Scrollsaw Workshop Community -Please register to enable posting.
General Category => Tutorials, Techniques and Tips => Topic started by: daliclimbs on September 13, 2012, 11:49:08 am
-
Some of you may already know of and use this technique. For those that don't here ya go. This finish is simply a mix of white vinegar and steel wool. Place a few chunks of steel wool in a Mason jar. I use 1/2 pint. Let it set for a few days with the lid on and presto instant finish. The vinegar will break down the wool and create an iron solution. Just brush it on and let it soak in. The whole process works with the natural tannins in the wood. Some wood is full of tannins such as oak walnut and maple. Be careful with these woods as they will turn a deep ebony color. Rustic items are very popular around my area and I have used this finish for years. People love it. To obtain a deeper color you can use multiple coats. If your wood is not reacting much with the solution brush on some strong tea first and allow it to dry. The tea introduces tannins into the wood.
(http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee364/daliclimbs/2012-09-13112946.jpg)
-
Excellent tip Scott!
-
I suppose at some point I will stop being so amazed at the tips I see here, but not yet!!!!! Thanks Scott.
-
You might like to know this finish absolutely stinks as you apply it, but the good news is once it has dried there is no smell at all.
-
You might like to know this finish absolutely stinks as you apply it, but the good news is once it has dried there is no smell at all.
Does it smell like a dirty cat box? :o :o
-
More like pickles made of wood! ;)
-
Thanks for the tip.
-
Love this tip, thanks for posting it.
-
What a great name for a rock band "WOODEN PICKLES" ;D
I knew a band by the name of UC (for URNIAL CAKES)
My how these post seem to wander ;D
Thanks for the great idea.
-
I started a batch of "Wooden Pickles" the same day as the first post. When Keffie posted about the stink, another use came to mind. I do love all the people that come to my shop. Some when the come, other when they leave. Seems a good way to get rid of unwanted guests!
-
Steel wool, white vinegar and a screw lid jar all mixed together, going to try it on some pine garden signs, I'll let you know the results soon.
-
I tried out my "Wooden Pickle Juice" today. Results - White Oak turned almost ebony. Not ugly but not brown or reddish either. I see potential for it. Oak Plywood - turned black, but not as dark as the solid oak. Once again not a ugly black but something useable for certain things. Yellow Pine turned a rich brown. For my small scrap test it worked as good or better than any stain I have used. All in all, I like the results and will use it again. The aroma was almost toxic!, Stink is such a mild word for this mixture. Has anyone ever tried adding a dye to the mix? I am going to try a little bit and see what happens.
-
my jar of it is nearly 5 years old now and gives a great colour to the wood, but I had to strain it through a coffee filter paper to remove the iron filings - all that was left of the wire wool lol. But it has still retained it's stink, it just got better with age lol.
-
One thing that surprised me was how little it takes to make the color change. I tried a putting on a very light coat. Same results! Keffie, after reading your post, I wonder why I decided to make a double size batch :(
-
Billy, I made the mistake (well not mistake ) of making a large batch of it, not realising it takes so little to do a good job, it's lasted me for ages, but at least it doesn't go off - it just smells that way ;D ;D
-
After another day or two I will run the batch through a filter and have it when I need it. Oh and even the cats would not stay in the shop when I was testing it. All doors and windows were open too!
-
I started a batch of "Wooden Pickles" the same day as the first post. When Keffie posted about the stink, another use came to mind. I do love all the people that come to my shop. Some when the come, other when they leave. Seems a good way to get rid of unwanted guests!
Guests or Pests?
Sounds like a good tip. About how much vinegar are you using, is it a sufficient amount to immerse the steel wool, or just some in the bottom of the jar? Thanks for the info.....
-
I fill the jar with vinegar. It only takes a few small hunks of steel wool. Then just top off the jar with the vinegar.
-
I filtered my batch yesterday and it is ready to go. I have tried it on several types of wood. Oak turns almost black. Baltic Birch turned a deep brown, pine about the same. I ever put a couple swipes on a piece of treated 1X6 and the results wo darker but not a dark as the plain pine. Does anyone know if that is a way to stop the reaction when you get a color you like, or is it all it nothing? OH, if your work bench is wood, and some gets spilled It will turn darke too!
-
Its pretty much all or nothing. You can cut it a bit with water and bring the overall darkening down. But its pretty much a get what you get type finish.
-
I had heard of this trick for ebonizing wood.
I was told to use a jar with a non metal lid to avoid rust. I also read that with time unused solution will turn more red due to rusting of the steel wool. Have any of you experienced this change of color with time?
-
Here is a location that give info on the use of TEA, steel wool & vinegar & "pennies" with vinegar for a bluish color.
http://www.toolgirl.com/toolgirl/2010/03/staining-wood-with-cheap-natural-and-nontoxic-tea.html (http://www.toolgirl.com/toolgirl/2010/03/staining-wood-with-cheap-natural-and-nontoxic-tea.html)
~~~GB~~~
-
Has anyone tried this on baltic birtch plywood yet?
-
I happened upon this post about three weeks ago. Went to the garage with a glass jar and 1/2 pint of white vinegar and placed a chunk of 0000 steel wool in the bottle (yes, with the vinegar). About one third of a roll.
Went out today, saw it sitting in the back corner, right where I left it. Thought to myself I would give it a go.
I stirred the mixture, (now almost nothing but filings in the liquid), then stirred the mixture with three different stir sticks, one pine, one oak and one walnut. All I got was three wet stir sticks - NO color change whatsoever.
???
Al
-
sorry Al, we should have said, it doesn't work with white vinegar,I don't know why. ordinary malt vinegar works (the brown malt vinegar)
-
I have found that to be true also. White vinegar does not work. However I recently read that if you use water and steel wool and add a little vinegar to the water, it speeds up the rusting which is really what is happening. My first batch, I used apple cider vinegar and after a week I stirred it with a scrap of red oak and the wood turned black almost instantly!
I am currently experimenting with coffee and black tea. The coffee did stain poplar but, not very dark and the black tea is kind of like putting water on the wood. I tried the tea first (trying to add tannins to the wood) and then the cider/steel wool on top of that and it darkened quite a bit but I didn't get any grain out of the wood at all. I was using poplar and it didn't really have much grain anyway. I was making a picture frame and it turned out looking like I had just painted it brown. >:(
Rog
-
About a week and a half ago I put 20 pennies in a jar and added white vinegar. so far just like Al I have a jar of white vinegar and pennies. also found out that since 1982, pennies are made with zinc clad with copper. My wife says I need older pennies but now I wonder if I need older pennies and brown vinegar. Anyone tried this?
PS I used white vinegar and steel wool and it works fine. I will have some picts later
-
Just watched a video by P. Allen Smith on ehow.com/home he was showing how to make homemade stain. It is almost the same as stated here. He used 1/2 cup used coffee grounds, steel wool cut into small pieces and White vinegar in a quart jar. The only difference being is he lets this mixture sit for ONE day. His stain applied to pine came out a silvery gray. It took about 30 minutes for the chemical reaction. Each day you let the mixture sit the darker the stain becomes. So if you started with the orginal mixture and then each day pour (strained) a small portion into say a baby food jar I wonder if this would get the best results.
-
WOW. I left the stuff alone for a couple more days, let it warm up a spell ere I filtered, and what a difference.
Turned a piece of walnut darn near black. So I took the wood to the bench and sanded it to 320. Looking forward to what some BLO/MS will do with 1/3, Danish oil with a 1/3, and leaving the last part for comparing.
Never stop trying or learning.
Al
-
Excellent tip thank you very much ;D
-
Does it make the wood magnetic LOL :D