Dark brown rosewood finish

Rose wood is very beautiful and exotic wood. The rose wood has reddish brown color with black strip with very strong character grain pattern. This wood is an expensive wood, with the right finishing then he could produce a nice, luxury and interesting product. In this article we write about rosewood finish which is exploring its natural beauty. A transparent dark brown color finish with dark strip. 

dark brown rosewood finish panel

Here is the finishing process step by step:

• The preparation of the unfinished wood.

The preparation of unfinished wood is one very important. The sanding process must be done right to make sure that the wood has smooth and even surface. The rosewood contains oil inside that could affect the finish. Wipe the wood surface with rag dampened with acetone at the first finishing process. It will help to minimize the oil problem. If the rosewood veneer is used, then the veneer gluing must be done properly. Veneer conditioner is needed to help soften the veneer in the process veneer lamination. (see our previous article: rosewood veneer). 

hand pad to enhance the grain 

• Hand pad.

Had pad is used as first staining process to enhance and maximize the beauty of the grain. The black pad stain is applied by hand padding technique. Hand pad is done according to the grain pattern. Make a thin black line according to the grain pattern. The hand pad should be done properly to make vogue black lines that are well blend with the natural black strip from the rosewood. 

Do highlights to soften the black lines looked from the stain. Sand the black stain on the wood by sandpaper or steel wool to smoother the black stain. The black stain has to be looked natural as it comes from the wood. 

 the hand pad according to the wood grain

•  The stain application

To produce a darker color we require body stain application. Spray a dark black stain to the entire surface evenly. Then do the highlights on the stain. Use sandpaper or steel wool to wipe the stain according to the grain pattern. The proper highlight will enhance and maximize the grain pattern, and more alive finishing looked will be obtained. 

The stain application to make dark color

• Sealer application.

Sealer is layered when the staining is correctly done. For this finish the catalyzed clear coating is recommended. The PU or acid catalyzed sealer will reduce the problems from the oil from the wood. The catalyzed clear coating is also built stronger film layer that more proper for the clean looked finish.  In this finishing process we used Pu clear coating.
Apply wet coat of PU sealer by spray evenly to the entire surface. Let it dry and then sand the sealer. The PU sealer need long time to dry, it need at least 1 hour to make sure the sealer is dry. The sanding for the PU sealer need to be done properly. Use # 360 grade sandpaper to sand the sealer.
Repeat the sealer application and the sanding operation to produce enough film built. Usually we need two times or three time sealer application to produce even and smooth finish. 

 the rosewood finish

• Application of top coat.

After sufficient film built is obtained then the next process is the top coat application. Check the color and the finishing quality; make sure the color is uniform and right already. We may need to add strain if necessary.
Check also the sanding quality; make sure there is no orange peel or deep scratches on the sealer. Use # 400 grade to sand the sealer before the top coat application.
Apply the semi gloss or high gloss PU top coat for this finish. Spray a layer of PU top coat evenly to the surface, let it dry. The result is a nice, elegant, and luxury black rosewood cabinet