Hi Linda,

Your choice.  I believe there is shellac in india ink anyway.  Just do a test piece or use the under side for a test.  I don't know if will break down the ink or if it will make the brush black. 

Let us know how it comes out.  

Arghh! Missed the meeting. Busy shopping for shower bases and lost track of time. Which brings me to my status:

I've been harvesting wood for the project from an old desk, making dowels and setting up for steam bending the arm bow. I'd hoped to be ready for drilling this past weekend, but the contractor finally appeared last week on short notice, so we've been scrambling to pick all the bathroom parts and packing up half our basement (including my shop) for the structural repairs. Hopefully I get my shop back, at least partly, next week.

I have shop space in my 1800s barn in Old Town - Newbury MA if anyone needs access to a bandsaw or other tools to complete their chair.

I am in the finishing stage and putting on coats of milk paint.

Just found this great tool. Open wire is a blog that the lost art press team puts out regularly where users submit questions (often about chairs), and they answer. This is a search tool that makes all past content searchable. Enjoy!

https://lap-open-wire-search.fly.dev/