how 2 turn a cedar carving grey(wheathered)

dsw39 · #1 01-03-2007, 01:25 PM

can anyone help me with turning cedar natural wheathered grey?I remember reading about a solution but can not find artical.
hope someone can help
dave

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #2 01-03-2007, 01:28 PM

one thing I know turns wood gray is those little pouches that are supposed to keep moisture out of tools etc.....I threw one in my carving box, next to a little piece of found wood and it turned it gray!

DADDIO · #3 01-03-2007, 02:12 PM

seems like i saw where you put steel wool in vineagar over night then brush that on you can do a search on here and should pull it up

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #4 01-03-2007, 02:21 PM

I think that makes a stain, but not gray...but not sure

slivers&dust · #5 01-03-2007, 03:20 PM

you might try a web search on fuming wood

(edit)

on second thought I'm not sure that would turn it gray

BobD · #6 01-03-2007, 03:23 PM

The fuming and vinegar ebonizing solution both depend on the amount of tanin in the wood (tanic acid). Oak, which has a high amount of tanic acid in it will turn darker, but maple, which has a much lower tanic acid content, barely turns grey...

I'm not sure where cedar ranks...but the ebonizing stain is easy to make. Shred some steel wool into white vinegar, let it sit overnight, and brush it onto a piece of scrap wood. If it's not dark enough, wait another day and re-apply.

If you still don't get a dark enough color, make a strong tea, brush that on the wood, and then apply the ebonizing solution. Black tea (normal drinking tea) is very high in tanin.

Bob

slivers&dust · #7 01-03-2007, 03:35 PM

I'va been a fan of David Marks work he does fuming and wierd coloring stuff. You can ask him the same question on his site if you don't get what your looking for here.

http://www.djmarks.com/welcome.asp

check his site out if for no other reason then to see some excellent woodworking. He even does some carving.

Just Carving · #8 01-03-2007, 03:45 PM

Here's something that might be of help. If you try any of this, I would be careful, and definitely try on scrap wood.
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...low_cedar.html

dsw39 · #9 01-05-2007, 01:20 PM

Thanks to all the speedy replys, i<m a first time user and new carver and think this site is great.
I will try the vinager and steel wool on some scrap this weekend.
I have tryed to search fuming on this forum and cant find any info., i'm not sureif i am doing something wrong or not?
thanks again
dave

DADDIO · #10 01-05-2007, 02:24 PM

let us know how that turns out i would be intrested to know also because i do quiet a bit of cedar also