Initial results of lye-treated Cherry

[John Miliunas]

So, after all the warning, cautions AND even a personal note from Bob regarding the previous, I went ahead and tried it. I was not comfortable with the Draino solution, sighting mainly what Tom mentioned about the possibility of "other" chemicals. I managed to locate some of the Red Devil lye and got some of it. Glad I did! I think it works great! :D I grabbed a couple test pieces, including one which was really borderline between heartwood and sap. The other one isn't too dark on its own, either. At any rate, mixed up a quart of the lye solution and commenced to brushing it on. After leaving it set for a few minutes, I wiped the excess off with an absorbent paper towel. Being impatient for the results, I accelerated the drying process by way of a heat gun! :D Hit it with the vinegar solution (about 40%/60%) and dried it again. Then I took the pieces into the house to show LOML. Her exact comment was: "Ahhhhhh....Now THAT's what I had in mind!" She's happy, I'm happy! :) I gave the pieces a quick swipe with my little Festool 125 and wiped on a coat of Velvit oil, just to get a preview of the final results. A bit blotchy, but on the other hand, these will end up being 2-1/2" pieces of trim, so I don't think it will be that prominent. Here's a shot of the test pieces, including the areas which I didn't hit with the lye solution. Again, thanks to all who contributed to this process!

[Jim Becker]

Very nice, John. I may have to try this sometime. BTW, there is no such thing as "blotch"...that's what the figure looks like!! :D

[Tom LaRussa]

At any rate, mixed up a quart of the lye solution and commenced to brushing it on.
Looks good John.

And you not only managed not to burn/maim/kill yourself, but you even posted pics! :eek: ;)

How did you mix the lye/water solution exactly? After what Bob said I think it's best if we get the exact -- safe -- directions out there for the sake of the masses, so to speak. :p

[John Miliunas]

Very nice, John. I may have to try this sometime. BTW, there is no such thing as "blotch"...that's what the figure looks like!! :D

"Figure". Yeah, that's what I *meant* to say! :D Quite honestly, I really don't mind it even in larger pieces. It is, after all, the nature of the wood and the idea here is to keep it looking pretty natural, albeit speeding up the aging process a tad. :) :cool:

[Brian Hale]

Looks good John!

I wonder..... Does sanding to different grits have any effect??

Thanks for the pics!

Brian :)

[Joe Mioux]

Hey John

I like the results!

Hope to see the finished piece soon.

Joe

[John Miliunas]

Looks good John.

And you not only managed not to burn/maim/kill yourself, but you even posted pics! :eek: ;)

How did you mix the lye/water solution exactly? After what Bob said I think it's best if we get the exact -- safe -- directions out there for the sake of the masses, so to speak. :p

No biggie. Just took the stuff in the house and mixed it in LOML's blender! :D Oooops...No, that was the Margarita! My bad. :D

Seriously, I used a clean mayonnaise jar and filled it with lukewarm water to about the top of the label. I figured I'd want plenty of "splash" room! LOML gave me this little plastic scoop to keep, which I figure to be about 2 tbsp.-worth. I first filled it about 1/2 full and carefully poured it into the water. YES, I most certainly DID have eye protection and rubber gloves on, as well as did it close to the shop overhead air filter, which would pull fumes away. In practice, the fume part was really a non-issue. I think that was primarily due to the fact that I payed heed to what one of the posts said and only used slightly warm, not hot, water. I just used a scrap stick of wood to thoroughly mix the solution. I applied it with an el-cheapo synthetic brush, coating the Cherry pretty heavily. Oh, and I did that with the board flat on the floor, to help prevent any stray brush splatter from getting all over the place and ME! :rolleyes: It did OK, but I wasn't too thrilled with the results. So, I added another 1/2 of the scoop to the jar, mixed it up some more and tried it on another section. Bingo! Just what the doctor ordered! I immediately labeled the jar and mixing ratio and taped the specific scoop to the container of lye. :)

After drying the pieces, I did the vinegar "wash", which consisted of a thorough and wet wipe-down of the pieces. With the help of the heat gun, this dried quite quickly. I hit the piece with 220 grit before doing the Velvit. Hopefully, by tomorrow evening, I'll be able to start the final test process and hit it with some clear. I'll report back after that! :) :cool:

[Jerry Olexa]

John you survived and good results... Now take a rest and "lye" down....Yuk:)

[Gary Max]

John the cherry is looking good--I knew you would figure out how to make this work. So I already forgot ---what are you building out of the cherry??

[John Miliunas]

John the cherry is looking good--I knew you would figure out how to make this work. So I already forgot ---what are you building out of the cherry??

Gary, I wish I was "building" something! The last few months have been pretty much restricted to house remodel/repair. The Cherry is destined to be part of the trim around windows and doors. Hey, at least I'm getting to use my shop! :D :cool:

[Dick Parr]

John nice looking test pieces. Looks like ya got a winner there.

[Pat Monahan]

John - Looks great, but I have a rather "stupid" question. When you cut these pieces into trim sized strips, won't the fresh cut edges still be the original colour you started with? Does this technique penetrate deeply into the wood, or is it more of a surface treatment? Will you have to re-apply the lye solution to any cuts you make?
Thanks
Pat

[Tim Morton]

The wood looks great John, and just to state the obvious here....*NEVER* add water to to powder...always add the powder to the water. But I'm sure everyone knows that already.

Go SOX!!!

[John Miliunas]

John - Looks great, but I have a rather "stupid" question. When you cut these pieces into trim sized strips, won't the fresh cut edges still be the original colour you started with? Does this technique penetrate deeply into the wood, or is it more of a surface treatment? Will you have to re-apply the lye solution to any cuts you make?
Thanks
Pat

Pat, NOT a stupid question! :) You are, however, absolutely right. Fresh cut edges will indeed show the lighter wood again. At this point, I'm not seeing that as a major issue in my application, as the bulk of this will end up going as trim, so the majority of cut ends will be covered with another piece of wood. I've also noticed that it really doesn't take a lot to get the desired effect, so in those cases where something may be exposed, I don't think it will be too difficult to touch-up with a small brush. Good observation, BTW! :) :cool:

[Jerry Olexa]

Let a sleeping dog lye. Pls excuse the poor humour. Must be this medicine...:)

GO RedSOx!!!!

[John Miliunas]

Let a sleeping dog lye. Pls excuse the poor humour. Must be this medicine...:)

GO RedSOx!!!!

The medicine? Hmmmm...Must be some heavy-duty medicine! :D :cool:

[Pat Monahan]

Thanks, John. Thought I really missed something big in the procedure!