How to maintain this color?

[myxpykalix]

A guy wants to give me some cherry logs (small firewood size) and because i have "the addiction" it's hard to turn down free wood. The problem i have is long ago i took some oak that was beautifully streaked and put some of it in a kiln and the coloring was gone.

I'm sure the coloring is probably moisture in the wood and when it dries up the color goes. Is there a way to trap the color in there?

I recall as a little kid in science class we stuck a piece of celery in a cup of red food coloring and you could see the celery suck up the coloring thru its "veins"
and i'm wondering if you couldn't do something like that to get it to absorb color?
Because the tree is dead at that point does it stop promoting absorbtion? Are we talking about a long process?
I used to remember these things we learned as a boy scout about identifying trees and shrubs by their leaves...does anyone know what this is..."Leaves of three, let it be"..:eek: We learned that one the hard way!:rolleyes:

[jerry_stanek]

Cherry will darken with age so the color you have now will be different in a couple of years

[scottp55]

Jack, the color is all a reaction in the wood to UV. As soon as a blade or sandpaper touch it it will change back to the color of fresh sawn pine no matter what you do. It's in short enough lengths to air dry fairly fast, don't know what you might use it for but trimming the straighter side true, and resawing it to give you "bookmatched" for gluing into more usable sizes with two "live edges" and it looks like you'll get some unique pieces. When you sticker it do not use oak or any wood high in tannin or you'll get black marks where they touch. Use a sealer(There is a paint-on but I stopped using it and just use paraffin with a brush) on the end grain to reduce end grain checking as you have such short lengths. 2-3 months in the sun and it'll look like that again, and in a year much darker, but every cut or deep nick or sanding and it will revert. I think it might be worth it though. I'm looking forward to vcarving into aged cherry and using a uv museum wax to keep the engraving light colored.

[scottp55]

Jack, on the color dying. I was going to experiment next month on earth dyes (red,yellow,purple,and green ochres in both an alchohol and tung/citrus base) may move to up to this week and may throw some cherry in with the maple. I'll send some pics on the penetrations and try a water base long term for you. Even the smaller pieces of the cherry will have more figure than the scrap of the big cherry boards and would make good contrasting wedges and inserts for screw and dowel pockets. You work crazy hours, Jack.:)

[steve_g]

Jack...
The wood you show is "reaction" wood or Branch wood. typically this type of wood is unstable even after drying due to internal stresses. I wouldn't make anything I cared about from it!

Just thought you should know...

SG

[scottp55]

Steve, I didn't see any asymmetry on the first picture, and missed it on the second pic. If the growth rings are symmetrical he should be ok on machining right?

[steve_g]

Scott...
When the growth rings are not symmetrical or concentric around the center it's due to stresses introduced during the growth of the tree. This "reaction" to stress is visible in branch wood (gravity) and can also be found in the main trunk or bole when that tree was stressed by many possible factors... growing to close to another tree or a wall, growing on a steep hill or cliff face or even being exposed to strong prevailing winds!
At any rate... These "built in" stresses don't get relieved by drying, They s l o w l y work themselves out, usually to the detriment of your project!

SG

[genek]

Steve is correct. that was a large limb or that tree grew side ways over a bank etc. Jack you can dry it. but would only make small products out of it, small bowls that you leave bark on, or small clocks.. would have loved to seen the tree those limbs came off of.. that truck had to be 3 to 4 feet diameter at the base. The coloring of fresh cut wood (any wood) changes as it dries, it will change when planned some wood like cheery start to darken the day it is cut. I have cheery that is 10 years old that I have stored for certain projects. It has darkened but when I plan it it comes back to the Natural look of fresh cheery. The change of color is a cause by one or all of these:oxidation, the bleaching or darkening of the wood, uv light, moisture, where it was stored (logs submerged in water) insects and other reasons. All wood age, all wood changes to some degree. it just depends on the wood. now jack if you got any crotch wood save that. saw it thin so that it will dry fast crotch wood is a very desired wood for instrument makers.

[genek]

Jack You can get wood stains and dyes to dye or stain wood at wood craft. by mixing you can come up with many various grain patterns.. Before I could Afford ebony, I used to make a faux ebony with steel wool and vinegar. I would soak the steel wool in vinegar for a few days then soak the wood with the solution it would turn the wood almost jet black. walnut was a good wood to do this with.

[khaos]

Be sure to store any crotch wood in a safe dry place to avoid crotch rot. :eek::eek:

Hey, someone had to say it.

[genek]

Joe that came at a good time. I needed that joke to put a smile on my face and a laugh in my voice. thanks loved it.

[myxpykalix]

I haven't seen the wood yet, he just sent me a couple pics and said he had like 25 pieces. He didn't tell me sizes yet. I had learned about "reaction" wood which gene and steve talked about in relation to bowl turning and how it would tend to dry unevenly and bowls would tend to warp (if i remember correctly) and it's always good to be told about stuff like that before you embark on a project and find you have issues, so thanks for that advice.

Scott was more tuned into what i was trying to explain. If you look at the round log pic you see some darker color rings. I know over all wood will darken with exposure. What i wanted to maintain was the darker rings that made the streaks and the veining as seen in the other pic.

So i didn't want to dye the whole piece of wood uniformly i just wanted to maintain the dark veins (now if i could just get it to look like the backs of my hands i'd be set!):eek:

[myxpykalix]

[QUOTE=khaos;152331]Be sure to store any crotch wood in a safe dry place to avoid crotch rot. :eek::eek:

That's what she said....

I use a parafin based sealer to help slow the drying to make it more uniform. I apply it and it is a milky white and it dries to a clear consistency and no one knows i have it on...it has helped slow my cases of crotch rot:rolleyes: at least that's what the doctor said!:eek:

[scottp55]

Jack, that milky white stuff sounds like the stuff I used on the 1/3'd commercial kiln load of birds-eye i co-financed( and cherry-picked as per agreement). It's still waiting for me on my garage rafters after 10 years(I'm as bad as you) but with the wheelchair I keep meaning to get somebody on a ladder and drag it down, but where would I put it? Last time in Atlantic Hardwood saw a 12/4x4'x3' piece of lightning-struck cherry that the terminal growth had been killed and the tree was forced to grow sideways as two trees(he wanted $175 and would NOT budge on price). Tension up the ying-yang, and a lively crotch to boot. :)

[scottp55]

I forgot. Steve , thanks for the info now I know why a a piece of curly maple that I bought with the bark on(10/4x10-14x8') curved 10" on it's length. I cut it mid-length, left the bark on, dovetailed it into a rosewood top(called for a LOT of scribing), used the "scrap" for the bottom through tenoned stretcher and wedged the heck out of it. 15 years later it still causes newcomers to the house to ask where I bought it. If I ever have to give an elephant a pedicure I'll know where to tell it to put it's foot. The bark is still tight, but it does "POP" at the change of seasons up here. One of my favorite (NOW) projects.