Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: help with qswo finish

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Ingleside, IL
    Posts
    1,417

    help with qswo finish

    20180929_164910.jpg20180929_165006.jpg20180929_165311.jpg

    Tried Jeff Jewet's routine.
    Wet rag, resand, BLO, dark walnut gel stain, amber shellac.
    Wet rag, resand, Transtint in water, sand, SealACell, restain, ArmRSeal.
    Transtint in alcohol, SealACell, ArmRSeal/
    Wet rag, resand, Transtint in alcohol, SealCoat shellac, gel stain, ArmRSeal.

    etc etc etc. 1lb cut ornange shellac, 3 lb cut orange shellac, BLO, transtin, general finishes, amber shellac, wipe on poly, etc.

    I think I've used more qswo making samples the last 3 weeks than I did to make the table!
    Nothing I do seems to pop the flecks the way I want them to pop. I even tried fuming. I really like the finish in the picture on my white board.
    And I know this subject has been covered here. Searching the Mill gave me some of the recipes I tried.
    BUT - the only 2 that come close are dark walnut, scuffed, amber shellac and special walnut stain, BLO, amber shellac.

    Any suggestions or personal recipes would be greatly appreciated. I'll try anything. I would hate to paint all that qswo black.
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    9,599
    Bill, I've had good luck with Jeff Jewitt's recipe: Sand to 325 grit, TT in DNA wiped on by hand, then Seal-A-Cell, gel stain, Arm-R-Seal.






    Many of your specimens are really light, so you can't expect much contrast. And as the grain orientation moves away from pure QS the effect is less and less, as you can see in some of these specimens.




    As for making lots of specimens, yep, it's something you have to do if you want it to turn out right. Keep at it; you'll get there.

    John

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Ingleside, IL
    Posts
    1,417
    Beautiful piece John. Each step dried for 8 hrs or so? Did you raise the grain with water first? Scuff between applications?

    I'll give the JJ method another try. On a larger piece.The table I'm making is going to be used as my desk, and since I don't want anything mounted on the table, I made this "thing" out of the qswo scraps that mounts to the wall and holds the brackets for my 3 monitors, condenser mic and work lamp. So I'll try the JJ method on that.

    Thanks, John.
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Shoreline, CT
    Posts
    2,923
    The problem is that Jeff's schedule is designed to mimic the finish on genuine Stickley furniture. Stickley aimed to have the flake appear rather subtle, and not be strongly popped like you would get from a dark brown stain colored with only pigment. Dye colors flake, pigment--not so much. The final result depends on the mix of the various steps.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    9,599
    Thanks Bill. I call that piece my Stickley knockoff. I went to their showroom and studied their catalog and tried to replicate their construction processes as much as possible. The design, however, is mine, and the guy I built it for was very pleased.

    Anyway, I did not raise the grain prior to the dye, but I did sand to 325 grit and used DNA instead of water. It looked pretty poor after the dye step.



    I sanded it just enough to remove the fuzz after dying using 1000 grit. After the Seal-A-Cell it looked a lot better:



    And when I glazed it with the Antique Walnut gel stain it really came to life:



    Again, I think you need to go darker if you want to see more contrast between the ray flecks and background. Sanding after dying will help, too, but you still need that dark background. The dye recipe I used was not exactly one of JJ's, but fairly close. But I did closely follow his basic process and list of materials.

    Good luck.

    John

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Ingleside, IL
    Posts
    1,417
    I think I have settled on Varathane dark walnut gel stain, BLO, amber shellac, dewaxed shellac, wipe on poly.

    An ancillary question: if I use Bulls Eye amber shellac, which is waxed, and follow that with a coat or 2 of dewaxed made form flakes, can I then use poly as a finish? I know waxed shellac does not hold other finishes, but if covered with several coats of dewaxed? Seems to have worked ok.
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    9,599
    Yes, Bill, if you seal the amber shellac with a coat or two of dewaxed you can apply poly w/o concern.

    Why the BLO? You are sealing the wood when you apply the Varathane gel stain. I don't see how BLO is going to get through it, and you definitely don't want to leave it on top as a film.

    John

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Ingleside, IL
    Posts
    1,417
    Thx John - don't have an answer for you. I was just trying all kinds of different combinations - and I'm sure I was breaking all kinds of finishing rules. The BLO seemed to help give the color I wanted. But if it's a matter of a durable finish, I'll try one without it. Thanks for the heads up - learning as I go here.
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

  9. #9
    I tend to keep my finish process simple, but have been very happy with the results I have gotten from using general finishes water based dye stain in the color "light brown"
    You can see the attached photo of a bed frame I recently completed. Now this picture is in full sun, so it doesnt look quite this orange and it doesnt pop quite this much inside, but in my opinion the color is just right.

    That is two coats of light brown dye stain followed by arm-r-seal.
    I have also used medium brown which is quite a bit darker, and less orange.

    for a lighter finish I have also been very happy with minwax "golden oak" followed by gloss arm-r-seal. Second attachment.

    Good luck!
    Attached Images Attached Images

  10. #10
    Hey Bill,

    Like you, I ended up with a science experiment before I got to the point of saying "you gotta DO something!!". What really frustrated me, was I found the same recipe looked different on different samples of wood.

    I found the least desirable results with stains. Dk walnut danish oil isn't bad. But I would stay away from stains and go with dye.

    A very light dye coat is what will make it pop the most.

    This is the recipe I settle on:

    Amber/Med Brown 50/50 GF water based dye
    Amber tinted shellac seal coat (TT amber in Zinsser seal coat shellac)
    GF Antique walnut gel stain
    Emtech 8000 conversion varnish top coat.

    In this case with the walnut accent I think it went well, however I will warn you the gel coat can really dull the pop.

    I got the most pop using Yellow or Amber dye stain, however in my case it was a little too much.

    Oh, and I found Alcohol based stains like Behlen's gave very good results, however, the Brown Walnut I got looked red/orange. But the effect is great and in the future I'm going to look at the alcohol based stains more.

    Before gel stain:
    IMG_0928.jpg

    After gel stain:
    IMG_0972.jpg

    Dk Walnut Danish Oil (3 coats)
    IMG_1847 (1).jpg
    Last edited by Robert Engel; 10-01-2018 at 10:50 AM.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    SE Michigan
    Posts
    3,222
    Bill, looks like you’ve settled on a finish schedule, but check out the Charles Neil youtube video on trace coating to pop the grain. I’ve done this on few sample boards and it works well. Don’t see why it wouldn’t work on QSWO. The method allows you to control the contrast by the number of trace coats.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •