I’m in the midst of trying to finish a desk for my wife and this is really my first attempt at finishing. I have read about 5 books on finishing and my mind is numb. Would you mind validating that I’m on the right track here so I don’t waste a boat load of money on finishing products that aren’t compatible together or make sure I’m not over complicating things.
The re-engineered desk can be found at:
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p7743/index.cfm?pkey=gthmhob
There is a swatch also available on the page.
The project uses MDF ASH, home made 2/32 edgebanding from ash and a web frame also made from ash.
The finish that I’m trying to accomplish is a black (ebonized) finish that deemphasize the grain. Due to the large pores in the wood I’d like to partially fill them. I still want to have some grain texture..but not a lot.
So here is my approach.
1. Disassemble the piece.
2. Brush on wash coat of 1 lb cut dewaxed shellac (though I have thought about getting a wood conditioner I have read they are basically the same)
– Reason I was doing this was to ensure that the dye coats evenly on the different materials used in the piece.
– To helping remove some of the grain filler in a future step.
3. Pad or brush on a NGR aniline dye stain and leave it on. Sneak up on the color with a few coats. I might need a retarder in order to do this by hand.
-Reason I was doing this was to slightly deemphasize the grain
– Also to make sure I don’t raise the grain on the mdf veneer which is quite thin.
4. Apply an Oil based grain filler. Let dry and sand. Not sure If I will need to have the filler darkened or not.
– Reason Partially fill the grain.
– Reason that I was thinking oil based was so that I can stain it after if I need to use a dye or a wiping stain to fill in some of the open grain.
5. Reassemble the piece.
6. Apply a lacquer or a water based poly acrylic finish.
Of course I will pratice on scrap…just didn’t want to go buy all this stuff and not even be close.
Does this seem like a sensible approach? Any and all comments would be very welcome.
Replies
I've been doing a lot of dark staining lately to match the dark window and door casings of the rest of the house.
If you're trying to get a dark stain, forget the wood conditioner. It works by limiting stain penetration, so you'll be forever unable to get it dark enough after the treatment.
Oil based grain filler tends not to accept stain too well, that's why they come pre-colored. Rockler's Wonderfil tends to take stain to some degree. It actually blends nicely with Watco.
I am trying to match a deep brown that has somewhat of a reddish tint. One of the species is hickory, which has huge pores, and when I tried to dye, it turned the pores black. So I went with filling. Bartley's followed by a walnut pigment got the right shade, but removing oil paste, particularly from the profiled casing is too much trouble. Wonderfil was easier to work and sand down, but sometimes didn't sit in the pores well, and made the pores blotchy.
What I've settled on is Watco dark walnut first(I probably should have used black walnut, but I had some from an oak project and didn't realize there was a darker shade available). It seemed to magically avoid the pores I didn't want darkened (randomly distributed ones in the plain sapwood), and only moderately darkened the pores I didn't mind so much (along the growth lines), without any filler. On the final wipe-up of the Watco, try to really absorb the excess from the pores with slow, hard pressure and frequent paper towel changes. The asphaltum disperses somewhat as a dye so it doesn't blacken too much. Result was medium brown.
After the Watco, I went over with a water-based dye of two darkish reddish brown powders, but a redder NGR concentrate (Trans-tint). Yeah, I know, water over oil? Actually, a single coat of any finish isn't water tight, so after wiping the dye around a bit, it eventually stops beading and starts penetrating. The oil controls the penetration rate, so you can take it slow, and it comes out evenly. Plus, since the top fibers were oiled, the grain doesn't become raised (no sanding needed). (!) The dye does respond to the grain, so it's not just a surface treatment. I use a Work Shop heavy-duty paper towel folded up.
Afterward, I hit it next with cut, tinted, dewaxed shellac (1:1 alcohol to a 1-lb cut) to get to the right shade in several passes (dry in between).
Then I go with a wiping varnish to seal in the color and provide extra protection.
I've sanded with 1000 grit to smooth out the tinted shellac lap marks.
Do not use undyed shellac as a top coat over the tinted shellac unless you like the look of blotched tinting where the solvent partially dissolves the lower layers then the untinted shellac mixes in.
On my new poplar baseboard, I used a gel stain instead of Watco to limit the absorption in the porous thin lines that makes a digusting blotchiness if dyed directly. I did the same for the pine jambs and sashes of the new windows.
In addition to getting the shading right, there's a rich deepness in the color (three different layers) that has been generating comments.
Maybe I should document this technique in a FWW article?
good luck,
---mike...
Ok a little up date here and a question.
I have continue on my first quest here in finishing.
This is what I bought.
An ngr dye
one oil based filler
Shellac flakes
Oil/Acrylic finish.
Here is my experiment with finishing
I cut the dye with denatured alhocol as per directions and applied with a cloth pad..was a bit streaky but I managed to get it working after adding a retarder.
I then mixed the shellac flakes the with achohol as per directions the purpose of this was suppose to be to lock down the color.
As soon as I put the wash coast 1lb cut shellac the solvent immidiately started to disolve the dye and ruin the nice dye job i had worked on before?
What gives? According to all the books i have read this is the way to do it.? Since the dye doesn't have a binder i'm not supprised this happened but I'm beside myself what to do about it? What am I suppose to use for a washcoast? I don't want to use oil as a washcoat becuase the solvent probably dilte the oil filler i have and I don't want to use water becuase of grain raising?
Please help.
M
m71 wrote:
As soon as I put the wash coast 1lb cut shellac the solvent immidiately started to disolve the dye and ruin the nice dye job i had worked on before?Um, yeah, same as I mentioned about putting a clear shellac layer on top of a tinted shellac glaze coat. I think you can do it if you have a sprayer and do very thin layers that you don't physically push around and that dry almost immediately. I don't have a sprayer.My recommendation is to use a wiping varnish; I make my own with Miniwax gloss plus just enough mineral spirits to flatten completely when wiping. As long as you're not trying to get color into (vs on top of) the wood, you can completely seal. Scuff with 400 grit (very lightly if using only one coat of wiping varnish), then shellac over it. Do you really need the shellac, or was that just as a washcoat for the oil?I don't know what your concern is with oil varnish over the paste. Once the paste dries, it's not going anywhere. Unless you've seen differently... I've walnut oil-stained over oil-filler on hickory, and it gave the best results, but was too much trouble to remove the filler on the profiled door casing. How do you remove the filler without sanding?If you want the shellac, make sure it's dewaxed, or you'll have trouble sticking your top coat.---mike...
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