Wokka, I've been kind of experimenting with a couple of different chemical stains. I'm thinking about going for an aged wood look. Long story short, I live in an old mill converted into apartments. The whole building is industrial, and we have awesome 15' ceilings with exposed timber and beams. All of our stuff is antique/vintage/industrial, and we have been working on a couple things with driftwood. I love the look of old weathered wood, and I've been on the fence about going with a vintage sunburst or trying out the chemical stain to age the wood. I decided to try out a couple of different approaches on some test wood, and I absolutely love the effect with the vinegar/steel wool and tea method. With mahogany, it can turn it jet black. Kind of crazy. I was planning on doing a black lacquer back anyway, so I might try it. It is a little iffy on maple though, and I'm a bit nervous abut trying it on the spalted top, but figure the worst that can happen is I mess everything up and just do a classic sunburst paint or a jet black lacquer and count it lesson learned!
