# White Wood (the quest continues...)



## Gill (20 May 2006)

Having spoken to an American friend about using white wood for intarsia and having it keep its colour, she's told me that most people (including the experts) actually cheat :shock: ! Shock horror! She says that _all_ white woods will yellow in time but this process can be limited in two ways; either by using a thinned white oil paint (which can make the piece look as if it's been painted) or a white pigmented gel varnish.

Has anyone heard of this white pigmented gel varnish being available over here and, if so, who retails it?

Gill


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## DaveL (20 May 2006)

Gill, 

Not what you asked for but have you looked at the spirit stain that Chestnut do? They have a white, I have a sample pack that I bought of the colour stains, I used the red and black on some beech for toys last year, look here. I put 3 or 4 coats on to get deep colours but 1 or 2 might give you the effect you need, as the wood grain shows though unlike using paint.


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## Gill (20 May 2006)

Thanks Dave - that's _definitely_ worth looking into  .

Gill


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## Mike-W (23 May 2006)

Gill

Interesting about cheating with white 'paint' I have been wrestling with the same problem, I am planning on making some bedroom furniture and my better half insists it should be 'white' wood. We both like Ash and we have a fair bit of furniture in Ash in our bungalow. What happens to it over time? well it starts to look a bit like Pine!
So I currently have a test underway with a piece of Ash treated in strips with: Lieron Finishing Oil, Acrylic Varnish, Osmo Polyx Oil and Osmo White Foundation. Half of the wood is covered and half is exposed to daylight. I recon the test will take at least six months by which time I will be ready to finish some of the furniture, 
I think what will happen is the Ash treated with clear oil will yellow, but the yellowing should be masked by the white foundation oil, this could lead to a more pronounced grain pattern in the furniture under the white finish.

PS anyone know of where I can get some bedroom furniture plans in the Shaker style?

Mike


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## Gill (24 May 2006)

Hi Mike

I'm afraid I can't help you with regard to the shaker furniture plans  . Have you considered liming the ash?

Yesterday I just happened to be passing Good Timber so I popped in and found they had the Chestnut white oil stain on sale at a discount price of £6  . Naturally, it made its way to the checkout with me. I'm hoping I'll be able to test it out on various pieces of timber over the next few days.

Gill


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## CHJ (24 May 2006)

Mike, have you done a Google on "shaker furniture plans "

Loads come up but I suspect most are from over the pond.


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## Mike-W (24 May 2006)

Gill don’t make me green, I paid £16.00 for a tin of the Osmo White Foundation, to trial my Whitewood idea!

Chas thanks for the Goggle search suggestion, I will try that tonight.

Mike


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## Terry Smart (24 May 2006)

The Spirit Stain White was created mainly to be a mixer to use with our other colours to make pastel shades.

It can be used as a stain in its own right, make sure you shake the bottle very well; we use more pigment than it needs to compensate for the fact that some of it drops out of solution and won't easily mix back in. Apply thin coats and leave a little extra time for drying. Good results can be achieved with this stain, just be prepared for it to work slightly differently.
The White is the only stain that behaves in this way... and probably explains why other people don't bother making one!

Gill, what size bottle did you buy?


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## Chris Knight (24 May 2006)

If you are happy to cheat, don't forget bleach. You need the A&B type (or part 1 and 2) as some mfrs. call it. One part is caustic soda, the other is hydrogen peroxide) This works very well for removing colour from wood - don't bother trying oxalic acid or chlorine based bleaches, they don't work for this.

You will need two or three applications and you can make many woods paper white.


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## Gill (25 May 2006)

Terry - I bought the 500 ml size.

Chris - The APTC, Brimarc and Chestnut websites don't indicate that they retail bleach. Where would I acquire some?

Gill


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## Terry Smart (25 May 2006)

Hi Gill

That's good; I was worried you'd paid over the odds for the 250ml size.

Rustins (among others) produce a bleach, you might be able to pick some up at a local DIY/Hardware shop. Some mail order companies might be reluctant to send bleach by post.

Good luck


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## Colin C (25 May 2006)

Also try Jenkins 
http://www.wsjenkins.co.uk/ They will also give advice on the phone if you tell them what you are doing


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## Gill (25 May 2006)

I used to wonder why Saruman chose a white hand as his symbol. Now I suspect I know why; he may have been a woodworker who wanted to stain some wood white, so he bought some white stain and had just as much trouble as me getting rid of the transit safety bung. Now I've got a choice of symbols - a white hand, a white-and-black pair or jeans, white feet, white flip-flops, and even a white long coat chihuahua. Notice that white wood hasn't made the list.

Thank goodness I wasn't using bleach!

Gill


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## CHJ (25 May 2006)

No good being awkward if you don't practice it.







I'm in the bunker


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## Chris Knight (25 May 2006)

Gill,
2 part bleach is available from several sources - including Rustins, also from these folk for example

http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewprod/s/STRWB/ or

http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/p ... hart.htm#j

I got mine from a local supplier who charged a lot less but they have now gone bust so I am not sure where I will get my next lot when I need it - probably from Morrells who have a place not too far away from me.


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## Taffy Turner (26 May 2006)

Gill":3o6g7f3i said:


> I used to wonder why Saruman chose a white hand as his symbol. Now I suspect I know why; he may have been a woodworker who wanted to stain some wood white, so he bought some white stain and had just as much trouble as me getting rid of the transit safety bung. Now I've got a choice of symbols - a white hand, a white-and-black pair or jeans, white feet, white flip-flops, and even a white long coat chihuahua. Notice that white wood hasn't made the list.
> 
> Thank goodness I wasn't using bleach!
> 
> Gill



ROTFL!!

I had exactly the same problem when I tried to open a container of Chestnut dye. I became a founder member of the "Brown Mahogany hand" gang!!! Don't worry - the stain only takes about a week to wear off!! :shock: 

I have now devised a foolproof method (well almost). Hold the container in your left hand wrapped in a rag. Use an old screwdriver and jab it through the transit bung so that it punctures it, then lever the bung out using the neck of the bottle as a fulcrum point. 

Hope that this helps.

Regards

Taffy Brown-Hand


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