I am doing some shaker cabinet doors where I want the Rails and Stiles to be a really deep brown like what you see on the edges of the attached image.
I am using red oak and am having difficulty finding a way to get the wood to go that dark a color. I have been working with combos of red mahogany, honey, espresso and Jacobean but can't seem to find a mix that even after several applications will go that dark. Any help is appreciated.

Attached image?

Hmm. I will try attaching again as well as posting a link.

View higher quality, full size image (640 X 640)

Get some Sherwin Williams BAC Wiping Stain. You can get almost black with one application on oak. They have several stock colors and will custom mix any color you want. Here's a photo of some rift sawn white oak I did with a custom BAC Wiping Stain.

Let's try that again.

View higher quality, full size image (2272 X 1704)

Ha. Glad to see I am not the only one having issues with getting an image to post. Thanks John for the tip. I will go over to my local SW and see what they can tell me.

I had another guy post me about using a combination of concentrated black tea to raise the tannin and then using a stain made from steel wool that had soaked in apple cider vinegar for a couple of days. I don't suppose you have tried that or had any thoughts?

Use a lacquer stain where you can spray
as many coats as you want.

You need to use a dye first then stain

Nicko.

Any time that you have problems posting images, be sure to let me know - I can help or I can post your image for you. Don't hesitate to contact me - webmaster@woodweb.com.

Like Tony said, you need to get a toner and spray that on first, then stain over the toner, and then your couple coats of clear over that:

I'm with Niko.
Try some aniline dye first maybe.

Sorry I meant to say I agree with Nicko, you need a toner or a dye to get a dark color.

You can also use a coarser sand paper than you would normally use.

Yes, you can dye it first and then stain it, or you can use something like SW's BAC Wiping Stain which has both dye and stain in it.

One coat on white oak.

OK, maybe now.

View higher quality, full size image (1600 X 1200)

The color you're doing is not much different than what I'm currently doing as far as depth of color. It's hard to get depth like that in one step. What I do is apply twice and sometimes follow up after sanding the first seal coat. Adding either full strength or diluted base color. Which you can also do initially. I'm currently doing a very dark cherry project using GF rtm stains where I diluted the base stain to 70% and apply it twice (wait for it to dry completely) which should give 140% of the base stain color and I'm color correcting after sanding the 2nd seal coat.

my 2cts

The OP asked how to get a dark brown on red oak. The BAC Wiping Stains will do that. If you want a lot of depth, too, then yes you need to go a different route. However, I'm not sure you can make that happen with red oak no matter what process you use. I'd like to see some photos if it is.

John

Hey everyone, thanks for the responses. I have decided to go the route of a wood dye as that seems to allow me to get the custom color I am looking for and for it to work with the finish. I wanted to ask a couple of additional questions based on the feedback above.
1. If red oak wouldn't work, would white oak be a better selection?
2. To up the game a bit, I am thinking about using an airbrush for applying the dye in order to get some really smooth transition. Thoughts on this?
3. This is for a kitchen so I want a finish that has some depth and will be easy to clean. I was thinking either a satin poly or shellac. OIl would be great but I just don't see it being practical for the kitchen.
Thanks again for all the thoughtful responses.

Airbrush? Use a spray gun if you want to finish this year. Choose a KCMA rated finish for the topcoat. Shellac would be a really poor choice except for someone who never cooks. And if you want to use an oil based product you could. Waterlox is very durable, but best applied by hand and not something I'd want to do for an entire kitchen's worth of cabinets..

Be sure to test any finish system of interest to make sure it's all compatible. When in doubt, stick with one manufacture's products. .

John

Saman stains are pretty intense, don't raise the grain, and water clean-up.