flat black finish on solid beech poles

hello all,

new to the forum, but not to woodworking. however, finishing is a weak part for me. I've always just left natural grain with clear coat finishes.

for my current project, i am trying to figure the simplest way to achieve a very flat black finish on solid beech wooden poles (4cm diameter) like the attached, ideally adding the thinnest layer from the finish since the parts will have to fit together snugly.

It seems like there are 2 options, staining or lacquering. lacquering seems a bit more difficult and i don't know if it will give me the flatness with grain still showing.

what are the needed steps, do I have to apply a primer before and flat clear coat after? I should also mention that I've been able to find a clear coat as flat as the images, so if anyone has advice about that, that would be swell.

thanks! :U

Stain I guess! :think: Flat lacquer after ?:shrug: Or I don't know if you can danish oil over stain. :hmm: Cos DO would give you the flatness and still feel like wood.:cool: Maybe a water based stain so the DO doesn't move it. I'm only guessing just to get things rolling. Quite often a completely wrong answer will generate heaps more discussion. :think: Who knows why.:D The typos will prolly help too.:cool:

you could also consider spraying with flat black paint or staining with eg Feast Watson black proof tint and a seal coat of something clear on top.

The only way to know, really, is to try a few finishes on some test pieces first so you know what will work for you to get the result you want.

cheers
Wendy