Thread: Gargoyle-sticks

Good. Thanks. Got to try that. Some birch heartwood is very brown = tannin, I suppose.
Very attractive kitchen sticks after the hot oil finishing treatment. I saved the cracked ends of some of the wood. All I have to do now is find the bottle of ammonia left over from dying wool with lichens (as they did with Harris tweed in the old days with sheep urine.)

You can also try iron acetate. Put some iron wool (or nails) in white vinegar for one or two days (it will almost dilute). If it instantly turns oak and chestnut to black as ebony, it sometimes gives lovely tones of grey on non-tannic woods like ash or beech.

This thread gets me thinking.... how deep do these 'treatments' penetrate the wood? If after they dry, I sand them, will the colouring come off?

Wow - it's one constant learning curve around here.

At least I have found a use for all the jars of pee I've been stock piling. And people thought I was nuts!

Whittling poses a good question - how deep does the staining go?

Yeah, I know about the iron wool/steel wool in vinegar as a tannin stain. In some places, it is referred to as "ebonizing." I'd like to learn a little more about the ammonia/tannin biochemistry.
Decades ago, we used it in the lab(!) as a stain for woods with lots of tannins = thin 15 micron sections for microscopy. I'll bet I still have those in my slide collection. Dang near black and white, very crisp contrast.
The depth of the staining process in the wood will be somewhat time & diffusion dependent.
If I started with a finished carving, as long as I got what I wanted to see on the surface, I wouldn't plan on digging back into it.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

The depth of the staining process in the wood will be somewhat time & diffusion dependent.
If I started with a finished carving, as long as I got what I wanted to see on the surface, I wouldn't plan on digging back into it.

Yes... but if the finished work was plain wood (no finish or oil) and it was subjected to this process, wouldn't it result in a rough surface texture? And wouldn't this then need to sanded?

Great work, love them, lots of fun

Good point, Whittling. From what Copeau says, the carving isn't soaked in the ammonia, just the vapor does the job. I don't know if either of those would raise the grain or not.

When I test some birch heartwood scrap, I'll cut it into 3 pieces: I'll pretend that the surfaces are plain wood but as finished as I desire. I'll keep 'A' on the bench. 'B' and 'C' will have a few gouge tool marks added and go into the bag with the ammonia with 'C' being soaked in water 30 minutes, first. Might as well put some western red cedar in there, too.

To pursue this, there's no choice but to do some experiments with the wood of choice. After the fact, I will carve and sand back into the fumed finish to see what I have.

Whittling, I do believe ammonia goes deep in the wood. I think i already tried to cut some treated pieces of wood and they were dark inside, if i remember well.
After treatment, it's not as smooth as before but it doesn't raise the grain as much as if you soak it with water or so. I just gave a go with a green scouring pad and that was enough.

Raav,

Claw Hama, Thx !

RV, let us know the results you get from your experiments !

Great work. Love it