Popular Woodworking 2009-11 № 179, страница 14

Arts & Mysteries

Liberal oiling. I began creating my finish with a liberal dose of boiled linseed oil. The resulting dull surfaces probably best approximate a true original finish.

Setting aside wear, old furniture takes on a certain color, generally has filled grain and has a texture associated with a build-up of grunge.

Color

Wood changes color with age. Dark woods lighten. Light woods darken. In an August 2009 Popular Woodworking article (issue #177), Senior Editor Glen D. Huey finished his walnut chest over drawers with amber shellac and added a touch of red to create the lighter color of aged walnut. New mahogany can be tan or pinkish in color. It becomes darker and redder with age.

Due to the sculptural nature of my chair project, there's an additional concern. Areas of exposed end grain, especially when oiled, get much darker than other areas. So the knees of chairs are often very dark - sometimes almost black.

Filled Grain

Old furniture typically has filled grain. Woods such as mahogany have open pores that fill up with dirt, grime and finish. You can fill the pores of new wood with any number of substances, from drywall joint compound to dry earth pigment to specially designed pore fillers (which seem to be joint compound with dry earth pigments added). Grain fillers change the color of wood, so that's a consideration. Some may be designed

Grunge. I mixed lamp black with linseed oil and applied that in a similar fashion to create the color of grunge. Most of the dry earth pigments you buy are very finely ground. But Bitumen black is the exception. It makes an excellent gritty texture. It can be applied with wax, oil or shellac.

Wipe on, wipe off. I mixed burnt umber dry earth pigment with linseed oil and applied it with an acid brush. I wiped off the excess to highlight the high spots. The goal was to darken the knee and foot, where the exposed end grain was most pronounced. What I have here essentially is slow-curing oil-based paint.

to be stainable while others are not, so that, too, is a consideration. Whatever you choose, know that in areas of exposed end grain and areas of high wear, old furniture takes on an almost plastic-like smoothness.

Grunge

On carved furniture especially, built-up dirt and grime can significantly affect the look of a piece. Grunge alone has certain identifiable traits. It's generally black and has a range of textures from fairly smooth to fairly gritty. Grunge collects in nooks and crannies that can't be easily cleaned. It also collects on broad smooth or flat surfaces where end grain provides it a foot hold.

A Period Finish

Creating a finish that looks like an authentic "original" finish requires a lot of faux finishing materials and techniques. I'm not sure I'm willing to invest the time that would take. So I've chosen to add 10-20 years to my chair. And I've done it with materials you have or should have: boiled linseed oil, Butcher's wax, shellac flakes and dry earth pigments (I used Liberon pigments available at toolsforworkingwood.com).

So what is an original finish and how do we apply it to our work? Heck if I know. What I do know is that the finish referred to

Sealed. The dry pigments can be removed pretty effectively by adding more oil and wiping. So I applied a light coat of buttonlac shellac to seal in the color. Much more needs to be done to this knee and obviously the foot. From here I can add more tinted oils (with less of a chance of disturbing what is under the shellac) or just tint the shellac.

as the "original" finish is not what furniture left the builders' shops with. Chances are, you wouldn't like that finish, and it may le ave your period reproduction furniture looking, er ... inauthentic. PW

Visit Adam's blog at artsandmysteries.com for more discussion of traditional woodworking techniques.

22 ■ Popular Woodworking November 2009