And for something totes different: does anyone have experience using iron acetate solutions on Acacia wood (and also if there's any reason I should avoid Acacia wood for labor/slavery/abuse/ecological reasons this is a great time to mention it) for ach...
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And for something totes different: does anyone have experience using iron acetate solutions on Acacia wood (and also if there's any reason I should avoid Acacia wood for labor/slavery/abuse/ecological reasons this is a great time to mention it) for achieving a nice jet black color? It doesn't have to be consistent and I'm not looking for something that resembles a painted Ikea surface. I like variation.
I'm looking to sort of make my own desktop and want a nice natural black. Our place has an empty shed that I could absolutely do the finishing work on and I would love to have something more or less finished by me (fuck, I'd love to make it but I have no clamps @[email protected] ).
I was also debating on how to finish after that: shellac? tung oil (seems to take forever)? just wax?
The reason I'm looking at acacia is that butcher block from Lowe's (is Lowe's the better one plz don't tell me they've done something shitty. fucking Home Depot) is relatively inexpensive and in my price range for this project.
boosts totally appreciated on this one
#wood #woodWorking #woodFinishing #woodFinishes -
@[email protected] Part of me almost wants to try my hand at "painting" on a one or two layer process depending on how well the reaction works:
1 (optional). Doing various strokes/designs with a tannin tea and a paintbrush. Think like a water color type situation
2. Going back over the original strokes with the iron solution to create a sort of three tone effect
But that kind of depends on how well things work AND if I'm able to come up with some designs I like. -
@aud @ma3ke i've found it hard to get consistent results with vinegaroon. generally far better in woods with a lot of tannins like oak, walnut, and cherry. i'm not sure about the tannin content in acacia, i don't remember it burning very much when i've machined it, so possibly not a lot.
i've had far better luck ebonizing with india ink. it's available in most art supply places and craft stores, it's very inexpensive, and can be topcoated with almost anything. it leaves a jet black finish that's mostly flat and doesn't fill or obscure the wood grain and pores.
topcoat with whatever you're comfortable with for whatever finish sheen you're looking for. sprays are grand if you're only doing a couple of coats and have good ventilation. spray lacquer is nastiest to work with but leaves a durable finish that's mostly impervious to common household chemicals. polyurethane and shellac are great, too, but more susceptible to damage from heat, uv, and alcohols.
pure tung oil and linseed oil are great and leave a wonderful natural-feeling finish, but i wouldn't use it for a hard-use surface you can't reoil easily. i love them for tool handles or in combination with shellac for friction polishes, but it takes weeks to months to "fully" cure and will pick up hand gunk and weep oil if you put a hot mug on it and not really do much for abrasion. boiled linseed oil is faster to cure because of added chemical dryers, but still has all of the other downsides.
if you wanted to do something very low effort and are only looking for something very dark rather than fully black, rubio has a series of hardwax oils that come pre-tinted. i've been very, very impressed with rubio since i started using it a few years ago and i only ever use something else if it's unavoidable. it's applied by hand or brush, wiped after ~15 minutes, then buff (hand or machine) with a white scotchbrite pad. it's zero VOC, it leaves behind a satin, natural looking and feeling finish (that can be rubbed out with an additional product for something more semigloss), and you're done with a single application and 24hrs cure time.
it's pricey, but a little goes a long way. if you could find the smaller ~130mL containers that would probably be enough to do several dining tables. i haven't used the dyed ones personally, so i'm not sure just how dark it gets, it looks like Oil Plus 2C Charcoal is the darkest they have. it's the tone of a toasted ash or dark chocolate.
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@[email protected] @[email protected] oh, this is great, thank you!
Yeah, the top is going to come against some serious use: computer desk + general purpose workstation. So lots of spilled rubbing alcohol and coffee, including hot coffee mugs. I WILL be putting down a large mat (I like those because it helps keep the keyboard in place + it's basically a giant ass mousepad, which I need). It may or may not have a hot desktop on it; unsure at this point.
There's a part of me that almost wants to burn and then oil/finish it or whatever. I'd really love a satin sheen. I'm curious about the rubio now; I'm definitely interested in low effort here. But also I like the idea of something that has "reacted" with the wood.
I'm also curious about the India ink; I hear the speedball is particularly good for it, as it's archival quality and mixed with shellac. But I don't want it to look "painted"; in particular, I don't want it to look like the Ikea "brown-black" color option. I'm not sure if that's a stain they use or what, since you can usually see a grain pattern on those (I'm assuming it's a veneer of some sort... but what do I know? I'm pretty new to literally all of this). -
@[email protected] @[email protected] actually, maybe I want is a nice shiny, waxed/oiled looking finish. So more than satin? (I'm still learning the terms!)
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@[email protected] @[email protected] I'm actually kind of into how the "light" burning on this ended up looking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUIZ9dBI4r0
not sure what about finish I would want though, in terms of sealing. I don't want something that looks like resin, for instance, as that's too shiny/plastic looking for what I want. But I like the variation in the light burn + brush. I think I want something with lots of texture and contrast (it's starting as butcher block, after all) so maybe a light pass with a torch followed by a soft wire brushing + finish is the way to go here. -
@aud @ma3ke shou sugi ban is a lot of fun! hard to get a very consistent depth/flatness depending on how much you have to burn and brush, but it comes out looking great, especially on oak and ash.
i know you mentioned it's a butcherblock, do you happen to know if that means it's endgrain? that would probably take burning out of the equation. it's very, very hard to get even a rustic level of consistency with fire on endgrain.
speedball is what i've used and it definitely stands up to uv really well. whatever you topcoat it with will definitely yellow before it does.
finish sheens aren't always named consistently and can differ between products. the most common terms are the same ones used for paint
flat - matte.
satin - a little more reflectivity, but "frosted", like brushed metal.
semi-gloss - the most popular option. picks up fewer noticeable scratches than gloss. flattering to most shapes and woods.
gloss - most reflective, which can be good and bad. hardest to preserve looking new and hardest to touch up. awkward looking on some more porous woods (i think).if you want to check out rubio in person, see if there's a flooring retailer near you. it's been very popular as a floor finish in most of Europe for the last ~20 years and many larger showrooms or stores will have a big displayboard of all the different tints and finish sheens.
i find the regular single-application result to be very close to boiled linseed oil or other natural drying oils, maybe a little shinier. it's rare that i've wanted to go further, but they make a "maintenance oil" that can be added and buffed off to enhance the sheen to something between satin and semi-gloss for a finish that looks more like commercial furniture.
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@[email protected] @[email protected] I took a look at how the India Ink comes out, and I think it's a little too 'consistent' for what I want here! It is gorgeous, though.
The butcher block I'm looking at isn't end grain, at least as far as I can tell. It's here: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sparrow-Peak-Acacia-6-ft-x-25-in/5001792645 relatively inexpensive, nice and long. No idea how it'll burn, but I suppose that's why it has two sides, really...
So based on what you're telling me, I think what I want it is probably semi-gloss : ) -
@[email protected] @[email protected] I really wanna thank you for all the time you took to answer my questions in the end, due to difficulty sourcing the part (they said they had it but then didn’t) and annoyances finding a replacement (plus being unsure about the glue holding up under heat, as you brought up), I’ve gone with an industrial kitchen style table/counter/worktop as it’s far less expensive, much more durable than anything in its price range, and potentially repurposable down the line!
I absolutely am still dreaming of how to do the things we talked about though, and I appreciate that you took the time to teach me so many things