I’m building the Arts and Crafts Chest by Nancy Hiller from a recent FW magazine. I found some nice quarter sawn white oak with good figure. I normally use other woods – this is my first time trying oak.
My question is about finishing. I like the look she achieved and the way the figure pops.
-What color stain does this look like?
-How best to finish it to enhance the figure?
I don’t know much about finishing oak. I appreciate any help you can give.
Replies
Many, many articles about finishing white oak in FWW all you have to do is look.
Hello,
I went to Nancy's article and at the very bottom of the article she says:
"I finished the piece with TransTint dye
in Honey Amber followed by Minwax oil
stain in Golden Oak, a thinly brushed coat
of Zinsser amber shellac applied at full
strength, and black wax"
So she starts with dye, probably water based. The point of the dye is to create a dark background for the stain. A bit of caution: water based dyes will raise the grain, so wet the chest with a damp rag - let it dry- and then sand it smooth again with light grit sandpaper. This should help minimize raised grain.
Next she applies oil stain, something I don't have any experience with...sorry :)
The tinted shellac will further darken the wood and seal it. If you have worked with canned shellac you should know to watch for brush strokes, when brushing on the shellac.
The black wax will knock down the sheen of the shellac and somewhat fill the grain, once buffed it will leave the surface smooth. Be sure to use a soft, clean cloth to buff the wax with. One problem is that a shellac and wax finish is not a water resistant finish, but if Nancy uses it, it's OK.
I hope this helps you in your project, good luck!
- Ben
Honey Amber Transtint Dye. Next, Golden Oak Minwax stain. Then amber shellac. Then Black Briwax.
Another common method is dye, then glaze (gel stain).
Jeff Jewitt has many articles about the process.
If you want to avoid raising the grain with the water based dye appliction, mix the Transtint dye in a 50/50 solution of denatured alcohol and lacquer thinner.
My favorite way to stain white oak, fill the pores with darker stain and pop the medullary rays: Seal with two coats of shellac. (Lightly sand after first coat with 320 grit.) Then, wipe on General Finishes Brown Mahogany gel stain. Wipe it on thick and immediately wipe it off completely. After it dries for 24 h, seal it with another coat of shellac. Here is a link to a project to give you a sense of the finished appearance. https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/414901
Traditional ammonia fuming followed by amber shellac retains the look of the wood the best IMO. Nothing filling or otherwise obscuring the grain.
Perhaps it's just a matter of taste but I agree wholeheartedly with _MJ_ .... oak that's a more natural colour and surface works best to show the character of oak in general; and of quarter-sawn figure in particular. Personally I wouldn't even fume it but just leave it to darken by itself, which it will over time if you don't put a UV inhibiting finish over it.
Fuming it will darken it "now", which for those not used to the pleasures of delayed gratification might seem a good thing. :-)
Even on surfaces that will work hard, I prefer a simple finish like oil. I tend to use Liberon FInishing oil, which can build a very good sheen or left (via fewer coats) slightly matt or satin under one final wax coat. It will damage from wet cups or other things splashed on it but a chest is usually free of such risks, unlike a dining table, say.
The great virtue of a simple oil finish is that it can be successfully patch-repaired. More complex finishes need the whole lot stripping off and replacing if there's an incautious splotch put on to the piece by little Johnnie or mad Uncle Ted when he's in his cups. If the woods been dyed or stained, it becomes even harder to successfully patch-repair.
And there's something, anyway, about leaving slight damage to a good piece of furniture as part of it's growing patina - the recorded history of it's use.
Colouring oak always spoils its natural look, I feel - especially with quarter-sawn. It no longer looks like oak. Covering it with layers and layers of goo can also tend to make it look rather cartoonish, especially if open grain like that of oak is filled. It might as well be an oak-printed melamine!
But excessive finishing (as I would call it) seems part of the American tradition. In Blighty there is much less emphasis on covering furniture with endless coats of this, that and the other. Things are allowed to look like what they are.
Lataxe
My favorite is light ammonia fuming if you aim at a grayish tone, the rays seem to not have tanins and stay clear as the background wood darkens. Sealed with shellac followed by the finish of your choice, here 3-4 coats of Enduro-Var semi gloss. First picture is after two hours under the ammonia tent with a comparative un-fumed. Second is after the seal-coat, then the finished product.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled