Bleached Spalted Elm Hollow Form

[Doug Reesor]

What a great form to work with. I have been practicing bleach following the inspiration of David Ellsworth. 11" diameter x 4" deep spalted elm. I bleached with 2 part bleach and some fine paint brushes.

Doug

[David DeCristoforo]

I love these "low profile" hollow forms. This one looks great and the wood is beautiful. No way to tell where you touched up the black spalt lines. I would like to see a more direct "head on" shot which might show the form better.

[Baxter Smith]

Very pretty Doug! There is an unopened box of two part wood bleach that has been sitting in my shop for the last month. Any suggestions on the best place to look for directions? I have the most recent Ellsworth book on hollowforms but havent looked at it recently.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I definitely see the Ellsworth influence!! Beautiful form and wood!

[John Keeton]

Nice work, Doug!! Small hole, too.

Baxter, that bleach should have the directions with it - mine did.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks John! Opening the box probably would be a good place to start.:o:)

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great form Doug. Really well done especially with a small opening and the wood is beautiful.

[Doug Reesor]

Here is a picture of the vessel from a higher view as requested. I actually didn't use anything to highlight the black lines. Like John said, I just followed the instructions on the box for the bleach, but it was very important to use a fine brush.

Thanks for the comments.

Doug

[Eric Gourieux]

Doug, that is beautiful. Can you, or somebody, give me some explanation on what the process is? I'm not familiar with "wood" bleach specifically. Is the bleach painted on only in certain areas of the wood?

[Kathy Marshall]

Beautiful piece Doug! Great job on the bleaching, they would looks fantastic.

[Tim Chase]

My question as well Eric!
Doug very nice job on the spalted elm the bleach really changes the look in a posative way.

[Michelle Rich]

glorious! love the bleaching

[Doug Reesor]

I bought some 2 part bleach made by Rust-Oleum and some 2 V shaped fine artist paint brushes so I could use one for A and one for the B component of the bleach. Its is very watery, so you have to go delicately and paint on the A component within the spalted area that you want bleached. After about 20 minutes (which is not normally the whole piece for me) you apply the B component and the let it dry overnight. If the bleaching is not white enough for your satisfaction, you clean the area with diluted vinegar and repeat the process until satisfied. It's sort of like paint-by-numbers on wood.