Stickley Bros. Co - finish

"Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

> if you can get Andy Dingley's attention in the UK,

Shout really loudly ? 8-)

Sorry, but I can't help much here. There were two Stickleys, Gustav
and the brothers. Leopold's firm carried on in production for much
longer, and is the core of the "Stickley" name in production today.

Gustav experimented and wrote more about their techniques. However
he's entirely pre WW1, so the technical materials that were available
to him were limited. The other Stickleys continued for longer and so
they had the opportunity to use post-shellac finishing products and
lacquers. Without knowing the date of the piece, and without knowing a
lot more about their finishing history than I do, I couldn't say how
your particular piece was done.

There's also the issue with ammonia fuming on oak that it's very
sensitive to the timber. I always try to make pieces from the same
log, because I just can't match colours otherwise. My own finishing is
ammonia, oil, shellac - I don't use dyes or stains.

> In any event, you might try the Bavaro and Mossman book ... it's well worth
> the purchase for the history, techniques and plans.

Seconded.

Some other good books are Gustav's own, especially the catalogues. A
lot of these are reprinted quite cheaply by Dover Press. Old copies
of "The Craftsman" are worth picking up too.

In article <[email protected]>, Ed Clarke wrote:
> It looks like my dining room table and china hutch were made by Stickley.

I stuck some (crude) pictures up on my web site:

http://www.cilia.org/~clarke/stickley

showing the two pieces. The thing about them is that they don't
look like "craftsman" pieces. The glass in the hutch is a single
piece, not cut into little six inch panels as most of the craftsman
style (that I've seen) is. The legs look "funny" too. More gothic
than craftsman.

The table-top looks like quarter-sawn oak, right?

"Ed Clarke" wrote in message

> I need to make four linear feet of table leaf inserts, each four foot
long.
> Some ABSOLUTE IDIOT THREW THE EXISTING LEAVES OUT because they'd "never
need
> an eight foot table". Misbegotten damn sheep abusers...

After all, its only wood. :(

Couple of good books around on Stickley stuff, both Gustav and his
brothers.One of the best is "The Furniture of Gustav Stickley" by Bavaro and
Mossman ... this one contains some notes by Stickley himself on finishing.
He was definitely not a fan of highly figured contrast in woods and tried to
"tone down" the contrast according to his own words ... one of the reasons
he liked fuming on oak and chestnut. One of his finishes, after fuming,
called for "1/3 white shellac and 2/3rd's German Lacquer".

There are many more qualified to speak on this matter .. if you can get Andy
Dingley's attention in the UK, he can probably get you started in the right
direction as well as anyone.

In any event, you might try the Bavaro and Mossman book ... it's well worth
the purchase for the history, techniques and plans.

--
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Last update: 5/15/04l