Darkening oak

[The Restorer]

If you're going to have a go at fuming take care. It'll burn your eyes and affect your sight permanantly if you're not careful :shock:

Follow the manufacturers instructions and get the safety kit.

If you want to read up on fuming most of the american woody sites are heavily into it and you should find advice there.

.880 ammonia is available from Richard Barrys if you're looking for a supplier.

 

[humanfish]

sorry to jump on the end of an old post

I have nearly finished these hall chairs, made of oak, and i want to stain them darker using van dyke.

When i have sanded them as usual and applied the stain will the grain rise alot? Would it be advisable to dampen the oak before to raise the grain and sand it back, then stain after this.
I just thought that if i used the stain and the grain rose, sanding it back might ruin the stain finish and appearance.

I was also wondering if i can put sanding sealer over something like van dyke, i expect it is fine i just thought i'd check. I have a little liberon spirit sealer to use up.

sorry to hijack once again
b_h

 

[Colin C]

Hi b_h

Yes you should dampen the chairs before and sand before you stain it, but if you do it twice, you will find that you should have no problems after

Also the sanding sealer will be fine over the van dyke and hope to see some pics when there are finished

 

[humanfish]

thanks colin, thats great
i'll be sure to post some completed photos
regards
b_h

 

[Colin C]

b_h

You sanding chairs brings back memorys for me when I started as a cabinet maker/restorer :roll: .

I used to get the chairs to sand and remember getting a set of 10 ( for painting ) and a set of 12 for polishing.

I ended up with bleeding thumbs :shock:
As you can guess I know a little about sanding chairs :wink:
Ps They are very nice from what I can see but more pic's :roll:

 

[bobscarle]

B_H

I saw Norm dampen some oak once in order to raise the grain before applying a finish. He suggested using distilled water to prevent any minerals in tap water colouring the wood. I haven't tried this yet but I will give it a go when I come to finish some oak.

Bob