Getting the Wenge look

[boyd]

I started getting wenge (deep brown) furniture when I got my own place 3 years ago. All was well until my sister got married and dumped all her natural, pine and bleached wood furniture on me. Much as I would like to keep most of them like the bar/stemware cabinet with a white marble top, an Ikea sala set and a tall boy, they are all eyesores next to what I have.

I want to make these items projects in the weekends. How do I get that rich deep semi-flat wenge brown and make it last? Are there any particular stains that I need? what special varnish should I use?

Any advice would be appreciated

Boyd

[guad]

Probably obvious, but in general, from watching people doing remodeling, I understand that you do whatever it takes to remove the old coatings (thinner? bleach? etc.) and get down to bare wood, and then apply whatever you want.

If that were me, I would be doing the opposite, getting rid of that eyesore wenge and converting to a lighter/natural finish. :)

[boyd]

Well, wenge floats my boat... Different strokes....