Replies

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Mar 04, 2010 08:52pm | #1

   There are a great many ways to finish furniture, and a great many of them that don't involve spray equipment, yet will provide results that will enhance your pride in the project. 

   Fortunately you chose ash, which turns out to be a wood which is relatively simple to get quite nice results.  Frankly, I'd just go with the simplest finish, but which will still be durable, and easy to renew if needed.  I'd go with a oil/varnish mix, often call Danish Oil.  Just the plain clear finish will give a rich look, a bit darker than the raw wood.  About the color that you would see if you just wet the wood with paint thinner or mineral spirits.  If you go this way, you can easily make your own mix taking about any oil based varnish and mixing equal amounts of it, with Boiled Linseed Oil, and paint thinner. 

   If you want a little bit darker look,  you can use a tinted Danish Oil.  Watco, the most readily available brand, has walnut, oak, and cherry (?) colors to give a very moderately darker look.  Not dark, but just tinted a little.  If you want a really dark color, then a multiple step process involving additiional materials is needed. 

   Oil/Varnish mixes are quite simple to apply.  Using a rag, wet the wood, and keep it wet for about 15 minutes adding oil where is soaks in some places more than others.  Then let it set for no more than an additional 15 minutes and wipe if ALL off the surface using a couple of dry cloths.  Let it cure overnight and repeat the process, again wiping off ALL excess.  Within about 3 applications you will see the surface develop an even low satin sheen.   This "in-the-wood" finish will be moderately protective, sheltering the wood from water spots and most stains.  It may, over several years start to look a bit dull.  It can be renewed by cleaning and reapplying another coat. 

   Now some fine points:  ash has moderately large open pores,  You might find that when you apply the first coat of  Oil/varnish that some of it bleeds out of the pores.  You should discover whether this will occur with your wood on your test sample.  If you some back and see shiny spots around the pore half an hour after you have wiped off the first coat, then this is what is happening.  There are a couple of solutions.  1) Just apply the first coat early in your shop session so you can check in frequently for several hours, wiping off any of the bleeding before it can dry.  or) Alter the way you apply the first coat, just wiping on a thin coat, not flooding the surface, yet wiping it off as recommended before.  A coat or two like this will not have enough oil/varnish mix in the pores to bleed back.  When the pores have been sufficiently filled with cured finish, bleed back won't be a problem. 

   If you want dark colors, or if you want a smooth shiny surfaces we can discuss how to do them.  Anything is possible, just takes more steps and a little learning, but you need to tell us more about how, exactly, you want it to look.  .