The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
OIL STAIN SHADING ON PANELS
Oil stains are sprayed for high-light and shading purposes more often on oak than gum, birch or walnut and practically never on mahogany. Ordinarily staining and shading may be performed in one operation, but it is occasionally desirable to cut the stain in half or less with benzine for the body color, full strength for shading. For extra dark shading a small quantity of oil black aniline may be added to browns and grays. Unless to be left open-pored, filler should be applied over a shellac wash coat as for water stains. There are any number of ready-mixed oil stains on the market in all standard shades, and while not so clear or fast to light as water stains, serve satisfactorily for cheaper grades of furniture on which the sanding operation would constitute too great an expense.
SHADING ON FRAME WORK
The frames of cabinet work are ordinarily stained the same shade as the veneers—if of birch or gum it is often necessary to make a double application in order to bring up the color or both stain and fill along with the veneer. The frame may be spray shaded, high-lighting in the centre or wherever handling would be natural, or by narrowing the sweep of the spray here and there so as to blend light and dark sections together irregularly. A fine spray cone is essential. The more popular practice is either not to high-light at all or use sandpaper or steel wool lightly here and there after the stain is dry, or if an oil stain, wipe while still wet.
The underframing and backs of chairs and aprons of tables are shaded according to the shape, the high lights following the rule of natural wear, i.e., contact with the surface of the back, legs, elbows, feet, etc. There is no set rule for table tops—they may be treated as panels, or irregularly shaded and high-lighted without any set plan. Legs may be spray-shaded by cutting the spray down fine and showing high-lights only on raised turnings and carvings, but the work is also easily done by hand as described below.
HIGH-LIGHTING BY WIPING OR SANDING
If no spray is available or for a very antique effect or if the worn effect is to be applied to turnings, carvings, mouldings, etc., where the use of a spray is unhandy or wasteful, the stain may be dipped or brushed on full strength, high-lighting if wet by wiping, if dry with 2 0 steel wool or fine sandpaper, such as 5 0 garnet. This too requires skill but of a somewhat different sort, the high-lights appearing on all raised or bulbous parts, the shading in recesses, grooves, flutings, etc. On panels the theory is the same as for spray-shading, but equally delicate effects are much more difficult to obtain.
