I tell ya, I've been wrestling with qs white oak finishing for a good 3 years now.
Tried just about everything, dyes, stains, glazes, topcoats, etc. For starters, I don't
trust pictures for correct color because the lighting will affect it. Take a look at the
kitchen I'm building for swmbo, I have pics here with 3 different sources of light,
and the panel looks different in each one (panel1, panel2, dishwasher2):
http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...rk316/kitchen/

By the way, I have made a small qs oak coffe table a couple of years ago:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze6zvlk/id10.html

Anyway, for your project, try this:

dye with lee valley fumed light oak aniline dye
seal with garnet shellac
stain with 1/3 asphaltum, 1/3 boiled linseed oil, 1/3 mineral spirits
seal with garnet shellac
topcoat of whatever, but it must be flat! Any sheen on the topcoat
makes the oak look too 3-D and "busy". Just look at my coffee table
which has too much sheen. The flakes are too crazy.

HTH

"henny" wrote in message ...
I'm starting to design plans to build a mission style coffee table out
of qtr sawn white oak with flake.

I'd like to capture as many design elements from the classic mission
style era as possible. One of them is the characteristic spindles in
the ends.

I see two different styles:

Square spindles:
http://www.furnitureontheweb.com/NoF...-yahooshopping

Slat spindles:
http://www.furnitureontheweb.com/nof.../008644nf.html

Is one more representative of true Stickley design? Are there any
Stickly guidelines for slat width vs. spacing or just I just go with
whatever my preferance is?

I'd also like to get that classical mission style color that contrasts
the "tiger" oak. Any suggestions on a stain (water, oil, or dye) that
works particularly well for creating a mission style finish. I
probably won't be able to fume it in ammonia.

Here's a representative sample of the end finish I'd like to achive:

http://www.hilestudio.com/prodpage/occtable/hs4472.html

Any links pertaining to designing mission and building mission style
style furniture would be very helpful.

TIA