How to turn WHG to Brown Sugar?

[Ray]

Russell,

I have a new full 5 gallon bucket of WHG stain and would like to darken the color to Brown Sugar.  I asked you this question on phone last year and I remember you telling me I can just add black to it to change the color.  Can you tell me what type of black solution I need to tell the hardware store I need and how much I need to add to 5 gallons to change the color?

Thanks,

Ray

[Russell Cissell]

You want to ask for a Tinting Black for oil based stain.
It is also sometimes called Mass Tone Black or Lamp Black

It would be just about 6 ml of black per gallon of Honey Gold.
There are 29.573 ml in an ounce, so one ounce of black to a 5 gallon pail would be just about right.  It would be better to go a little light on the black if anything.  If you add to much black, the stain will get a bit of a green tint to it.

If you do happen to add too much black and the stain has a green tint to it, just add some red to return it to a nice brown color.  Red Transoxide or Transparent Red Oxide for oil based paint or stain.