I’m finishing an ash project, and want to embed dark color into the open grain without staining (darkening) the surface of the wood a lot. I’ve had some success by using a wash coat of shellac and applying a burnt umber glaze. Then I sand to remove the glaze (and shellac) that remains on the surface, before moving on to other steps in the finishing process.
I’ve heard of “wiping” stains but not sure if this would work better for me. Also, I’ve considered coloring a paste wood filler to get the darkness into the grain. It seems that a gel stain would leave more color on the surface than my existing procedure with burnt umber glaze.
My hardwood floor (oak) has the look I’m seeking, but I don’t know how they did it.
Tim
Replies
I'm not sure this article will help, but take a look: Richard Jones (Sgian here at Knots) wrote an article about a filled-grain finish for an oak table he made. The first part of the article is about staining the wood -- off-topic for you. But the second part is about filling the grain with color. The article is here <click>.
I am glad to see this article. I am an advocate of Plaster of Paris for filling wood and prefer this to the fillers in the can. I should be able to color the Plaster of Paris with dark powders and achieve the desired look.
Thank you very much,
Tim
I have used dark paste filler applied after a coat of shellac and wiped cross-grain with burlap. Cross-grain as with the grain will basically remove all the paste filler. Let it dry over-night and then sand the grain before applying your main back-ground stain. I used this on white oak and the results are what I call tiger oak as the dark filler leaves tiger stripes.
But.. I do like the idea of plaster of Paris in Richard's article and may try it. I also use Liberon Medium Oak wax as Lataxe mentioned which will leave some darker wax in open grain as oak but not to the extent of what a pre-filler will leave. In most case's sufficient for my style but not enough when I want a tiger oak finish..
Good luck...
Sarge..
Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia
Edited 10/27/2009 11:34 am ET by SARGEgrinder47
Tim,
A very simple way to darken the grain is to use pigmented wax, such as that sold by Liberon:
http://www.agwoodcare.co.uk/pdf/DS_Liberon_Black_Painting_Wax.pdf
(Its proper name is patinating wax, incidentally).
The wax doesn't completely fill the grain as it shrinks as it dries. However, the wax can be applied as the last stage to any finishing process that leaves the grain open and results in a surface that can be wax-polished.
I like to use the black version on dark and open-grained timbers such as afromosia, after an oil-finish, as it does lend something of an aged look as well as darkening the grain. The small amounts left in corners and other recesses adds to that aged look.
It does have a slight darkening effect on all of the wood surface, so if its just the grain you want to darken this wax it probably not suitable. Also, it isn't a tough finish, being a wax. Then again, it can be easily cleaned off/out should you ever want to do so.
Lataxe
For my A+C things (QSWO) I put down a seal coat of shellac (1.5# +/-), then use McCloskey's Tungseal stain - usually Walnut. Slap it on, wait a few minutes, then wipe it off cross-grain, leaving it in the grain pores, but taking it off the surface.
The key feature of the McCloskey's is that is contains "asphaltum" which is exactly what it sounds like - tar. Must be other similar products, but don't know them.
This fills the grain pores - I'd tried filler, but (a) it didn't work nearly as easy, or (b) more likely I didn't spend the time to get the hang of it and it was pilot error, not equipment failure. The McCloskey's method is too simple for me to want to do the extra work with the filler. Got some nice chunks of burlap over there on the finishes storage shelf, though :).
I might give that a try, Spotcheck. Where do you get the Mc Closkeys at?Sarge..
Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia
Sarge, I honestly I don't remember - it was mail order - thought Homestead, but its not shown there today - when I still lived in Mich - that was 6 yrs ago - still have an unopened upside-down qt. (bought more than I needed - it doesn't take much - you can kinda move a puddle around with a plastic spreader, like you would filler).
No, maybe it was O-gee where I got it. Let's see......Ruh-Roh - O-gee site says: "Valspar is replacing both Valspar and McCloskey branded interior wood stains and finishes with the Cabot brand."
And, of course, Cabot makes no reference to asphaltum........Now I'm aggravated...just a sec........Oh - yeah - Ok - yep - now I remember - Gilsonite is the trade name for asphaltum........annnnd.........General Finishes GF Danish Oil has gilsonite in it (gotta put a note on this in my files). Maybe some other brands too if you go looking.
There ya' go, Sarge. I had used both Walnut and Dark Walnut. I recall one unholy mess trying their Ebony - don't go there. If you do try it, please drop a note on how it worked, OK? Good Luck.
Thanks Spotcheck. What was the deal with the ebony as that is what I was leaning on to get pure black in those pores? I generally use dark paste or Liberon medium oak which both are dark but.. I kind of wanted to try pure black to see what it looks like. So.. a short explanation of why not to go there if you find the time.
Thanks in advance.... Sarge..
Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia
I tried a few of these procedures on some ash pieces in the shop.
I. Plaster of Paris - I sanded, then applied wash coat of shellac. Mixed burnt umber powder with Plaster of Paris and applied cross grain, and wiped off. Then sanded. I had the best results with this. Some coloring of the surface, but very dark pockets.
II. Paste Filler - I had some Pore-n-Pac Walnut colored paste. After wash coat of shellac, applied the filler. OK results but pockets are not as black, and there is less contrast with the color left on surface.
III. I have not used that Liberon wax, I plan to order some. Instead I tried some MyLands dark mahogany wax (probably not the same thing). I applied wash coat of shellac, then added the wax, and wiped off all I could. Not bad results, the pockets are dark, and not much color left on surface. But it did not look quite as good as the Plaster of Paris. Also, I'm not sure what my results would be of applying other finishes on top of the wax.
IV. Glaze - After wash coat, I applied glaze from mixing Burnt Umber Japan Oil with mineral spirits. I wiped off as much as possible. This provided very dark pockets, but left more color on the surface.
V. Don't have the McCloskey stain, but plan to find it and try it.
Thanks for the ideas.....
Tim
Thanks for the detail on how each was used and the fact you prefer the plaster of paris.
Sarge..
Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia
Sarge - the walnut is very dark in those pores. I'm thinking it will be at least as dark as what you have been using. The problem I had with the Ebony is that, while the basic stain has very little effect on the field/background, that isn't the same as "no effect" - the ebony messed up the appearance of the piece - I had to get after it with solvent to clean it all off (and - yes - I should have run it on a test piece first - duh).
You could certainly try it - especially if you can get out with a small purchase. Or - if you want to come into The Big City, you are welcome to a qt of the McCloskey Ebony that is 90%+ full. Never tossed it, but won't ever use it, either. Bring a hunk of wood, and you're welcome to try out the Walnut, and the Maple as well. Cold beer at reasonable prices at my house!!
Kent
Bartley's Gel Stain also contains asphaltum - you can get it through Homestead. I've been told that you can buy asphaltum at the BORG in the form of some crack repair gunk and just add that to any stain you want to use. Haven't tried that yet.
I'm finally getting to the end of a seeminly endless A+C project, but I'm stuck at the finishing stage - I may try your finishing schedule today on some test boards (we talked months ago!).
Thanks!
Bob - a-HA!!
Mystery solved. The finishing schedule I originally used was from Homestead's articles - that was my source for the gilsonite-mccloskey item. Then, when we were trading info earlier, I scratched my head when that reference was gone.
Bartley's Gel Stain is there instead - so there you go. A lot of my techniques are from Jeff's book and a class I took with him, so if that's the way he's heading, I would suggest you try the Bartley's - he certainly knows more about the topic today than I will on the day I die. But - would think the oil stain oughta do well too. IIRC - the original talked specifically about the gilsonite-asphaltum as being the key, not the brand.
Let us know what where you go and how it works - I'm always willing to adopt new methods.
"...seeminly endless A+C project, but I'm stuck at the finishing....." They're all a blast up through the first 1/3 of the sanding, but the world seems to slow down after that.
Thanks for the explanation of the ebony, SC. BTW.. the stain I do use is Bartley's I purchase local at Highland Hardware which is now H. Woodworking. The medium oak.. honey and mahogany I do use in Bartley's will leave the pores darker than the surface wood without doing anything else to it. Usually the Bartley's is all I use except when I decide in advance I want the tiger oak look I decribed.
Regards...Sarge..
Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia
Sarge - Oh, yeah - I'm a frequent customer at HW - know it well. The part we didn't discuss was dye. I dye the wood before the grain/pore step - the dye takes better in the background than it does on the tiger stripes - really makes the grain "pop" - but you prolly already knew this.
Forest Girl provided you with a link to my website with a description of filling grain with tinted plaster of paris.
Here is a finished example of another technique you could play with. Again the background colour is derived through using green copperas on American white oak. You can omit that of course if you want a natural background colour. Anyway, when you've got whatever base colour you want and it's sanded down to an appropraite grade, apply a thinned out film forming polish as a barrier, eg, shellac, varnish or the pre-cat used in this example which was thinned about 20% and sprayed on lightly.
Next get some water based emulsion paint, the type used to paint house walls, ceilings, that kind of thing, any colour you like, eg, black, red, lurid pink, vomit ochre, brown, etc. Paint it on, sloppily will do, leave it a few minutes and wipe off mostly across the grain. Leave it to dry thoroughly and sand lightly with the grain with something like 220 or 240 grit just to eliminate any cross grain striations.
Lastly, polish up with the same film forming finish you used as the original barrier coat, although you could put anything over your barrier coat if you used a dewaxed shellac for this task. Slainte.
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richardjonesfurniture.com
Are you refering to Latex/Acrylic paint?As for the Plaster of Paris, do you mix it with water and let it set and dry? or do you use it dry and let the finish consolodate the plaster?
Where do you get your green copperas?
Thanks
I just ordered some Copperas from here: http://www.sciencestuff.com/prod/Chem-Rgnts/C1757
The MSDS looks pretty safe, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I'll post results, but it won't get here for another week.
"Are you refering to Latex/Acrylic paint?"
Latex I guess. House wall paint anyway.
"As for the Plaster of Paris, do you mix it with water and let it set and dry?"
See this description here. It's the same link forestgirl gave earlier.
http://www.richardjonesfurniture.com/Articles/green-grain-fill/green-grain-fill-table.html
"Where do you get your green copperas?"
It's also known as Ferrous Sulphate. I can buy it at garden centres. it's some kind of plant fod or bug killer-- one or the other, I don't recall. Slainte.richardjonesfurniture.com
Thanks for the tip on water based paint. I have used thinned water based interior house paint to get a faded look on a few pieces of furniture that were requested to be painted but.. simply never thought about using it just for the open pores.
Regards...Sarge..
Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia
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