How to get a rustic look (like the sudona collection)
We have bough a couple of pieces from the sudona collection:
http://www.wayfair.com/Sunny-Designss-Sedona-Collection-X98932.html
You can zoom in on some of the pictures to get a better understanding. The furniture is oak (some of it is solid, while the panels are veneers). The grain in the finish appears to be pretty dark, while the rest of the wood is a more standard white oak finish. The edges and corners of each panel are sanded down pretty good, and almost black.
I would like to make some furniture that matches this style, but I am at a loss of how to do this. Specifically, how do they get the grain to come out so dark, and how do they get the corners and edges almost black? Also, what would you use as the main finish for the rest of the wood.
Thanks in advance.
Replies
Watco?
A popular turn of the century stain was Asphaltum, basically roof tar thinned with mineral spirits (contrary to popular belief, not everything was fumed back then). It gets caught in the pores and grain of the wood, but also slighly darkens the rest of the wood to make it look even but not too dark. Most "Mission" furniure of the time probably used it. It makes quartered grain look particularly nice and striking, and is prety easy to use.
Dark Walnut Watco is basically the same thing and is pretty close to the dark oak finish in the pictures. Medium Walnut Watco is close to the lighter oak finish they show. The added benifit is that they come premixed in a can and are super easy to use. Off the shelf dark walnut stain would probably work as well, but the Watco is probably a little eaiser to use, and I think it looks better. I'm not sure what the slightly off-grain dark streaks are, probably smears of stain to make it look "distressed".
If it was me, I would use either the dark or medium walnut Watco to stain the wood to the desired color (experiment here with color, amount applied, etc), and then put a topcoat(s) on of either dewaxed shellact (Zissner's sanding sealer) or satin varinish if more protection is desired (use a coat of dewaxed shellac before putting varnish on; it makes things better). I like Watco as a stain, but I don't care for it as a finish. With kids and dogs, everything I make needs the extra protection, plus the oil smell goes away faster.
There are more complicated ways of achiving simliar looks, but anytime you can use something off the shelf, straight from the can, and as directed, it makes your life a lot easier. If you are making several items over time that you want to look the same, it especailly helps to have a simple, straight forward finish.
So I looked at some pictures that use this stain, and I agree that this might get me the look I am going for. The problem is, the dark streaks, and the corners. I have included a photo to show what I am talking about. This is one of the pieces from this collection. The corners are almost black, and there are streaks of black on the surface of the wood as well.
I could be as simple as the stain not being cleaned up in all of the places to give it a warn look, but I have no idea how to duplicate this effect, and I am having trouble finding reading material on the subject. Any ideas?
It looks
As though it is just veneer and the black parts are just the MDF with stain on it. I can't see it up close. Is it solid wood?
Dark streaks
The dark streaks looks like smears of stain to me, probably something simple like an off the shelf dark walnut stain would work, say Minwax. I dont know if watco would work for the streaks, it might be need to be too thick , although it would be worth a try.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled