Barry Richardson
Member
- Messages
- 472
- Location
- Goodyear AZ
As far as the piece, it's nothing special, I was just experimenting with rustic design with some osage orange I had lying around. The bench is 35"long, 19" high, and about a foot wide. What I want to share is how I aged the finish. I've read lately about people using lye to age cherry, so I tried some Red Devil Drain Cleaner (lye) disolved in water on a piece of scrap. It turned to the full aged color almost instantly. So I went ahead and treated the bench. It is a bit blotchy, probably should have spent more time with it, but it goes with the rustic look. The wood still has that great chatoyance. Osage Orange has always been a bit problematic for me. When it's new it has the bright yellow color but gradually darkens and finally turns a nice cinamon color, but the in between color isn't very attractive IMHO. When I have given the bowls away (haven't sold any yet), I always feel obliged to explain that the color won't last, and I think this puts some people off. Well, now I don't have to deal with that problem. I like the aged color, my brother has some deer antlers mounted on a chunk of Osage Orange that has been hanging on the wall for years, and it is that nice red color as well. I also tried it on some scrap white oak and mesquite, and they both turned a nice deep aged color. I also tired it on desert Ironwood, and it turned jet black! I plan on trying that as an ebony substitute in the future. So far I have put one coat of tung oil over the bench and it seems to be curing fine. Wish I had some more bowl blanks, I would try it on a turned bowl. This may be old news to some of you, but I was delighted with the discovery. Barry