Black and white finish

[fingerless]

At a show earlier this year I saw a large ash (I think) platter with a wide black painted rim and natural centre on the AWGB stand. The rim had been treated in such a way that the open grain structure of the ash was white, whilst the smooth close grain was black. The whole piece was polished.

Does anyone know how to achieve this effect?
I had thought it was done with black paint and liming wax, but initial experiments have been unsuccessful.
Could it be a dye, and then liming wax? If so, how do you make sure the liming wax is only applied in the open grain?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Colin

 

[Bodrighy]

Don't know if this was what your platter had been treated to but one way is to char the rim carefully and then go over it with a wire brush. This removes tghe softer burnt bits leaving the harder parts of the grain behind black here's an extreme example of the stlye

Pete

 

[TEP]

Hi Colin. You can use this effect on any open grain timber, Ash, Oak and so on.

Once you have sanded your item to a finish, you go over the grain with a brass bristled brush, this is to remove the soft parts of the grain structure. You can use a steel bristled brush but it is a lot more vicious.

Lightly sand the raised part of the grain, then spray with a ebonizing spray from a can. Spray lightly you don't want to fill the grain again. Once dry take your liming wax and slowly go over the area you want limed using you finger tip and rubbing the wax deep into the open grain.

Go for a cup of tea, then when finished use soft kitchen tissue and Finishing/ Danish oil to wipe of the excess wax while the lathe is spinning. It will take a while. and plenty of paper, but eventually you will be just left with the wax in the grain. Let it dry overnight and repeat oil as necessary, to a finish.

Another idea with Oak is to use a vinegar/steel wool solution to blacken the Oak before continuing with the liming.

 

[fingerless]

Tam, Pete,
Thanks very much. I've done some work with the grain brushed out (particularly effective on ash) but with my attempt to reproduce the effect with the liming wax, it just went all over the piece, and I couldn't remove it.

I suspect I need to make the hard grain smoother so the wax will come off more easily, and be more careful in applying the liming wax.

I shall try again!

Colin

 

[Frank Drew]

Colin,

George Frank, who used to write for Fine Woodworking, detailed his method of decorative grain filling in his book, I think.

Adventures in Wood Finishing: 88 Rue de Charron

And possibly also in his later book, Wood Finishing with George Frank.

As I remember, he used colored paste wood fillers after having dyed the wood, maybe having very carefully brushed out the pores before applying the filler.