You're going to stain it rather than just put a penetrating oil type finish on it? End grains absorb stain differently than edge grain or face grain, so this is a path that can be pretty darn tricky if you want a uniform color.

Yea!! Hopefully that means a picture is soon to come...Quick question, though. If you had a router, do you think it was something you could have done yourself, or is routing one of those skills that you need a lot of practice to perfect?

Staining it has always been my plan. I dislike blonde and light woods.
I know there will be differences. I'll have to work it out.
Although, I don't know if there are staining oils. Which makes sense as I think of it.
I'll have to investigate.

FWIW, I've read a few places that using a conditioner like the one from minwax, or something like Benite, can make for more even results.

I have 3 routers. Two are hand held and one is set up to be put in a router table. I might have to invest in that.

Yes, now that I know how to change the bit and how to rest it on the wood, I am confident I can practice on scrap wood and do it myself. It's definitely not hard to go down a length of wood.

I'm not so sure I'll attempt plunge routing or anything at this point. That's where you have a design or something in the middle of wood. Those drain boards on countertops are an example.

I am determined to figure out how to make the bead that beaded inset cabinets have. This is where I believe a router table would be very helpful. As expensive as beaded inset framing is, I can see the value buying a table and making my own face frames.

Then you'll want to use a wood conditioner and possibly a dye rather than a stain, depending on wood type. And have plenty of scrap on hand to practice with as controlling the depth of the color can be pretty tricky. One trick that some use is to use shellac or tung oil greatly thinned down as a quick first coat on the more porous ends and then stain. It depends on the products you plan to use if they are compatible with this method or not. I would personally recommend General Finishes products all day long and twice on Sundays over the more readily available Minwax products.

Thanks, Live_wire_oak.
I'm going to go to a commercial finishes place and look around. I'm going to take a stick of my wood.
Of all the things my DH left behind, it's his MHIC license for his business. Gets me access to lots of the "trade only" places.
Christine

Christine, the beaded inset is a piece of half round moulding applied to the inside of the face frame. If you zoom in really close on the Shiloh Homestead door on the Shiloh website it is quite clear! You can see the miter in the corner. This is how we showed our cabinet maker how to do this!!

It sounds like your kitchen is making progress...can't wait to see that counter!

Nancy

Nancy, in my determined research into making beaded inset, I've found what you've mentioned is the most common and probably the easiest way. If that's the case, I'll line my existing cabinets.

In the meanwhile, I've also read about the face frames being mitered then built with mitered corners, which meet perfectly. In theory.

We'll see. I've got so much more functional stuff to do before I can work on the decorative stuff.