So have him stain or paint the oak. Red oak stains beautifully. No need to remake the doors.

Is this a gag post of some sort?

IMO hickory is usually chosen for its natural look so staining it makes no sense to me. I don't like the grain and color variation so maybe show us at least where the doors are going with the pics including the room. I have no idea why you would not just stain the oak and be done

Every piece of wood will be different and it matters not the species you are working with, Go get boards and test on your site.

"Is this a gag post of some sort?"

What on earth would lead you to believe this is a gag post??

I did stain the oak doors, used Provencial. I'm not sure if its the grain or what, but I just don't like them very much -- what else can I say? They're not ugly by any means and other people looking at them will probably find them quite nice, but if I have a choice of what wood to use and there's something I will like better, why not use that instead?

Patricia -- do you mean you don't like the grain and color variation in hickory? Or are you talking about oak? My hickory kitchen cabs aren't the crazy calico patterns you sometimes see, the color variation and transitions are on the subtler side. But yea, I know some people just don't like it. Which is fine -- I mean, I'm on here complaining about the oak, right? LOL!

I got that the oak is the issue but honestly I still do not inderstand how a dark stain on tthe oak could not work and save the expense of buying a much more expensive wood thta could possibly have a lot more grain than the oak.

Why are you all throwing tomatoes at me because I don't like the oak doors? Sheesh...

Will this help? Stained hickory interior doors

Perhaps you’re not receiving the examples you’re looking for, because the great majority of homes do not have hickory doors…not on kitchen cabs, exterior doors, or interior doors. Quite frankly, it’s busyness turns most folks off.

As for the pushback you’re getting…I think many here think what you’re wanting to do is kind of spoiled, and wasteful. Your husband made doors you asked for, with his own hands. Now you say, you don’t like them, because they’re natural red oak. You’d prefer a medium-dark stained door…and want your husband to make new closet doors, but with hickory, which you’ll stain.

So, people are asking…why not just stain the oak doors, instead of casting them aside? You seem not to even want to consider this option. To go purchase wood of a different species for your husband to again hand make replacement doors…when you’re not even sure how hickory doors will look stained, seems wasteful and entitled.

If I read your dilemma correctly, you are not ditching the oak doors. You need additional closet doors and would like to use a different wood this time around. I don't think that's a gag post, nor is it entitled and wasteful. Too much judging going on here.

Well, Diana, some of us did not interpret mxk3’s words, as you have. Our understanding is, she’s having her husband remake the closet doors he just finished…not making a different set of doors for another closet. I’d say her wording could be clearer.

Perhaps the OP could clarify the dilemma.

Refer to this to my original post:

"Reason I ask is DH has to make another set of closet doors and I'm debating using hickory or pine this time around."

This time around...and DH is making ANOTHER set of closet doors. So I'm not wasting anything, nor am I acting entitled -- regardless of what wood species he uses, I have to pay for wood for the next set of closet doors.

Why not just stain the doors, you ask? Why don't I even consider that as an option? Uh.....refer to this in my second post:

"I did stain the oak doors, used Provencial."

I came on here with a request for pics with an accompanying explanation, because of course people will respond with why are asking, and people proceed to throw tomatoes at me seemingly for not liking oak and then I get accused of being spoiled, wasteful, and entitled by a poster who obviously didn't read what was right in front of them....the ridiculousness of what the innocuous original post has turned in to is rather amusing in a strange, head-scratching sort of way...

Another set of closet doors, could mean…another set of closet doors to replace the doors you didn’t like. Enough of us saw it that way. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Anyway, in all my 73 years, I’ve never been in a home with hickory anything, let alone closet doors. Perhaps somebody out there has…

"Another set of closet doors, could mean…another set of closet doors to replace the doors you didn’t like. Enough of us saw it that way."

All right...fair enough.

So, I'll put things a different way for the sake of clarity:

• I am keeping the oak doors.
• DH is making an additional set of doors for a different room, which I would like to be made of a wood species other than oak.
• The new doors are not going to replace the oak doors.
• All doors will be stained.

The pronouncements of me being spoiled, wasteful, and entitled were uncalled for - a simple request for more clarity would have sufficed.

I think do what you want and we cannot help anymore than we have . I have no clue as to why you insist on hickory and then want to stsin it to look like something else

I agree @porkchop_z5b_MI, the whole discussion has gone off the boards, and lots of these comments were unnecessary and rude.

I'm sorry I cannot help you--most of the wood in my home is oak, cherry or pine.

It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good. I have suggestions for lurkers with questions, whether it be wood finishing or something else. A few things to do as well as NOT TO DO when asking for advice. Just spit the facts out and ask folks to fill in the steps necessary to accomplish your goal. Don't toss irrelevant info into the mix, that only obscures relevant info.

"Here's a picture of grain and color I'd like to duplicate in a custom built door. Anyone have suggestions for wood species,stain color/brand and procedure?"

Alternately "I adore the appearance of ebony but can't afford the cost. Anyone have suggestions for a more affordable wood and stains to duplicate ebony?"

Pics of stained hickory

mxk3 z5b_MIyesterday

either cabinets or doors -- anyone have any? Easy to find pics of natural hickory, stained not so much. ,,,,,Which tells us stained Hickory is pretty uncommon but I want you folks to search on my behalf anyhow.,,,,,,,,

Reason I ask is DH has to make another set of closet doors and I'm debating using hickory or pine this time around. The last set of doors he made he used solid red oak, the craftsmanship is fine but I'm not happy with them. Truth be told, I just really don't like the oak all that much. (floors are fine, doors are different story). I like pine, but I've heard it's a bear to get a good stain (don't want natural pine). I can easily get hickory locally and it should be easy to stain. I have natural hickory kitchen cabinets and love them, but that wouldn't look good in the bedrooms, I want a medium to medium-dark stain,,,,,,,but I'm totally undecided as far as hue. Please find pictures of Hickory stained in various hues and surely one will be to my liking.,,,,,,, so just looking for pics to give me an idea what that might look like before I go buy a few boards to play around with.,,,,,,,,Lastly since Hickory is renowned for unpredictable grain,figure and color,please find various wood characteristics stained in various hues. This shouldn't require more than 2k pictures to cover the spectrum so this shouldn't take much of your time. Meanwhile I'll be planning my next vacation.

That concludes this commentary on efficient posting to elicit efficient solutions.

^^ Do you feel better now after getting that off your chest?

"so just looking for pics to give me an idea what that might look like before I go buy a few boards to play around with.,,,,,,,,Lastly since Hickory is renowned for unpredictable grain,figure and color,please find various wood characteristics stained in various hues. This shouldn't require more than 2k pictures to cover the spectrum so this shouldn't take much of your time. Meanwhile I'll be planning my next vacation."

If someone came on the board asking hey does anyone have pics of hickory cabinets (which I have), I would assume poster was looking for real-life pics of what other posters have in their homes -- that is not a stretch to assume that. And I would gladly share said pics to give someone a visual that they might find helpful, one fellow poster to another rather than typing giving someone a good hand-slapping mixed with a healthy does of snark or directly insulting them by judging them to be spoiled, wasteful, and entitled.

What the h*ll is in the water this weekend?!? It's utterly baffling how some threads devolve into this nonsense.

Now I want to have some hickory doors made and post pics of them just for spite...

I agree with you, totally uncalled for, especially that last diatribe.

BTW, you (or anyone else) can flag a post as being inappropriate.

Cabinet company.....read ALL text.

The reason you can't find a picture of stained ? Is because someone who DID stain a door, or an entire kitchen , would have to see your post.

Hickory begs not to be stained, due to the variation in the species, present in its natural state.

Truth? People like uniformity in wood anything. There are probably 500 kitchen threads , different species, where someone is disappointed with the doors - showing a pronounced difference between stile, rail etc. Or frame and drawer face, or, or.

I tried finding an example of a STAINED hickory kitchen.........nope. People enjoy hickory ( or don't ) because of the existing variation in that species........( god bless the internet )

"Note that gel and light stains are preferred for hickory hardwood, as they highlight the grain, while darker stains will hide the contrast for which the hardwood is known."

Here's a u tube using Zar, in Mocha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lAWzn_sqKM

another on the entire topic, To stain or not to stain........and who used what

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=41328.0

Heres' rustic hickory with "morel" in a kitchen

Dura Supreme cabinetry

A door, same cabinet company...with "cappucino"

Or............as most do..........leave it alone: ) and clear coat

But the larger point? You will have to test. I would use Zar over Minwax........more options.

Wow it worked! yesterday morning houzz didn't like my pics or comments but these are hickory cabinets from a previous house we purchased through home depot. Don't care for the striped look hickory can have but loved those durable cabinets.

And this is the engineered hickory floors in our current house. Since both the cabinets and floor came to us prefinished we don't know what stain was used but it’s a tough beautiful wood that would make great doors:)

Hickory is noted for it's medium close grain, it's hardness on the Janka scale, and wild variable color mix of heart and sapwood. It is NOT noted for being stained dark and uniform. You know what IS? Oak. Oak is easily stained dark and uniform, partly because of it's open grain and uniformity in color. That's just one reason you aren't finding dark stained hickory pictures.

Perhaps you have plain sawn red oak with a poor stain job, rather than the beautiful in grain and color rift and quartered look like old Craftsman homes used. No one knows, because you shared no pictures of your existing to say what you didn't like about it. I cannot imagine anyone preferring stained hickory over this. Especially splotchy dark stained hickory. Oak isn't that hard to stain that you should have such an aversion to the results of the first doors.

If one is considering non-traditional finish for cabinets, trim or floors I'd suggest a hard look at manmade products. Like most things there's an abundance of poor examples relying on price to sell products but there's great ones as well. There's no limit on possible appearance plus cost and durability can rival natural wood that requires exceptional skill and extra labor to accomplish unconventional finish. I'm not a fan of engineered for my home but I'm a lesser fan of altering one species to make it appear as a different species. Manmade has become a game changer where surface is exposed to the elements. To my knowledge there's no longer wood products available that doesn't warp and deteriorate when used for decks . Fiberglass enter doors are rapidly replacing wood where natural wood appearance is desired. With demand already exceeding available forest, how long can it be until manmade becomes the norm for cabinets and floors?

Red birch will take stain very well if you decide to go with another wood. Many woodworkers love to work with it.

Here is a photo with dark stain:

Red Birch Elegance · More Info

I could not find any photos of dark stained hickory cabinets or doors, but I did find this photo of dark stained hickory floors.

Custom Dark Stained Hickory Flooring · More Info

Buy interior custom doors online, or through local Lumber yard. We don't even know the closet door style, or if the wood will be appropriate to that style.

Never thought it would be so hard to find darker stained hickory interior doors.

Here's a couple:

Did you consider cherry at all?

Good luck!

Birch is difficult to stain and hickory is prone to twisting & warping. Hickory is also very hard, difficult to work and dulls tools quickly.

Thanks for the pics, they're helpful. I like the look of the stained hickory floors and cabinets in this post, I think it will be worth playing around with some sample boards to see what I come up with.

Went to the lumbar yard today, ended up getting boards of both hickory and quarter sawn white oak, I'll play around with staining those and see if I like the end result. (first set of doors was plain sawn red oak).

Saw this thread but didn't realize it had gone off the rails or I would have responded earlier.

Here is a picture of my 34 yo Kraftmaid Hickory cabinets. This was a very popular style and wood in the early 90s. One of our kitchen stores had a huge display kitchen of this line for years. Cabinets may look a little more red than irl due to wall color. Walls currently Svelte Sage.

My previous house had stained hickory kitchen cabinets. We originally wanted walnut but our cabinet maker suggested hickory for it's durability and said he could (and did) choose less rustic pieces or wood. Here are a couple of pics.

These pics are just beautiful. I'm looking forward to seeing how my sample boards come out.