Replies

1. 
   Tom_West | Feb 08, 2002 02:18am | #1

   *
   Death is the main hazard.

1. 
   Danford_C._Jennings | Feb 08, 2002 10:21am | #2

   *Took the words right out of my mouth, Tom.

1. 
   Mike_Hadley | Feb 10, 2002 01:56am | #3

   *Ammonia fuming is indeed a hazardous activity, but certainly well within the realm of the average home woodworker if proper precautions are taken. Due to its' incredibly toxic fumes, you need to take great precautions.Make SURE your workshop is as tightly sealed from the rest of the home as possible. IMPORTANT. If you love your family, seal off any cold air returns or registers. Make sure your shop doorway has weatherstripping, or stuff the bottom with rags/towels when you leave. Make SURE you have exhaust capacity ventilated to the outside. Make SURE you are using nitrile rubber gloves, protective eyewear, and an approved respirator. A Tyvek coverall wouldn't hurt either.Build a floor standing frame. Securely wrap it in 6mil polyethylene, taping every joint/overlap and where it meets the floor. Place the piece to be fumed inside the "chamber". One side should be left untaped for you to enter and exit from. Take a couple of old plates and put them on the floor in the chamber around the piece. Now comes the dicey part.Open the ammonia container and QUICKLY, but not sloppily, pour solution into the plates. GET OUT of the chamber. Put lid on container. Tape the entry/exit SHUT asap. Turn on your ventilation exhaust in case fumes leak out. Actually, turn it on as the first step. Get out of the shop. Then you can take your safety equipment off. LOCK the shop door. The degree of darkness of colour of the wood is time dependant - and hopefully you trialed a test piece or two of scrap in the same wood as your project to determine what time exposure resulted in the most pleasing colour after applying finish.So...ready to take out the piece? Put on all your safety equipment. Bring a five gallon pail 3/4 filled with COLD water in with you. Leave your exhaust ventilator running. Open the chamber and QUICKLY - but carefully - dump the plates of ammonia (including the plates) into the pail of water. Put on the lid. Leave the shop in the same manner as the first time.A couple of hours later, wearing your respirator and goggles, remove the furniture from the opened chamber - most of the ammonia fumes should have been ventilated out by now - and take it outside to a secure location and let it gas off for at least 4 hours.Then you can take it back into the shop and apply your finish.Nothing to it....I guess.....

1. 
   Scott_Braun | Feb 13, 2002 04:50pm | #4

   *Remember we're talking about industrial ammonia (like for blueprint machines), not the diluted stuff in the grocery store.I usually just rent a box truck for fuming. you can lock it, no need to build the chamber, no fumes in the shop, and you can just drive back to the rental place with the back door open, it'll be fume free by the time you get there...another quick suggestion is to use those little round aluminum dishes they put take-out food in, instead of your plates. SBoh, yeah, one more thing - DO NOT ignore the goggles suggestion - ammonia fumes will burn your eyes. that can't be any fun.

1. 
   Mike_Hadley | Feb 13, 2002 05:01pm | #5

   *Scott:Good suggestion about the truck. I was suggesting a way to do it that would save some money - especially if the person is planning on fuming on a regular basis, but for a "one-off", the truck is a great idea.Bottom line is, you simply can't be too careful working with that stuff...