Fuming Oak

[Ironballs]

Building a chair at the mo in QS oak and plan to fume it with ammonia before the final finish. Read up a fair amount on the process and it looks pretty straightforward, my question is has anyone done this and do you know a good place to get the ammonia from?

Apparently you can use standard household strength stuff but it takes a long time as it's relatively weak, there seem to be various chemical suppliers on the net that sell the stronger stuff so my plan was to get some from there.

Cheers

Damian

 

[Chris Knight]

I do it fairly frequently. It's easy enough.

The household stuff will work but as you say will take linger. I have had full strength .880 stuff from a printers using the old diazo process for blueprints.

To be on the safe side, I recommend you get a pair of swimming goggles for your eyes and the green cartridges with a 3M half mask to protect your lungs.

Drape a very thin poly sheet of the decorators druggit type over your work and slide in a shallow covered dish (wifey's pyrex cookware works fine ..). When it's inside your tent, remove the lid and wait. If using strong stuff anything from 30 mins to 2 hours should be plenty. If using Boots household stuff, 24 hours might be enough but refresh it after this time.

Try to drape the poly to leave room for air/fumes to circulate.

I sometimes build a rectangular framework for the poly sheeting using 25 mm poly tubing from a plumbers to cover workpieces. You can plug the tubing bits together with various connectors and re-use them. Or, get out the nailgun and some scrap bits of wood.

 

[Ironballs]

Thanks Chris, I'll experiment with a few offcuts and get some of the hard stuff from a chemical supplier off the web. Do you normally go for an oil finish over the top once fumed?

 

[wizer]

I'm interested to know how you get on Damian. This is something I've wanted to do. I find the finish pleasing.

 

[Ironballs]

I'll photo the results and stick them on here

 

[wizer]

Cheers matey. Your mags arrived too. Will read them whilst waiting to see yet another quack tomorrow.

 

[Racers]

Hi,

I have a bottle of the good stuff, my office was next a chemical lab :wink: I did some test pieces and it worked well, its bloody strong stuff so gogles and mask are a must.

Pete

 

[WellsWood]

I've fumed Oak a few times using Jeyes Kleen Off, which I can get in a local corner shop. It is strong enough but may need to be refreshed as Chris says. It can take anything from an hour or so to overnight depending on depth of colour required. I find the lower strength has 2 advantages: it's not so dangerous to use, and it takes longer to build the colour change so easier to pull the piece when the desired tone is reached.
Make sure you open all the doors and windows in the workshop before removing the tent.

I've always used an oil finish afterwards, not because of the fuming but because it's what I generally do anyway. I don't think fuming has any implications for follow up finishes, use whatever you would on unfumed.

 

[Chris Knight]

I don't think fuming has any implications for follow up finishes, use whatever you would on unfumed.

Damian - you asked about this and I missed it. I agree with Mark - I have found that I can use any finish on fumed oak with no problems.

 

[Ironballs]

Excellent, thanks fellas. I'll be using my chemical/painters mask I got to spray up with lacquer, should do the trick

 

[Chris Knight]

Dunno about your mask - 3M make special filters for Ammonia, alongside their normal, dust, organic vapour, etc., etc., filters. And don't forget your eyes! If using the strong stuff this kind of protection is especially important.