I have been looking for information on how to bring out texture in wood like pine. I have read the article “An Exploration in Finishing
A modern take on jin-di-sugi and ebonizing”
by Anissa Kapsales and have tried to reproduce this on pine with mixed results. I thought that there would be an easier way of “etching” the texture out of the wood without resorting to burning. I recall meeting someone who was selling hand crafted mexican furniture that had that deep etched texture look and they explained to me that the mexican craftsmen who built this furniture would soak the wood in gasoline and let it dry and evaporate in the sun, the result being a deeply etched wood texture.
Other than Jin-Di-Sugi, does anyone have any information on creating this deeply textured look in wood ? I am thinking that the gasoline trick (which I havn’t tried) may not be exactly very environmentally friendly…
Your assitance is much appreciated.
Christian L.
Canada.
Replies
You need a wood that has a strong hardness contrast between the "early" and "late" wood. When you say you tried it with pine, what kind of pine did you use? Some pines do have a very strong early/late contrast (e.g., Southern yellow pine), while others have considerably less (e.g., Eastern white pine).
I know that some people have achieved the effect using a wire brush mounted in an electric drill. The brush eats away at the softer portions and leaves the harder areas behind.
-Steve
I used Eastern White pine. The Japanese technique works but it leaves a lot of wire brush marks, i.e. the small brush lines. The charred wood as well doesn't completely go away.
I did note in the article that this seemingly works best on Cedar which is not the wood I am using.Christian
Edited 5/3/2009 3:40 pm ET by strikeshield
Christian,
After reading that same article I tried the burning and wire brush technique on a white oak picture frame I was making. Sort of the opposite end of the spectrum from your eastern white pine. It took some practice to get the burning part down and in the end I probably should have burnt it a bit more. I ended up brushing it pretty hard for quite some time. I dyed the oak black first with a vinegar and steel wool solution, which got it gray but not black, and then with a black water based dye which resulted in a nice, deep black. Top coat was a water based clear coat (General Finishes pro series acrylic). The result had some nice texture but the relief was not as great as the table in the article. It really looks like the burning and brushing accentuated the pores in the white oak more than it accentuated the grain. It did produce an interesting finish, if not exactly what I expected, and I was happy with it.
Chris
From what I can see, it would appear that wood selection is the key element here if one is to use the Japanese technique. I had just heard of the gasoline trick but no one has confirmed this chemical etching technique. I don't mind the fire and brush approach, but I don't like the steel brush marks and I don't really want the blackened look. This is for a wine cellar door that I am trying to give an aged look to.Christian
Edited 5/5/2009 10:45 pm ET by strikeshield
One approach that has been used is sand blasting. I expect this would be rather tricky to get even and natural looking. I have never done it. You would need a serious compressor to provide the air. Softer media than sand, such as walnut shells might make it easier.
You'll get much more striking results with Douglas Fir or Southern Yellow Pine.
As far as sandblasting goes, it's specialized equipment (not your regular garden variety compressor) but it's very common to rent sandblasting rigs that are used for cleaning metal structures. You could try that route without any great investment.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?lang=e&id=1
I wish I could remember more of what I've read regarding this......
Seems to me that you could somehow work with a wood's expansion coefficient related to water -- the late wood generally swells differently that the early wood.
And if you wet the wood, then sand.......... the more-swollen wood will get sanded off. It will then shrink back as the wood dries again.
What Steve said.
I remeber once seeing some wood that a guy put in the path of moving grain in the grain elevator where he worked. Just the grain pouring over the wood did the trick, so I suspect blasting would be the way to go. They make plastic blasting media that is graded for hardness or, in your case, softness. I suspect you'd need pretty soft media to do this nicely. Not a basement (or backyard, for that matter) setup, though.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Everything fits, until you put glue on it.
strikesheild ,a pressure washer works well followed by light sanding.
texturing wood
I have used the larger sanding mops to texture wood with great results. I generally use a 3 inch mop on a cordless drill.
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