oak staining

[promhandicam]

Does anyone else have this problem when working with oak?

I spent this afternoon hand planing some wide oak boards and ended up with both hands stained black. This isn't the first time and so just wondered if others get this and what can be done to avoid it - other than not using oak

Steve

 

[Chems]

I often wear a set of rubber gloves, jonny gloves when gluing up just to avoid it getting all stuck to me. Would do for a bit of hand planing as well?

 

[TrimTheKing]

Ahhhh, the good old 'Oak Purplefinger', I posted about this 12 months or so ago. Apparently it's something to do with the oils in your skin reacting with the tannins in the oak.

Anyway, I get exactly the same as you and it bugs the hell out of me. Only way I can get round it is wearing latex gloves for planing. What with this and my rusty fingers turning my planes to dust at 10 paces I will end up wearing a suit of armour in the workshop before long :lol:

Cheers

Mark

 

[mailee]

Same here when I built the Oak cross I had the same. Not only that but my fingers were also covered in PU glue too. No problem with the AWO though as this was kiln dried anyway.

 

[Argus]

.


...... it wears off after a while.

As far as I'm concerned it's harmless.

Beats chemicals from man-made boards hands-down, so to speak.


.

 

[Jeff Gorman]

The job will probably also be stained. A dilute solution of oxalic acid will remove oak stains, but I wouldn't recommend using this on the hands.

There is a tendency for the job to dry with a coating of tiny crystals, so wash the work when the stains have cleared. Unfortunately the water and acid will probably raise the grain.

Oxalic acid is poisonous, but not in the cyanide class.

Jeff
www.amgron.clara.net

 

[promhandicam]

snip . . . What with this and my rusty fingers turning my planes to dust at 10 paces I will end up wearing a suit of armour in the workshop before long

I did wonder if there was a connection between this and the rusty finger syndrome as I also suffer from that. After much searching I did find a post here where Senior suggested lemon juice to get the stain off - and it worked very well. Next time I will have to try putting some barrier cream on to see if that helps to stop the stain forming in the first place.

Steve

 

[Night Train]

I have been told it may be to do with the iron on your blood as it affects some people more then others. It also turns the oak black in the same way that contact with iron does.

I always wear gloves with oak and sometimes with other timbers too. We keep a stash of latex inspection gloves in the college workshop for students because of this.

 

[TrimTheKing]

Problem I have is that when working my hands sweat ridiculously so barrier cream just turns into stickly slop on my hands which I have to wipe off. I ended up just accepting it and bought a job lot of latex gloves and a few pairs of those white cotton gloves worn by art restorers and snooker referee's for wearing when planing

I store the cotton gloves in a box with one of those tubs of anti corrosion stuff in the (probably vain) hope that some of the corrsion inhibitors stick in the cotton and stop my acid hands from doing any damage.

Along with numerous buffed up coats of ProtecTool wax this seems to be keeping rust finger at bay

Cheers

Mark

 

[newt]

I don't like working with gloves on, I just accept the staining, comes off with a good scrub. I find that gloves even the latex make my hands sweat and things don't feel right with anything thicker.

 

[promhandicam]

I don't like working with gloves on . . .

I don't either and certainly wouldn't consider planing with them on. The only time I wear gloves when working is for finishing with non waterbased finishes.

Steve

 

[compo]

Hmm, I see this everyday at work.
In a small shop with only 5 makers, 4 of them are affected to differing degrees, yet oak doesn't affect me at all!
Beats me ?

 

[Night Train]

Hmm, I see this everyday at work.
In a small shop with only 5 makers, 4 of them are affected to differing degrees, yet oak doesn't affect me at all!
Beats me ?

Are you anaemic by any chance?:wink:

I don't like working with gloves but I currently work wearing B&Q Gripper Gloves.
They are big and thick but also they fit me like, well, a glove! I have found that for once I can wear gloves and do fine work quite easily and only take them off for very fine work. My hands don't sweat in them and I could be wearing them for about 3-4 hours at a time. It has made a huge difference to the dry and rough skin I used to suffer from.

 

[Chems]

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Ahhhh, the good old 'Oak Purplefinger'... it's something to do with the oils in your skin reacting with the tannins in the oak.
Mark

The cause is a reaction between tannin, water and iron. Tannin is found in the wood, the water is in a person's sweat, and the iron comes from the tools.

The same reaction is used to advantage in colouring various oaks: ferrous sulphate mixed with water is applied to the prepared wood surface. The end result is anything from a light grey to a deep, almost RAF, blue.

Other tannin rich woods react with ferrous sulphate with similar results, eg, walnut and mahogany. Some people make up an iron rich solution by putting iron into vinegar, eg, oil free wire wool and vinegar.

This reaction is one reason why hardware with iron in it is quite commonly avoided when oak is used for exterior locations; stainless steel hardware is, for example, quite commonly used instead. Slainte.