an existing stain, Maple and Alder is the wisest choice. These varieties are lighter in color and possess a minimal grain. Apply the stain in layers until you achieve the depth of stain you desire. Maple and Alder are the most forgiving of the varieties and are considered to be the most user-friendly.
If you wish to stain White Hardwood, be aware that this hardwood is less dense than the wood varieties. This quality allows the wood to absorb stain the most extensively, so the utmost care must be taken with the application. Vigilance is required when applying the stain, since any overlapping of layers will show clearly. With White Hardwood, you must work quickly and carefully.
If you wish to match existing Cherry cabinet components finished in a clear varnish, select a Cherry corbel and finish it in clear varnish as well. The same rule can be applied for matching Oak finished in a clear varnish.
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When matching wood types and finish with existing cabinets check with the cabinet manufacturer or the store your bought the cabinets from to find out what finsh they used. This way when you stain or finish your corbels they will match your existing cabinetry.
- John, August 30th, 2011 at 9:56 am
That’s right.. In most application it’s best to use the same type of wood that the cabinets are made of. In some cases, people prefer to paint the brackets, rather then staining then. In this case, I would choose the most inexpensive wood species..
- Alexander, September 26th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
If you have a unique wood you can use maple wood and then gel stain to get the desired color match.
- James, September 29th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
James–typically people would use Gel Stains on non-wood products. Gel stain is a substance that you can use to achieve stain-like results.
You are right by saying “if you have a unique wood you can use maple wood” but instead of using Gel stain to achieve the color you are going for–just change up the tint of the wood stain~ (This will give you natural wood stain, rather than a feaux stain [to look like real stain])
If you have any questions regarding the Gel Stain, I would ask your local paint specialists–they all carry Gel Stain by MinWax
- Belle, October 12th, 2011 at 2:31 pm