Applied the stain to the chair and arms (pre-installation). There is a methodology to the madness. I wanted to stain the chair before installing the bottom and wanted to install the bottom before installing the arms. It’s just easier to manipulate the chair while bottoming it; this thing is heavy! The stain is Minwax Puritan Pine hand rubbed on with a cotton cloth.
Once the stain has had time to dry, say after a good lunch, it is time to put the bottom in. Photos below show the bottom going in. I use a herringbone weave, it looks really nice and holds up great. The bottom looks just like the top as I weave it as well. I’d say with regular use the bottom will hold up for 50 years or so, hickory bark is a great resource.
First run applied
Bottom complete.