Ageing Oak

[Knot Competent]

Up to now I've always finished Oak with Danish Oil, then waxed it, and I like the natural look that produces. But recently I saw an Oak item finished to look older. It was blacker, but not dense black. The grain was still very apparent. Any ideas what it had been treated with? If it had been stained, surely it would have been much darker? Sorry, I neglected to take a picture!

 

[marcros]

i would expect that it was either waxed with a coloured wax, or was fumed. Difficult to say without seeing it.

Both are easy enough to achieve, although fuming large pieces can be a challenge.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Might have been vinegar and wire wool.

 

[blackrodd]

Might have been vinegar and wire wool.

+1 for The vinegar and steel wool treatment. :shock:
Regards Rodders

 

[marcros]

whatever you try, test on scrap first.

 

[Knot Competent]

Thanks, guys. If I was to use a coloured wax, would it work over Danish Oil, or not? And steel wool with Oak? I thought that was a no-no?

 

[marcros]

the coloured wax would work over danish oil. have a google though because it may not be the effect that you are seeking. it will collect in the grain, so choose a darker colour than the golden danish oil colour. black bison wax is good, others are available.

steel wool on oak is a no no, because it reacts with the tannin. however, this is the reason for adding some to vinegar and using the solution to paint onto the oak- to use this reaction. It is worth trying that on some scrap, just for future reference. Any steel will do, I have used rusty nails before, you just have to leave it a day or two before using it.

if you can get some household ammonia, fuming is worth a go too on a sample. do it outside in a plastic container, and have a play with leaving it in for various lengths of time. You need to put something over the top after fuming, because it transforms the colour. I use shellac, but an oil will do too.

 

[MIGNAL]

You could try the Roubo pss & sht stain. That would certainly give you an aged look to the Oak. I hear that stain is all the rage at the moment.

 

[Knot Competent]

You could try the Roubo pss & sht stain. That would certainly give you an aged look to the Oak. I hear that stain is all the rage at the moment.

And easy to obtain, if I'm reading you correctly! But forgive me if I pass on that suggestion....

 

[MIGNAL]

Yes, I thought you might. Your loss. It has a long tradition, Roubo documents it. It's actually horse dung or Rabbits pss. Until quite recently it was used by a very well known French maker of Violin bridges. They would lay down a layer of Maple bridge blanks,covered by a layer of dung, followed by another layer of bridge blanks . . . and so on and so forth. The whole pile ended up a metre or so high. That's a huge amount of Violin bridges and a lot of dung. Over time the pile would sink as the dung rotted down. This was their method for colouring Maple. It's also being used by a very well known Violin maker to colour his Violins, kind of £20,000 each Violins.
Told you it was your loss.
I'm also using it on the wooden Planes that I make. If someone tells me that my Planes are sht, well I guess they might be right. . . . but only by default. :wink:

 

[doctor Bob]

a common trick for antique fakers was to make it and leave it in a cow barn for a year, that sorted the aging process. Do you happen to keep cows!!! :lol: :lol:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Pigsties were another - they put tables in them so the bottoms of the legs stained black as if the table had spent years on a damp floor, and the pigs used them as scratching posts which simulated wear and tear.

 

[MIGNAL]

You lot might be taking the pss but you obviously aren't aware of it's importance. It makes Violins sound better and wood Planes plane wood better!
You do know about the Roman pss tax, No? The stuff was a real valuable commodity and simply can't be replaced by modern chemical sht.

 

[Droogs]

It's the large amounts of amonia in pss that makes it work.

 

[MIGNAL]

It's not just the ammonia, it's more complex than that. If it was just a matter of ammonia fuming no one would go to the trouble of using this stuff, at least not on Maple. Oak may well be different. I've tried ammonia fuming on Maple using sealed plastic bags. It doesn't give the same colour. Believe me it's all been tried, as well as many, many other attempts using all manner of natures chemicals and a few man made types as well.