Method of color matching wood stains

A method of producing a finish for a selected wood substrate, wherein the finish provides the selected wood substrate with a color that matches the color of a target object, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a spectrophotometer;
• providing a plurality of different colorants, wherein none of the colorants are a white colorant;
• providing a vehicle for producing semitransparent wood stain;
• providing at least one database containing spectral data for the colorants as applied to at least one type of wood;
• obtaining reflectance measurements of the target object using the spectrophotometer;
• performing calculations to determine the quantities of at least one group of the colorants required to produce a semitransparent wood stain from the vehicle, wherein when the semitransparent wood stain is applied to the selected wood substrate, the selected wood substrate will have a color that matches the target object, and wherein the calculations are performed using the spectral data of the colorants and the reflectance measurements of the target object;
• producing the semitransparent wood stain from the vehicle and the at least one group of colorants;
• staining a portion of the selected wood substrate with the semitransparent wood stain;
• obtaining reflectance measurements of the stained portion of the selected wood substrate using the spectrophotometer;
• and
• determining whether the color of the stained portion of the selected wood substrate is within a certain color tolerance of the color of the target object, wherein the determination is made using the reflectance measurements of the target object and the reflectance measurements of the stained portion of the selected wood substrate.