1st Attempt at Stained Oak

[Richard Madden]

It's been a while since I've posted any pictures. Getting the stuff out for pics and actually taking them is one of those least favorite things for me, right up there with sanding.:mad:Seems I waited until I had about 5 or 6 pieces done, and took pictures of all of them, so now I can bore the heck out of you guys. This one was inspired by Bill Neddow, and Curt Fuller who both showed some cool pieces, so I thought I'd give one a try. This is Oak with a Holly finial. On the Oak I tried the vinegar/steel wool solution, but the side grain didn't get very black, so I dyed it. Then I put about 4 coats of WOP gloss followed by white shoe polish. Finding white shoe polish sounds like it would be easy doesn't it?? Why, just go to any place like Walmart, Kmart, Walgreens, shoe stores...right?? Wrong. After stopping by 5 or 6 places and calling another 4 or 5, I finally found some, close to where my son lives and he picked some up for me. Anyway, here it is, 6" in dia. 10-3/4" tall to finial tip. C & C welcomed

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh17/RickM1_album/030-1.jpg

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh17/RickM1_album/035-2.jpg

[Bernie Weishapl]

I like it Richard. Finial is extremely nice and I do like the coloring.

[Ron Stadler]

Very very nice, I love oak and the black dye looks pretty cool on this, and I like your form and foot on this one. And the finial, well, man I wish I could do that.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Sure turned out nice for a first attempt! Nice job on highlighting the grain! Great job on the finial - both in carving and wood selection!

[Curt Fuller]

What a great combination in the wood and your spiral finial. It's hard to say which makes the other look better.

[Johnny Taylor]

Very nice finial Richard, there must be a lot of fiddly sanding to get it just right :) The filled grain looks great on the Oak, gold gilt cream works a treat on these as well. All in all a fine looking piece.

[John Keeton]

Richard, you have those spiral finials down pat!! The contrast here is great. You probably have finish on the holly already, but bleaching that finial to a stark white would be even better. This is a really striking piece with the white accents.

Great job!

I have not tried it, but when you run out of shoe polish, you might want to try this.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fTJEWaOEL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

[Darren Jamieson]

The shape and design are great and the finial is a very nice touch but being as Oak is one of my least favorite woods I think that a different wood choice would make the over all appearance better for me. But hey up here Oak is used far to much so that is why I have such a big dislike for it.

[Peter Elliott]

great job! I like the tones so don't kid your self.

Doing a lot of ebony look on flat work, I would use the steel wool trick.. especially on an open pore wood like oak.

Next time try ink pen, waterbased.. come in little 3oz bottles. most of our office supplies have them.. Darker you want it, just keep adding coatss. In larger work, I use General Finishes Ebony Dye Stain.. Really good stuff and you again just keep adding coats. Wear gloves and cut up a car wash sponge to apply, soak for a bit and wipe. Just remember when it's dry to not freak out because the color is more of a grey haze.. it will be fine with a top coat. I highly suggest doing a sample for your first time so you can get an idea how many coats. On hard maple, I tend to apply 2 coats and it's very dark. Oak would prob need 3 and I don't believe you will get it get black unless you filled the pores. The open pores will reflect the grey/off tones, which I like but not jet black.

Great job on the project

[Michael James]

What a great piece and your persistence paid off. +1 more for that finial - a work of art in it's own right! Thanks for draggin out the camera for this one.
mj

[Mark Hubl]

Very nice Richard. This is my favorite so far. The white finial looks very good with the piece. Your liming looks good. You did a nice job on the top and the foot. Nice work.
I gave up looking for white paste shoe polish! Know what you mean about setting up to take pictures. I leave my tent up until my wife says something!

[Tim Thiebaut]

This is a very nice piece, and that finial is just fantastic! I dont think I would have the patience to do a finail like that, but you have the touch thats for sure, it is just beautiful.

[Richard Madden]

Richard, you have those spiral finials down pat!! The contrast here is great. You probably have finish on the holly already, but bleaching that finial to a stark white would be even better. This is a really striking piece with the white accents.

Great job!

I have not tried it, but when you run out of shoe polish, you might want to try this.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fTJEWaOEL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Thanks, John. The finial only has ren wax, and I do plan on bleaching the holly...the cream color of the holly and the white shoe polish don't jive. I had asked on a previous post for advice on bleaching the holly. It was sanded to 1200, then buffed with 2 & 4,000 grit Abralon, and after seeing the difference with the limed HF I knew bleaching was needed for sure. Still looking for the 2 part bleach system, and I'm wondering what grit I will need to start sanding again after the bleaching. If I had known it was going to be so hard finding white shoe polish I would have just bought the liming wax and been done with it!! I paid $1.99 for 1-1/8 oz. vs $16.00 for 8 oz., so the cost is almost the same. Live and learn, I guess.

[Richard Madden]

What a great combination in the wood and your spiral finial. It's hard to say which makes the other look better.

Thanks, Curt. Like I said, the two pieces you showed on WTA along with Bill Neddow's oak bowl were the source of inspiration, and I thank you both for the tips.

[David DeCristoforo]

This is very cool. It would be nice if you could get the finial to be the same white as the pore filler. But it's great as is...

[Richard Madden]

great job! I like the tones so don't kid your self.

Doing a lot of ebony look on flat work, I would use the steel wool trick.. especially on an open pore wood like oak.

Next time try ink pen, waterbased.. come in little 3oz bottles. most of our office supplies have them.. Darker you want it, just keep adding coatss. In larger work, I use General Finishes Ebony Dye Stain.. Really good stuff and you again just keep adding coats. Wear gloves and cut up a car wash sponge to apply, soak for a bit and wipe. Just remember when it's dry to not freak out because the color is more of a grey haze.. it will be fine with a top coat. I highly suggest doing a sample for your first time so you can get an idea how many coats. On hard maple, I tend to apply 2 coats and it's very dark. Oak would prob need 3 and I don't believe you will get it get black unless you filled the pores. The open pores will reflect the grey/off tones, which I like but not jet black.

Great job on the project

Peter, thanks for the comments. I would have thought the ebonizing solution would turn the oak a nice black all around, but the side grain left a lot to be desired. The dye I used came from a CL ad. It's a leather/fabric dye called "Blacker than Black", and only cost $0.50 for 16 oz. when bought by the case of 12 bottles!! He had other colors and a case could be of mixed colors, so a good deal for certain. Perhaps several coats of the ebonizing solution might have done the trick, but 1 coat of dye worked fine. Thanks again.

[Baxter Smith]

Great job. Both the finial and the oak are very striking!

[Roger Chandler]

Richard..............this one has a lot of WOW factor! Great finial, and the grain treatment is just way cool! Very creative conceptually, and you pulled off a unique and well done form!

[Richard Madden]

Very nice Richard. This is my favorite so far. The white finial looks very good with the piece. Your liming looks good. You did a nice job on the top and the foot. Nice work.
I gave up looking for white paste shoe polish! Know what you mean about setting up to take pictures. I leave my tent up until my wife says something!

Thanks for the comments, Mark. When I was searching for the white shoe polish I did notice on Amazon it was like $0.99 a can. Of course, no idea what shipping would cost, but if included with an order for other stuff it might be worthwhile. I just didn't want to wait.

[Jim Adkins]

Creekers....on Richards recent visit he brought this piece for me to see. He un-wrapped it, sit it on the table & installed the finial and it immediately started uttering words.......like, "Pick Me
Up, Fondle Me". So I did. what a nice piece of work Richard. Thanks for sharing.
Jim A.

[Cathy Schaewe]

I like it a lot - especially the finial!

[Jim Burr]

Richard..first, always the best finials!!! The spiral is phenomenal!!. I can't really grab the shape, but I think a "vase" taper would be cool. Could you go into detail about the entire finishing process? I grabbed some liming wax a while back, and your piece is right where I want to go

[Richard Madden]

Richard..first, always the best finials!!! The spiral is phenomenal!!. I can't really grab the shape, but I think a "vase" taper would be cool. Could you go into detail about the entire finishing process? I grabbed some liming wax a while back, and your piece is right where I want to go

Jim, after the dye had dried I used a brass bristle brush to open the pores, then 4 coats of gloss WOP to seal the wood. Following the advice of Curt and Bill the white polish was applied to a small area at a time with a small piece of rag, then buffed by hand with some velour type cloth. Doing a small area is pretty important because the polish dries quick making buffing harder. That's about it. Thanks for your comments.

[Richard Madden]

Creekers....on Richards recent visit he brought this piece for me to see. He un-wrapped it, sit it on the table & installed the finial and it immediately started uttering words.......like, "Pick Me
Up, Fondle Me". So I did. what a nice piece of work Richard. Thanks for sharing.
Jim A.

Thanks, Jim. I need to confess something though. While you were looking at this piece I was trying to get that really cool antique workbench of yours out the door and in my truck. I couldn't get your dog to hold the door open so I gave up.