Mission Accomplished!

Here is how the window sashes look now. They are all quite dark but the constant layering of tinted shellac has paid off. They are all dark like walnut and have that pale amber fine graining that is common in dark walnut. The two pictures are the same frame against some of the orange colored yellow pine molding in the residence house.

Todays work involved the light sanding of the shellac covered surfaces, then the application of three more coats of the dark tinted shellac left over from my floor. The first of the three coats was thinned down a little with denatured alcohol but the final two coats were not. The final coat could have been diluted with more shellac really so as not to be quite so dark but hey, I'm lazy! The whole process took another 3 hours. It would have been quicker if there weren't those six paned window frames to deal with. Now I just have to go and buy some more glazing putty so I can put all the glass back in these frames.

So, for all those people who whine about stripping their woodwork to find putty and dents. Then make some excuse about how they just have to paint it because there is nothing they can do about it..... don't come whining to me. Here is proof that you can make it look like old wood again!

I had no clue if this would work when I first tried it in our hallway (that's a lie, I had faith) but what I did know was that someone had done much of the original wood work in a similar manner to this because I noticed it as I stripped it off. There was definitely shellac over paint (probably to look like rosewood) so it seemed to me that it would be possible to do it here. I used walnut dye because that is what I have. You can get oak, mahogany and all sorts of colors if you want. Even blue and red! You really don't need more that 2 oz. of the stuff. I bought an 8oz can for around $25.00. I used 2 oz which was enough to do my dining room floor, the patterns and risers on the stairs and these windows. I probably still have some of the dye dissolved in alcohol sitting in a jar. I sent 2 oz. to Greg so he could use it on a piece of furniture but it was probably stolen by his hill-billy neighbors and free-based into a dark brown crystalline substance known on the streets, not as "crack" or "crank" but as "crap". Which leaves me with 4 oz. I won't need more than another 2 oz. of the stuff. Cincinatti Cape Cod didn't want any when I offered it. House in Progress didn't want any when I offered it to them. Hmmmm, anybody wanna buy some "crap"?