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965 Posts
49.5"/126 cm, 20.5 oz/580 g.
I spent a lot of time on this stick over a period of months. I posted a couple pics of the handle previously, and that has changed very little. But I had to rework the body of the stick three times, trying to get a color and finish I liked.
A few weeks ago, I decided to give it one more try, and accept the results.
Early on, I decided that i would just carve away the bark on all but the handle, and perhaps deepen some of the "ligament" grooves in this so called muscle wood. That was somewhat tedious, and I found I could not get quite the same level of smoothness in the grooves as on the ridges. The grooves I could sand to about 320 grit w. the tools I have, the ridges as fine as I liked, and I went to 600 grit on them.
The finish problems I encountered seem to arise from the density and impermeability of some of the wood.
I first coat of color I used was a black hue wood dye mixed w. alcohol. I was trying for an "iron" like color. The hue had lots of purple in it, so I did coats of warm brown over it. While the result was an acceptable color, and the eveness of the color was good, I found that the slightest nick revealed the base wood color. The dye was not penetrating more than a hairs breadth unless it happened to seep into some exposed cross grain. Even the slightest sanding where there was some raised grain left bare wood.
After the stick sat for a few weeks, I decided I was really unsatisfied w. it. I sanded it bare. next I tried ebonizing it. I couldn't find any tannic acid powder in the immediate vicinty, so I resorted to coats of cabernet sauvignon wine, which has a high tanin content. I put more coats on the bottom of the stick, and gradually tapered off working toward the handle, which I had decided to leave its very pale brown natural color. Then I repeated w. coats of iron acetate. The color was good, and the coverage acceptable. Some of the harder grain resisted the solutions. I put 2 layers of tung on, and rubbed smooth. So far, so good. Then I put on a layer of carnauba wax. Bad idea. Carnauba requires heat to melt to a smooth finish. I was unable to generate enough heat down in the wood grooves w. my buffing wheel.2 days later, most of the lower wood areas were covered w. a foggy grey mess. Remove all again.
Went out on a limb. Took a tube of bronze "gilding" powder, and rubbed that into the wood. At first there was a faint yellow sheen over all, which I thought was OK. After a few days, it turned to a dull brown grey. Sand again. It was difficult getting all the metal dust out of the wood pores.
I went back to the ebonizing process. I only went as smooth as 400 grit in most areas. This left the groove areas somewhat rough. The ebonizing worked reasonabley well.
Along the way I came across mention that teak oil had similar water resistance as tung or linseed oil. I tried that, and it was thin enough to penetrate better. 2nd and 3rd coats became extremely, maybe too glossy. The images I'm posting are mostly from the last round of finishing, but I'm including one from early in the first sanding.
I spent a lot of time on this stick over a period of months. I posted a couple pics of the handle previously, and that has changed very little. But I had to rework the body of the stick three times, trying to get a color and finish I liked.
A few weeks ago, I decided to give it one more try, and accept the results.
Early on, I decided that i would just carve away the bark on all but the handle, and perhaps deepen some of the "ligament" grooves in this so called muscle wood. That was somewhat tedious, and I found I could not get quite the same level of smoothness in the grooves as on the ridges. The grooves I could sand to about 320 grit w. the tools I have, the ridges as fine as I liked, and I went to 600 grit on them.
The finish problems I encountered seem to arise from the density and impermeability of some of the wood.
I first coat of color I used was a black hue wood dye mixed w. alcohol. I was trying for an "iron" like color. The hue had lots of purple in it, so I did coats of warm brown over it. While the result was an acceptable color, and the eveness of the color was good, I found that the slightest nick revealed the base wood color. The dye was not penetrating more than a hairs breadth unless it happened to seep into some exposed cross grain. Even the slightest sanding where there was some raised grain left bare wood.
After the stick sat for a few weeks, I decided I was really unsatisfied w. it. I sanded it bare. next I tried ebonizing it. I couldn't find any tannic acid powder in the immediate vicinty, so I resorted to coats of cabernet sauvignon wine, which has a high tanin content. I put more coats on the bottom of the stick, and gradually tapered off working toward the handle, which I had decided to leave its very pale brown natural color. Then I repeated w. coats of iron acetate. The color was good, and the coverage acceptable. Some of the harder grain resisted the solutions. I put 2 layers of tung on, and rubbed smooth. So far, so good. Then I put on a layer of carnauba wax. Bad idea. Carnauba requires heat to melt to a smooth finish. I was unable to generate enough heat down in the wood grooves w. my buffing wheel.2 days later, most of the lower wood areas were covered w. a foggy grey mess. Remove all again.
Went out on a limb. Took a tube of bronze "gilding" powder, and rubbed that into the wood. At first there was a faint yellow sheen over all, which I thought was OK. After a few days, it turned to a dull brown grey. Sand again. It was difficult getting all the metal dust out of the wood pores.
I went back to the ebonizing process. I only went as smooth as 400 grit in most areas. This left the groove areas somewhat rough. The ebonizing worked reasonabley well.
Along the way I came across mention that teak oil had similar water resistance as tung or linseed oil. I tried that, and it was thin enough to penetrate better. 2nd and 3rd coats became extremely, maybe too glossy. The images I'm posting are mostly from the last round of finishing, but I'm including one from early in the first sanding.







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