Dark natural stain in wood

[robert hainstock]

A question was asked yesterday, "What caused the dark coloration displayed on a piece?"
The attached photo ( thanks Steve S.) shows a piece I turned many years ago. The wood is White Oak, from a timber that was used in a shipbuilding over 100 years ago. The ship eventualy sank in Lake Supiorior and eventually broke up and washed up. Those many years of submersion are the only colorization in the wood. I have examined several pieces of "Shipwreck Oak", and they all have some degree of discoloring.


76075

[Glenn Hodges]

You've got me on that one. Down here in the South we have a lot of tanium in water which causes dark coloration. I bet there is some mineralization or close cousin to it as the culprit, but I would not swear to it in court.

[TYLER WOOD]

can't answer your question, but the picture sure shows a nice piece.

[robert hainstock]

Someone else asked the question. I omly try to answer for the good of all. aaaSome may recognize that water is a natural stain in wood. don't know why ,don't care much, just know that it is. THANKS!

[Dan Forman]

Can't say for sure exactly what is resposible, but I know I've heard that you should use distilled water wetting oak to raise the grain. Probably one of the minerals in the water reacts with the oak to produce the color change.

Dan

[John Taylor]

HI

My guess would be the same reason Bog Oak goes black.

76087

Which is

"The characteristic black quality of Bog Oak is a result of a chemical reaction occurring between the tannins in the Oak and soluble irons present in the mineral subsoil."

john

[robert hainstock]

I apologize ffor not beung clear!
wood, especially oak undergoes a change when imersed for long periods of time.
If you visit any of the many shipwreck museums along the Great Lakes, you will most likely encounter examples of these timbers. They all appear black at first glance. Coclusion! THe water eventually stains the wood. I have examined wood from three of the Great lakes, and they all display the discoloring.
Sorry for the confusion.

[Bill Wyko]

Maby it's spalting gone throughout.:D My BIL left some Oak sawdust on damp concrete and it started turning black. Thought it was going to ruin the new slab but it washed right off.

[Ron Ainge]

I have removed timber form undergound mines that have been flooded and the color change is due the minerals in the water the timbers was in. In your case I think that there must have been some iron in the water. I have removed some timber form copper and lead mines and the copper wins out and the wood will have a bluish stain in it. I removed some from a iron mine and but i did not work there long enough to see if it changed color though. I was there long enough to fing out that once the wood dried a bit you had to have carbide tipped tools to cut it, and it was quite heavy.

[robert hainstock]

Ron,
As I said,above; long immersed wood from three of the great lakes show tha kind of color. The longer it is submerged, the blacker it turns. the mineral content of the water surely could have something to do with it. I live in mine country (iron/copper) but have not looked at any mine timbers. WWe have lots of iron in our local water table so it could be iron. This piece came out of a wreck miles east of here.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

I can't answer either but that piece is Sweeeeeeeeeeet!!:)

[Allen Neighbors]

Both of the pieces posted so far in this thread are absolutely beautiful.
As a side note to the staining: I've worked with wood since I was 17, so that's 50 years (Oh m'gosh), and I had never encountered spalted wood enough to even know what it was. I began making bandsaw boxes after I retired, and took a box out of some 'mystery' wood to my part time job. It was some of the most gorgeous wood I'd ever encountered. An old gentleman walked by the counter, picked up the box and looked it over and said, "That's the most beautiful piece of Spalted birch I've ever seen." And promptly turned and walked away. I caught up with him, and picked his brain. He had taught woodworking for over 40 years. He explained that the sap in the wood reacted to the water that got into it after it was cut, and caused the black staining, due to a deterioration process, and, the type of soil the wood got it's moisture from, and the type of water that got into it after it was cut, were the determining factors of the depth and coloration of the spalting.
Sorry this is so long... just wanted to tell the story of the old man who taught me about spalting. :)

[John Hart]

Pretty cool Mr. Hainstock sir. Maybe I oughta go looking around Lake Erie for something. I wonder what kind of stain the "Mistake On The Lake" would create?:rolleyes:

[Alex Elias]

It is the taning coloring the wood. All the urin of the fish color the wood :)
Great looking pieces.
Thanks for sharing