Some of you asked about the ammonia fuming process and pictures of the oak after it came out of the ammonia tent. My wife took a ton of good pics last night while I was finishing the chair so I've got a lot of examples so y'all can see how it works. Lots of detail shots. It's mostly finished because it still needs upholstery but my part is done.
This first pic is the back of the chair just out of the tent laying on my oak workbench. The workbench is about the color the back was before it went into the tent. This is 4 days in ammonia fumes.
This second shot is of the birch dowel pin I used to hold the arms on. Before it went in the tent the birch and oak were approximately the same tone.
This third shot is of the arm after fuming. You can see the sort of silvery-grey sheen that develops.
And the whole chair before finishing:
Here you can see the detail of the legs. I did drawbore mortises pinned with walnut pins for strength and aesthetics. It's a slight deviation from stickley's chair but I like the effect. Keeps the chair from being too plain. Note to self - wear gloves!!
Here is the chair after 2 coats of amber shellac. It looks more amber here than it actually is because of the flash.
And here is a pic of one of the arms. You can see how the grain reacts to fuming and shellac. The amount of depth and detail is incredible. You simply can't get this with stain or any sort of weird process besides ammonia.
Here is the complete chair. This is pretty much the actual color but it's a bit dark because I've got the flash turned off. This is 2 coats of shellac over fumed ammonia. I lightly sanded between coats with a grey scotchbright sanding pad. After the second coat I rubbed it out with 0000 steel wool, then applied some awesome beeswax wax my wife gets from some creative ladies at her office.
And this with the flash on:
And here is the completed chair:
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Side table?
