I'm making a quilt rack from QS white oak which I plan to fume. What's a good finish to use?

Amber shellac with a top coat of black wax. Be sure to 'rub out' the final coat of shellac to dull it down and give it some age before adding the wax. You might want to check out Bruce Johnsons 'The pegged joint' book for tips on period finishes.

Also, if you decide not to go all the way and actually do the fuming you might want to try using an aniline dye. I like the alcohol based fumed oak color - looks genuine. See my previous post about a Stickley Bros. rocker where I used it. Dark but looks good.

http://www.woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=845-541

steve....how do those dyes work? Are they as easy as regular water or oil based stains? I couldn't get the color chart to open, but from the names of the colors i'm very interested. There's nothing worse than working so hard on a piece to have the color just not turn out right. Also, how far does an amount go? Will 1oz do a sideboard, or an armchair? Just curious.

Yes, the dyes are as easy to use as regular stains. I first started using the water based dyes on some tiger/curly wood projects because they enhanced the tiger/curl. I've switched to using the alcohol based ones on arts & crafts projects since they are so easy to work with. The beauty is that the alcohol dries quickly. If the color is too dark, you can wipe it with alcohol to lighten it again, or reapply the dye if too light. Colors can be easily mixed for custom colors (since they are just powdered and dissolve in the appropriate medium (oil, water, or alcohol)). The nice thing about the alcohol based dye is it can also be used to color the shellac as well, since it is alcohol based also.

The difference between a dye and a stain, is that stains are pigment based and do not penetrate the wood into the fibers like a dye does. Stains just contain a binding agent that just glues the pigment molecules(which are larger than dye molecules) onto the wood surface. Dyes do not obscure or muddy the wood grain either like stains. (I'm summerizing from one of my woodworking guidebooks here). It also says an interesting effect can be to apply a pigment based stain on top of a dye, but I've yet to try that approach.

I have used water based dyes on white and red oak to good affect. One thing to remember, however, is the dyes don't highlight the grain like stains do, they just color the wood. If you want to make oak rays stand out some gain pigment is needed for contrast. One solution is to use glaze, another is to apply a dark wax. My waxing skill leaves something to be desired but I have been happy with the results of glaze.

The approach I like for quarter sawed white oak came from a Jeff Jewitt article a few years ago. The basic idea is like this. Apply the dye and let it dry overnight. Sand lightly, clean and apply a couple of coats of thin shellac (1 1/2 lb cut.) This seals the dye. Now apply a dark brown glaze. I use a water based glaze but I hear of good results from using oil based jell stains. Lay the glaze on; let it start to set, and then wipe it off across the grain. This leaves some color in the open grain. After the glaze is dry apply a sealing coat of shellac. You can now apply whatever finishing coat you want.

There are variations on this such as using varnish instead of shellac for a sealer but the basic idea is the same. I think the shellac makes the oak rays appear better and is more of a classic approach.

If anyone is interested I can dig up the detailed instructions and/or the link to Jeff’s article.