Green & Green Blacker House armchair - FINISHED

Here are 2 photos of the Blacker House arm chair finished and upholstered. You can view the gallery on this website to get some more closeup shots.

My wife does most of my upholstery. This time, however, I had a professional have at it given that we decided to use a sprung seat like the original. The photos unfortunately do not give the upholstery its due justice. The upholstery actually has a subtle golden hue that matches the white oak stems in the center splat. In the photos I took the upholstery is somewhat washed out. If I took this piece to a professional photographer I probably could have got better color rendering. However, I spent years with a camera as a serious amateur so I've got some sense of lighting and I think I was ably to make due in these DIY shots.  I plan on selling this piece if I can, but it is not a commission piece.  Consequently, all these costs can add up!

I simply used Old Master's tung oil varnish. I really like the stuff. I did not need to stain this piece - the mahogany is absolutely beautiful with a natural orange hue. Except for the crest rail, the chair is built out of a single board of 8/4 mahogany. The crest rail is built out of 12/4 and is probably from the same tree since I bought it at the same time as the 8/4.

I generally avoid staining - primarily because I try to let the beauty of the wood speak for itself (a euphemism for lazy?). Of course, I definitely see the benefits of staining in some situations, especially if the piece is using wood from different boards from a different tree that don't really match.  White oak can be this way. There may be some laziness to this belief, but also a realization that I have not mastered the art of staining - and it is indeed a skill! I also firmly believe in spending a LOT of time in surface preparation prior to the finish - carefully sanding through all the grits but not over sanding so the piece loses definition. Mass produced pieces are generally over-sanded blobs of wood stained a very dark color to disguise the lousy surface preparation with the use of "aging" techniques to disguise poor joinery and assembly. But we are not that way, are we!

Another thing.  We hear about the "hand rubbed finish".  With oils and oil/varnish blends there is a tendency for the finish to bleed, creating tiny shiny spots if left as is.  I think the term "hand rubbing" has to do with the fact that one needs to monitor the piece for a certain amount of time and "rub" out those shiny blemishes.  These wipe on oil blends, while technically easy, or not foolproof without proper procedure.  Beyond dealing with bleeding, I don't think rubbing adds any value.