What is mission oak stain? There are many on the market, with hardly two alike in tone. The true mission oak stain may be said to show a dull gray, the flakes showing a reddish tint, while the grain of the wood will be almost a dead black. To produce such a stain take 1 lb. of drop black in oil and 1/2 oz, of rose pink in oil, adding a gill of best japan drier, thinning with three half-pints of turpentine. This will make about 1 qt. of stain. Use these proportions for a larger quantity of stain. Strain it through cheese cloth. Japan colors will give a quicker drying stain than that made with oil colors, and in this case omit the japan and add a little varnish to bind it.
One of the most popular of all the fancy oaks has been that known as Flemish, and this in spite of its very somber color, says Wood Craft. There are several ways of producing Flemish finish; you can fill the wood with a paste filler strained with raw umber, and when dry apply a stain of transparent flat raw umber, and for the darker shades of finish use drop black with the umber. Varnish and rub down.
According to a foreign technical journal, French workmen mahoganize various kinds of woods by the following method: The surface of the wood to be stained is made perfectly smooth. Then it is given a coating of dilute nitric acid which is rubbed well into the wood fiber. Then it is stained with a mixture made by dissolving 1-1/2 oz. of dragon's blood in a pint of alcohol, this solution being filtered, and then there is added to it one-third of its weight of sodium carbonate. Apply this mixture with a brush, and repeat the coats at intervals until the surface has the appearance of polished mahogany. In case the luster should fail it may be restored by rubbing with a little raw linseed oil. The description of the process is meager, and hence he who would try it will have to experiment a little.
A good cheap mission effect for oak is to mix together equal parts of boiled linseed oil and good asphaltum varnish, and apply this to the wood with a brush; in a minute or so you may rub off surplus with a rag, and when dry give a coat of varnish. A gallon of this stain will cover about 600 sq. ft.