Advice for finishing an Ash Rocking Chair

[Ryan Eldridge]

Hi there all,

I have been working on a rocking chair, adapting the plans from the wood magazine arts and crafts book that I got at the library. It is my first attempt at a chair so I thought I would do it in ash due to cost.

Well the chair is coming out really well except now I have a really light wood that wants to go into a room that has mostly cherry furniture.

I am thinking of using a dye to get the color darker, then covering it with some bulls eye shellac sealer, and then some hand rubbed poly.

Any suggestions on this schedule and also on the dye? I have not done a dye before, also should I do a pore filler before the dye or after?

Thanks for any advice.

[Phil Phelps]

Cherry and ash are like night and day. You'll need to practice on some of your scraps of ash to find a color you'll like. Some ash has wild grain and that grain will be a darker color when you stain. Remember you're chair is functional and will need several coats of clear finish. I don't think the wipe on products will serve that purpose well.

[Ryan Eldridge]

Phil,

Thanks for the reply what would you reccomend instead of a wipe on product?

Also, I do not want to make the ash look like cherry just darken it up some so it is blonde against a bunch of darker colored woods in the room.

[Jeff Nolan]

I really like ash, it's a pretty wood that is a lot less common than oak. It does have some finishing challenges that you have to think about before you go to work on it.

The grain is pronounced, which among other things means it takes up dye stains really aggressively resulting in a less than pleasing look. If you are trying to dye it up to be more complimentary to cherry you will be disappointed, IMO, and the resulting effect will be to highlight the contrast more than anything else. Ash is very clear so adding color is essential, I would try to bring it up to a honey amber or warm pine, which should compliment the cherry pieces quite nicely.

You might try sealing the wood with a washcoat of shellac and apply a gel stain on top of it, then go with a wipe on polyurethane top coat.

If I were you what I would do first is pull a handful of your scraps and experiment with some different recipes (I use a sharpie to write what I did on the back of each scrap I finish). The thing to keep in mind is that you want to control how much color is being absorbed by the wood so use shellac and gel stains.

[Phil Phelps]

Phil,

Thanks for the reply what would you reccomend instead of a wipe on product?

Also, I do not want to make the ash look like cherry just darken it up some so it is blonde against a bunch of darker colored woods in the room.

Ryan, I haven't finished anything by hand in years. You should be able to do a really good job with varnish and a china bristle brush. I'd use a low luster or satin finish. I think an amber stain would be a good companion to the ash. Ever seen a butterscotch Telecaster guitar? http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0100202850

[Scott Holmes]

Phil,

Wipe-on POLY, which I never use, is nothing more than regular poly that is thinned 50% or more with MS. It builds slower, but the end result of wipe-on vs brush-on (3 coats to 1 coat); the final finish is the same.

Wipe-on varnish is still varnish.

Ryan,

Pick a non-poly varnish; you will be very pleased. Clarity is better AND with the non poly varnishes you don't HAVE TO SAND BETWEEN COATS. With poly you must.

Sanding a rocking chair (between each) sounds like a bad idea to me.

On ash you can use just about any non poly varnish. Waterlox and Behlen's Rock Hard are phenolic resin varnishes and are dark amber in color; an alkyd resin varnishes like Sherwin Williams Classic, Cabot #8000 series or Pratt & Lambert #38 ( My Fav) are top quality non poly varnishes.

[Ryan Eldridge]

Hey guys thank you for the responses. Yesterday I picked up some sample pigment stains to test on some sample boards. I will let you know how it goes.

Also, Scott thank you for the advice on using a different varnish than the poly. I was really not wanting to have to sand between every coat. I will look at the P&L #38 and or the waterlox.

Thanks again and I will let you all know how it goes.

By the way the Ash has been really nice to work with, so far it has cut and machined nicely with minimal chip out and my wife really likes the how the grain stands out.

Just need to convince her on the finish now.