The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Furniture Finishing

The question of staining the overlay veneer itself depends on its natural figure and coloring, for while it must harmonize with the general tone of the piece, it should also contrast sufficiently in one or the other respect to attract attention. Thus some may be stained, filled, shellaced, shaded and high-lighted separately from the rest of the piece, as with walnuts and mahoganies, or filled without staining; others like satinwood. redwood, burl and rosewood may be shellaced natural, as with inlay and marquetry. Excellent imitations of certain overlay woods are procurable in all shapes with decalcomania transfers or by the Block Graining method, described in Book V, Chapter IX.

Overlay veneers, such as burl walnut and sycamore, are obtainable already boiled in dye, so that when stained along with the rest of the piece they have absorbed all the color possible and any further stain application will readily wipe off. California redwood burl is often given a rich brown color to blend with walnut by staining with a half ounce each of lemon yellow and black aniline to a gallon of water, then shellac followed by antique shading, (See Chapter I, Shading Over Shellac). Rosewood is filled with medium walnut filler, shellaced and shaded as described for redwood, an extra percentage of alcohol being added to the shading stain as the wood is very oily.

On stained furniture, but perhaps more appropriately on painted furniture, it is possible to have overlays of floral decorated enamel, flat and raised stipple work, crackle and oriental lacquer effects, but most of these call for the keenest kind of artistic eye or they will be hopelessly out of place. A popular inexpensive overlay effect is afforded by running a scratch line design, staining the center lighter or darker than the surrounding area and coloring the vein with pigment or metallic bronze color, or even filling in the area with an harmonious shade of paint or lacquer enamel.

FRETS AND GRILLES

Frets represent a lattice work style of overlay, glued to an otherwise plain surface to break it up. "When set in an open frame, as with chair backs, radio and phonograph fronts, they are known as grilles. The terms are in practice interchangeable; for instance when band sawed and cemented to the glass fronts of china cabinets, they are referred to as either frets or grilles.