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Furniture Finishing

Imitation Burl Walnut On Gum Wood


STAIN the wood with walnut crystals dissolved in hot water one shade lighter than the surrounding finish for a ground color. Prepare three distemper colors of Van Dyke brown, burnt umber, and drop black, mixed with vinegar (white) to get the correct shade to match the walnut. This mixture should be the consistency of a heavy paste.

Dip a sponge in the vinegar and take enough color in the sponge to cover the surface with one stroke, lapping each stroke until the whole surface is covered evenly.

Prepare a woolen rag (preferably a piece of woolen pants) twenty inches long and from four to ten inches wide, depending on the width of the piece on which you are working. Fold this rag in pleats about one inch wide (the folds can be varied, depending on the size of the figure desired), and then soak it in water and squeeze out until the water will not run out of the rag when handling.

This folded rag must be rolled over the surface lightly and quickly before it is dry. The rag will pick up the color on the folded edges and leave the color between the folds, thus creating a good imitation of burl walnut finish. This of course must be blended out with a camelhair blender, four inches wide, with bristles at least three or four inches long. Blend lightly across the grain figure and then lightly with the grain. This whole operation must be performed with the finish wet.

Let dry about thirty minutes and apply brown colored lacquer or varnish, being careful not to disturb the distemper color, and to avoid this when using varnish, it must be applied quickly. The lacquer can be applied better with an air brush. After this coat is dry, sand lightly and finish with other coats as desired.


Batik on Wood, Gesso, Gilding, Polychrome Batik


SELECT a design you wish to batik and then trace it on the piece you are decorating. This is best done by using a pouncing pad. but if one is accomplished at drawing, the design may be traced on the wood with charcoal. The design is then covered with paraffine wax used in a tool known as the Reinann batik pencil. Other tools may be used, but this one produces the best results.

Use an alcohol lamp to heat the wax, as the wax must always be fluid to flow easily, and apply the wax along the design you have drawn, filling in the part that you wish left in the natural wood. For larger surfaces a brush may be used for applying the wax.