Help with finishing diy stand.

[jagermeister]

My diy stand has an oak plywood finish. I've noticed in the hardware stores that there's about a hundred different mouldings made from pine and then a handful made of oak. A couple of questions:
1. I'm guessing that if the finish is oak then you want oak moulding. Is this true? Or will pine work and you won't be able to tell the difference once it's stained.
2. The oak plywood I'm finishing with is pretty light in color. All the oak mouldings I've seen are pretty dark in color. Do I need to look around for light colored oak moulding or will everything tend to blend in once it's stained.
Any and all help and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[sacker8472]

The plywood is likely red oak and the molding may be white oak. In my experience, you will get some color variation between the two. If you use pine molding you will definitely have a variation. I would try some stain on some scrap pieces of the plywood and molding to see if the color variation is something you can live with. Also, you may try to stain the molding and the plywood with different colors to get a contrast between the two. I have done this before with very nice results.

 

[me-n-my-fish]

If you want it to match seamlessly (sp) then try to find the same type molding, or as close as ya can get. Then, like was said, try to match with diff stains. But, IME, A lighter molding, kinda sets it off.
One thing tho, i has always put about 4 coats of polyuratane (sp) on the stands that i have made. AFTER you stain it. This will seal the wood. So it will not stain or if ya have any water accidents, you just wipe it off and no damage is done to your stand.

 

[slick]

IMO it would be better to use oak trim. Oak has a different grain pattern than pine. You can stain pine to match the oak but it will take some testing. Oak is much harder than pine also so make sure you pre drill your nail holes.

 

[sacker8472]

You may also want to look for some molding at Rockler.com. They have a pretty good selection and sell most styles in oak. Personally, I would glue the molding on instead of nailing it, but that is just my opinion.

 

[dreeves]

Mix your wood...if you can find mouldings out of different types of hardwoods....some very expensive, handcrafted furniture is made out of just that, mixed wood. Look at a Cherry moulding if you could find one...I have also used Birch to accent Red Oak with...very nice. Stains up about the same but with the different grain patterns.
Anyone can put Oak on Oak...it is the artist who mix and come up with the perfect combination...