Fumed white oak, need help with glaze

[Dave Westover]

Im attempting to recreate the craftsman look on some white oak. Im fuming right now but Im unsure of the next step. Most of the info Ive run across explains how to acheive the effect without fuming. I think Ive settled on the wood whisperers recommended schedule of shellac, glaze, shellac, and top coat. Im not familiar enough with glazing to know exactly how to proceed. Specifically, without using dyes and without a sprayer, how do i create and apply a glaze that will be reasonably close to in color?

[Casey Gooding]

Properly fumed oak shouldn't need a glaze. If you do use it, I like gel stain. Find a close color and apply it over the shellac. Then wipe off until you get the desired coloring. Practice on some scrap first. It takes a little practice but works well.

[Scott Holmes]

Fuming is dangerous and the results are not predictable. Casey gave you good advice.

Only thing I'd add is sometimes you get better results using dye or stain to get your base color, then seal the base coat and proceed to glaze.

[Thomas Pender]

First - most of my woodworking is with QSWO, the first thing out of Warren's mouth when he sees me at Northland Forest Products is to volunteer whether he has good 5/4 QSWO in stock or whether it is in the kiln.

Second - I love the look of the old fumed stuff, but it is over one hundred years old in many cases and it is a hard look to duplicate. And, why bother - it has 100 years of dirt, wax, and sun on it.

Third - Fuming was what they did then. No OHSHA, etc.

I believe the reason why the old Craftsmen stuff used all these glazing methods is because they did not have satin polyacryllic or Target URL (EM now) type stuff. If they had it, they would have used it. They were all about using the best and most modern methods of work. - methods which I think give better results.

As for fuming. I have a fuming tent (outside) and have done it. It is unpredictable and sometimes it will really over-brown the rays in the QSWO, but the patina it gives, if properly timed (another challenge) is nice to even perfect. With a good satin over the top it looks beautiful.

Also, IMO, the gels do really work much more predictably than fuming - especially if you wipe out the over dyes with mineral spirits if they crop up (sometimes parts of the wood will absorb more pigment and it will get blotchy or a little uneven - wipe carefully with a rag and mineral oil and it evens out nice). I have used Rockler's Mission Oak and the mixture from the old Popular Mechanics Book and both work as well, most of the time, as does fuming.

Good luck. My advice is to hang the old methods unless they achieve something you cannot achieve with the often better and easier to use stuff we have available now. Consider this analogy (which is blasphemy to some) - would you rather flatten a QSWO board with a jointer or sweat like a pig and struggle with your Jointer and Jack Plane for a few hours for something you can do in five minutes or less? (I do use hand planes for final finishes and for especially long boards.)

[Dave Westover]

First - most of my woodworking is with QSWO, the first thing out of Warren's mouth when he sees me at Northland Forest Products is to volunteer whether he has good 5/4 QSWO in stock or whether it is in the kiln.

Second - I love the look of the old fumed stuff, but it is over one hundred years old in many cases and it is a hard look to duplicate. And, why bother - it has 100 years of dirt, wax, and sun on it.

Third - Fuming was what they did then. No OHSHA, etc.

I believe the reason why the old Craftsmen stuff used all these glazing methods is because they did not have satin polyacryllic or Target URL (EM now) type stuff. If they had it, they would have used it. They were all about using the best and most modern methods of work. - methods which I think give better results.

As for fuming. I have a fuming tent (outside) and have done it. It is unpredictable and sometimes it will really over-brown the rays in the QSWO, but the patina it gives, if properly timed (another challenge) is nice to even perfect. With a good satin over the top it looks beautiful.

Also, IMO, the gels do really work much more predictably than fuming - especially if you wipe out the over dyes with mineral spirits if they crop up (sometimes parts of the wood will absorb more pigment and it will get blotchy or a little uneven - wipe carefully with a rag and mineral oil and it evens out nice). I have used Rockler's Mission Oak and the mixture from the old Popular Mechanics Book and both work as well, most of the time, as does fuming.

Good luck. My advice is to hang the old methods unless they achieve something you cannot achieve with the often better and easier to use stuff we have available now. Consider this analogy (which is blasphemy to some) - would you rather flatten a QSWO board with a jointer or sweat like a pig and struggle with your Jointer and Jack Plane for a few hours for something you can do in five minutes or less? (I do use hand planes for final finishes and for especially long boards.)

I just havent seen anything else that gives you the pop like fuming, without muddying it up. But, I havent seen a whole lot of everything in person so I might look around more should i ever attempt this look again.

Thanks

[Pete McMahon]

First - most of my woodworking is with QSWO, the first thing out of Warren's mouth when he sees me at Northland Forest Products is to volunteer whether he has good 5/4 QSWO in stock or whether it is in the kiln.

Second - I love the look of the old fumed stuff, but it is over one hundred years old in many cases and it is a hard look to duplicate. And, why bother - it has 100 years of dirt, wax, and sun on it.

Third - Fuming was what they did then. No OHSHA, etc.

I believe the reason why the old Craftsmen stuff used all these glazing methods is because they did not have satin polyacryllic or Target URL (EM now) type stuff. If they had it, they would have used it. They were all about using the best and most modern methods of work. - methods which I think give better results.

As for fuming. I have a fuming tent (outside) and have done it. It is unpredictable and sometimes it will really over-brown the rays in the QSWO, but the patina it gives, if properly timed (another challenge) is nice to even perfect. With a good satin over the top it looks beautiful.

Also, IMO, the gels do really work much more predictably than fuming - especially if you wipe out the over dyes with mineral spirits if they crop up (sometimes parts of the wood will absorb more pigment and it will get blotchy or a little uneven - wipe carefully with a rag and mineral oil and it evens out nice). I have used Rockler's Mission Oak and the mixture from the old Popular Mechanics Book and both work as well, most of the time, as does fuming.

Good luck. My advice is to hang the old methods unless they achieve something you cannot achieve with the often better and easier to use stuff we have available now. Consider this analogy (which is blasphemy to some) - would you rather flatten a QSWO board with a jointer or sweat like a pig and struggle with your Jointer and Jack Plane for a few hours for something you can do in five minutes or less? (I do use hand planes for final finishes and for especially long boards.)

Dave,
I agree in principal that a person uses the products that are available at our point in time. I'd love to go ahead in time and hear a restorer say " can you believe they used that satin polyacrylic crap?" I tend to laugh when I see a product advertised as being based on a 19th century formula. Great romanticism.

However glazing is a method used by finishers and artists over centuries for good purpose. Simply put glazing creates depth that one color on it's own cannot. Like any other step in finishing it takes practice not only for the hand but the eye. You'll find that less is more is often associated with glazing.
The base definition of glazing is a "translucent color over a sealed surface" From there the sky and imagination are the only limits.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Dave,
I'm sure you have a commercial distributor for Sherwin Williams, Chemcraft or one of the other resources used by professional furniture finishers. Go visit one of them. They have on site labs that will formulate a finish that will achieve the look you want and tell you how to use it. If they don't sell without you having an account with them, ask for the names of finishers in your area who can buy from them and sell to you in quantities you need. The products they offer are way beyond what many of us find in catalogs. They will even make a sample piece from your wood.
fmr