Comments on: Authentic Stickley Finish With Modern Materials

By: LHWoodworking

LHWoodworking — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:47:02 +0000

Quick question Mr. Lang. Instead of using an amber shellac, what would you think of adding a Transtint amber dye directly to a brushing laquer? I use Old Master’s brushing laquer, and it just goes on so well that I just couldn’t bear to use a shellac.

By: wood_chippie

wood_chippie — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 11:19:06 +0000

That certainly is a beautiful piece of stickley furniture. I was wondering where I could get a float that is long enough to trim my tenons. The finishing sure beats fumed ammonia.

By: EricT

EricT — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 17:35:27 +0000

I’ll be dealing with some quarter sawn white oak in an upcoming project, and the wife has asked me to highlight the ray flecks in the oak while still achieving the brown tones associated with mission furniture in the surrounding wood. Can anyone suggest a method of finishing that will accomplish this?

Thanks!

By: sloughin

sloughin — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:03:18 +0000

Very nice color. I’ve build a couple pieces from your measured drawings books, and I follow a very similar finishing process, though my first step has been VanDyck crystals (which are made from walnut shells) dissolved in water. This seems to stain the medullary rays better than oil. I follow that with the Watco Danish Oil (Walnut) then proceed as you do with amber shellac and possibly poly-varnish, depending on the likelihood of alcoholic beverage contact.

By: Steve Barnhart

Steve Barnhart — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:45:47 +0000

Beautiful finish, Bob. Thanks for the thorough write-up.

By: t.d.reid68

t.d.reid68 — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:09:08 +0000

Bob,
I am building A&C style furniture to refurnish my Ohio bungalow and I have had great luck with your finishing process found in “Popular Woodworking’s Arts & Crafts Furniture 25 Projects for Every Room in Your Home”. Particularly the process listed in the A&C Bookcase by Kara Gebhart-Uhl. I have a lot of requests from people on Lumberjocks.com wanting to know what I used. The Golden Amber Maple aniline dye makes the ray flecks jump off the board and the Heavy-bodied glaze fills in the voids in the grain. Combined it gives your A&C projects that look everyone expects to find in this style of furniture. Thanks so much for this formula it has made my life so much easier.