Mission style coffee table - What would Gustav Stickley do??

[henny]

I'm starting to design plans to build a mission style coffee table out of qtr sawn white oak with flake.

I'd like to capture as many design elements from the classic mission style era as possible. One of them is the characteristic spindles in the ends.

I see two different styles:

Square spindles:

spindles: one more representative of true Stickley design? Are there any Stickly guidelines for slat width vs. spacing or just I just go with whatever my preferance is?

I'd also like to get that classical mission style color that contrasts the "tiger" oak. Any suggestions on a stain (water, oil, or dye) that works particularly well for creating a mission style finish. I probably won't be able to fume it in ammonia.

Here's a representative sample of the end finish I'd like to achive:

links pertaining to designing mission and building mission style style furniture would be very helpful.

TIA

[Leon]

> Slat spindles:

How about looking at the real thing?

[Robatoy]

spindles:

> Slat spindles: This is more 'true' Stickley: smaller, square spindles. But, they also do the slats. The older the examples you find, the more you'll see square spindles. I think they look better. BUT... that's just me. What do YOU like?

Good luck with the finish. I'm sure somebody here will be able to help you. I don't do oak anymore, cuz I no longer have to. Stickley looks soooo much better in cherry..oops..an opinion slipped out. sorry...

r

[Lowell Holmes]

With a little Greene and Greene thrown in.

:-)

[Robatoy]

messagenews: [e-mail]...

Speaking of which: After these, follow the bouncing ball... and find your way around all of the projects Greene & Greene ever built/designed.

they all zoom in real close. Thousands of pictures here. Just do the basic search and you'll find everything. A real database.

r

[Mark Howell]

I tell ya, I've been wrestling with qs white oak finishing for a good 3 years now. Tried just about everything, dyes, stains, glazes, topcoats, etc. For starters, I don't trust pictures for correct color because the lighting will affect it. Take a look at the kitchen I'm building for swmbo, I have pics here with 3 different sources of light, and the panel looks different in each one (panel1, panel2, dishwasher2):

the way, I have made a small qs oak coffe table a couple of years ago: for your project, try this:

dye with lee valley fumed light oak aniline dye seal with garnet shellac stain with 1/3 asphaltum, 1/3 boiled linseed oil, 1/3 mineral spirits seal with garnet shellac topcoat of whatever, but it must be flat! Any sheen on the topcoat makes the oak look too 3-D and "busy". Just look at my coffee table which has too much sheen. The flakes are too crazy.

HTH

> Slat spindles:

[davefr]

I've used aniline dyes before and they tend to fade over time. It's probably not an issue unless the table has objects on it most of the time. If it does then the area where the objects are will stay darker over time. When you remove the objects you'll end up with an inconsistent color. (ex: humidor on top of the table)

I'd really like to fume the table using industrial ammonia. I know it's nasty stuff but I'd like to give it a try.

Don't laugh but I'm thinking of using my pickup truck bed with canopy top as the fuming chamber once the table is done. Then I'll use linseed oil and probably a satin oil for the top for added protection.

P.S. No, I don't plan to drive the truck while the fuming process is taking place!!

Am I crazy or will this work?? Has anyone fumed white oak before?? Any tip or techniques?? I did read the Fine Woodworking article from isssue

126.

Mark Howell wrote:

>

[Stephen M]

that's kind of big, but it may work OK

I have successfully fumed with hosehold ammonia... the article's assertion that you need the industrial stuff is simply wrong.

I can only assume that the author was just repeating an accepted "fact".

Is industrial faster/better/different? maybe, but household ammonia does does work.

DAGS... we've touched on this topic here before.

Steve

[eag111]

Here's a link to an article with tons of useful info on Mission finishes...

[Mark Howell]

It's not *that* nasty. I use 25% ammonia in my basement, with the windows open. With gloves, a respirator, and safety glasses. The real nasty stuff is anhydrous ammonia.

A simple bag made of 3 mil plastic and some duct tape will suffice.

[davefr]

Thanks for all the replies.

I really like the thought of using household ammonia vs. trying to track down the 25% stuff.

Can I assume that the 5% stuff will simply take 5X the time to fume. If so that's no big deal. The Fine Woodworking article showing fuming results for 0-36 hrs using the 25% stuff. I have no problem letting my project fume for a week or more if it'll work.

TIA. This group is still one of the highlights of Usenet.

Stephen M wrote:

[Stephen M]

I did a staircase of treads and 59 spindles. I left the parts in the tent for 2..maybe 3 days. The tent was barely bigger than the stock (2 batches) ... about a cubic yard.

My experience was that most of the color change appeared in the first 8 hours and then it tapered off from there. My casual experiments showed that more time resulted in deeper penetration. Compared to stain the (color change) penetration was impressive... about 1/8". That is, you would have to try really hard to sand through the color.

One thing NOT to do: put the tent outside with an unpitched "roof". Condensation formed on the top of the tend and dripped onto a few pieces. It caused a bit of ugly staining.

Good luck with that

-Steve