White oak ray fleck

[Chris]

Hello, I am using qtr sawn white oak in a project & I want the ray fleck to stand out. (of course) Any advice on the best way to achieve this. I read about Lilly's warm glaze, but can't find it. I think that company was bought out by Valspar. I recently got good results using a gel stain & polyurethane. But that white oak had no ray fleck Any thoughts?

Thanks, Chris

[Andy Dingley]

Ammonia fume it. Read up on Stickley and his grain filling techniques. Read an article (Jewitt ?) in FWW on doing it with dye stains. Pick the right boards to start with - not all QS boards are sawn equal.

[JGS]

[George]

The rays are less absorbent than that which surrounds them. Any stain or finish will highlight them. Truth is, even oil will appear to darken the background by cutting scatter, effectively emphasizing them.

[Stephen M]

contrast with the rays is that the pigmented glaze (the black stuff) only ends up in the pores and not on the whole surface. The rays are compicuously lacking on big pores and therefore "stand out" as the lighter areas.

It is a complicated and pricey recipe, but it really did come out like the photos.

I experimented with fuming and did not thing that it did that much to highlight the rays. YMMV.

-Steve

[Mike S.]

I'm in the process of finishing some mission tables for my daughters for Christmas and I used the Rockler Mission Gel Stain with very good results. I apply it with a foam brush or whatever is handly and wipe it down with the blue paper shop towels. Then use General Topcoat for the final finish coats.

[fredfighter]

I experimented with fuming and did not thing that it did that much to highlight the rays. YMMV.

Reply ***********************

I've read that Stickley used fuming precisely becuase it did not make the ray flecks stand out. His object in darkening the wood uniformlly was to make the ray flecks less prominent.