3rd Update on the Hymn Number Stand

I had a nice weekend. Saturday I worked with a local cabinet maker helping him catch up on his schedule. We are nearly finished with the 3rd kitchen cabinet job, and then he will be caught up. I think I have worked about 8-9 days this summer with him on Saturdays.

Sunday was relaxing, went to church and then home with the family, and a nap. A nap makes a lot of things better for some reason (not to take anything away from church).

Today, Monday, I have the Hymn Number Board just about ready for Stain, Finish, & Gold Powder Paint.

I’m working on the number rails, and then I will start with the stain process, which is long, and way over done I am sure compared to most people’s processes..

I had a hard time matching the old finish of the church historic items, and the only way I could make it look the same was to go through a long process:

• Minwax Cherry Stain, let it sit overnight. This first staining step holds the color of the ring lines light reddish, keeping them a cherry color, instead of going really dark, as I normally get in staining red oak.
• Minwax Red Oak Stain, wipe it after a couple of hours of drying. This stain provides the coloring I need in the heart word
• Minwax Early American, wipe after a couple of hours, and decide if another coat is needed. This provides a hint of yellow and brown to the two reddish colors of the rings and heart wood.
• Deft lacquer, tinted a mahogany red/brown. This colors everything the same, and gives a more professional toned finish. I use it like a highlighter, except in reverse, coloring the dark, shadowing places with the colored lacquer, which provides some antiquing to the look.
• Deft Lacquer, sprayed, satin, somewhere about 10 coats, rubbed out on the next to the last coat.
• If things look like a match, then it is done.
• If it is too “red” in color then I spray a coat of amber shellac on top of the lacquer. The shellac seals the layers of lacquer, so that the yellow lacquer in the next step won’t melt into the other colors. Also, the amber shellac provides a film of yellowed finish that looks similar to the old yellowed varnish that is on the historic pieces.
• Following the shellac, I spray on a coat of yellow tinted lacquer. This changes a reddish tone to a more orange tone (remember playing with paints in K-garten?).
• If this looks good and I have the right tone to the color, then I put another couple coats of satin Deft Lacquer and evaluate.
• The final step is to mix the gold powder into a clear finish and brush the gold-leaf paint highlights where I want them. On this project, the sides of the upper crosses, the lettering, rings around the raised sections of the turnings, and maybe a few other places. I won’t know for sure until I see it come together and know when to stop, or to keep adding gold color.

I realize that this way too much effort, but I couldn’t figure out another method to get the color of the heart and rings in the wood the same, and then give it an orangey, old finish appearance. My goal is to make all of the pieces match, whether built this Spring, or 120 years ago. I did not artificially dent my new work to make them look “worn”, I just couldn’t do it.

Here are photos of the work so far.

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Thanks for checking in on me,
Mark DeCou
www.decoustudio.com

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com