Ash Chair Finish Recomendation

[mattr]

In a challenge to myself, I made a side chair using my Domino 500.. I used some ash that I  had left over from other projects. The chair proportions are off and it's solid and comfortable, albeit a little low. It's not perfect with a some edges not even and some of the domino holes in the wrong spot and plugged. Now my challenge is figuring out how to finish it.

I have no idea how to go and want it nice, but not spending a ton of time. I tried Waterlox and Arm R Seal on scrap. They both look nice and amber, but don't love it. I tried some black stain, but it's not black enough and not really want I want either. I thought about filling the grain and maybe doing it in black lacquer, but that is more work than I want.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions? What do you like on ash?

 

[butzla]

I've only used Ash on my roubo bench.  Ash is like cherry, over time it deepens and warms in color.  I'm a huge Arm-R-Seal proponent.  The color you see on your scrap sample will be many times darker in a year or two.  My bench is a warm golden color now.  The open grain is a challenge to stain, especially if you're not happy with it.  Removing it will be difficult.  I'd go natural with Arm-R-Seal.
PS Nice chair!

 

[mattr]

Thanks! It was interesting figuring out the angles for the dominos with the legs splayed out from the back. Not really hard though. I'm curious how it will hold up to the 7 year old son and 5 year old daughter! If all goes well, I'll make some more. This one has the proportions off - it's too low and wide. Sort of smooshed down to 3/4 scale  [unsure]

I used ash on the aprons for our dining table a few years ago. It's darkened a little, but not much. Maybe I'll wait a little with the sample and see.....

 

[bertv]

Milk paint! Check out what Chris S does on Free Art Press... Looks awesome.

 

[mattr]

Here it is in finish. I went with two coats of Saman water based black stain covered with Vermont Coatings whey poly. It was interesting using these. The water based stain seems like part stain, part coating. It made it black, but was thin. With the water based poly on it, it was easy to overwork the first coat and start dissolving the stain. I put on 3 coats of poly, let it dry overnight, sanded with 400, then one more coat. It does look a little "plastic" from the poly, but it matches what I had imagined it would look like, so all good! Now for the five and seven year old to give it the durability testing.