Sealer for Shou Sugi Ban

[zak99]

Hi Folks,

I fancy having a stab at Shou Sugi Ban and charring a scaffold board shelf for indoors. What would be a good product to seal the wood and enhance the grain after charring please?

Rgds

 

[billw]

I'd be interested in this answer - I was going to try and incorporate some into furniture but apparently it's a bit of a nightmare.

 

[thetyreman]

seeing as it's going indoors, I'd use spray laquer, a couple of coats, once you've rubbed it down with a wire brush after charring. I don't recommend avoiding the wire brush part, you'll see what I mean if you've never tried it.

 

[--Tom--]

I’ve had success stabilising with hard wax oil, and then top coating with a home brew wax containing carnauba. Applying with Coarse wire wool helps too

 

[--Tom--]

This was the finish on oak

 

[Cabinetman]

Wow, that really does look nice! I’ve read about it but I always thought it was a bit naff, always ready to be persuaded!

 

[marcros]

Wow, that really does look nice! I’ve read about it but I always thought it was a bit naff, always ready to be persuaded!

Like so many things, I suspect the difference between done well/properly and that recreated on daytime TV or YouTube is as different as night and day.

 

[marcros]

This was the finish on oak
View attachment 97183

I may be wrong, but I would only call that scorched rather than shou sugi ban. It looks good, but I thought the latter would have a much deeper burn, so as to look crocodilian almost.

 

[Sandyn]

I had to Google what it was!!. I thought it was some type of timber!!
I have done this before and just buffed the wood until there is no longer any charred wood on the buff. I also used a suede brush to get into the grain, then warmed it and used wax polish and buffed again.

I'm just going to finish my Shou Sugi Toast and get on with some work!

 

[--Tom--]

I may be wrong, but I would only call that scorched rather than shou sugi ban. It looks good, but I thought the latter would have a much deeper burn, so as to look crocodilian almost.

I haven’t seen anything to delineate, but all I used was English speaking Google rather than having expertise!
You certainly can leave the crocodilian pattern, but stabilising that for something that’s going to be handled would be difficult. Once you wire brush and wire wool the surface the crackle comes off.

 

[Cactushands]

Hi guys, a slight hijack to the thread but wondering if beech is a suitable wood for this technique? I know soft pine is usually the way to go but i have already made a stool from beech and so am stuck with that… never done it before but hoping it should blacken at the very least right? Also, to clarify its for the underneath of the stool seat as oppose to the seat itself which i imagine would wear down very quickly…

 

[mwinfrance]

Polyester resin...or epoxy, either will need multiple coats, if you want it shiny then use polyester gel coat ( the non pigmented version as a final coat after it has stabilised ), you can thin with acetone, but no more than 10% or it may not solidify properly.You can get resins that are "thinner" than others and which will soak in better.

 

[johnnyb]

sugi is japanese cedar. unavailable outside of Japan it's a fairly plain softwood tbh.