Yes Simon I'm a little familiar with the 'fuming' method for wood coloration. Gus Stickley and other craftsmen furniture makers used this method around the turn of the last century and before on their fine furniture. It was also employed for millwork to trim homes at that time. From what I have read tents were built to put the wood, mostly white oak, in with pans of ammonia placed inside to fume the wood. Kind of a hazardous situation to your health so you had to be quite careful. My home is a 1910 arts & crafts bungalow so the wife and I are always on the look out for period furnishing and read quite a bit on all subjects relating to the craftsmen style of architecture.
I've thought about trying that method on bows before but never have so I'm glad you posted it. The bow looks great, hollow wood design with the ammonia finish, doesn't get much better than that my friend.
Thanks Greg!
The right terminus is obviously "fuming", I didn't know the right word. And yes, it is hazardous - don't breathe the damps.
I know a bit the Arts & Crafts movement and like the architecture and furniture, too. There are so many good things from the elder to discover again.
Looks real nice Simon. I have also heard of putting a reagent on woods that have a high sugar content. I believe the ratio is 1 part hydrochloric acid 1 part nitric acid 10 parts water. I think you put it on the wood after its sanded and heat it with a heat gun until the acids start to carmalize the sugars. A guy I know used it on osage and he said the effects were stunning, says it was as if you could look down into the wood.
Cody, I've also heard about that transparency effect. But I've never seen an example. That would be looking very cool.
Thanks for bringing up Stickley and the Arts and Crafts Movement, Badly Bent. Some of the finest furniture designs came from that bunch of clever poeple. Think of the Morris chair and the Mission Oak furniture. There was difficulty with building furniture from this "ammonia fumed oak", not all of it took the same amount of color. The craftsmen would have to pick thru racks of wood to find similar grain and color, then saw and resaw, assemble, and oil finish.
The benefit of that kind of persnickety wood picking was that they looked every stick over from every angle. They saw the grain, the character, and saved those boards for the parts of the furniture that showed the grain to the best effect. I remember my great-grandfather showing me the tiger striped grain across the back and along the arms of his Morris chair, and how the wood on the sides and base were just straight plain grain wood. I was so young, I actually thought they sawed up real tigers to make wood for furniture.
Haha, good story. Now let's saw up tigers and make some bows out them!
Man that's one slick lookin bow Simon. I love that pic of the whole belly. Great look with the dye job. Can you use just house hold ammonia?
Yes Matt. I've bought mine regular in the drug store. I've got solutions of 10% and 20%. Just be careful, that stuff is acidly!
Thanks everyone for comments and / or info!
I have editet my post. Made some mistakes with oak - ash. This bow is definetely ASH!!!
