How to Create a Dark Wood Finish Using Ammonia Fuming
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- Опубліковано 29 жов 2015
- How to achieve a classic Arts and Crafts dark brown finish by using ammonia fuming. This is a classic way to add coloring to a woodworking project. Chris Marshall explains the fuming process he used on his Arts & Crafts plant stand. He goes over the benefits of using fuming as a finishing step and gives a few warnings about the potential hazards of using ammonia in your shop.
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Household ammonia works fine if you are willing to wait an extra day or two. I've successfully fumed both white and red oak in 48 to 72 hours with just grocery store grade ammonia and the results were fantastic.
One tip - try adding a sponge or even a wadded up paper towel to your ammonia reservoir in the fume tent. It will act as a wick to help speed along the evaporation process by increasing the surface area.
excellent
Outstanding! Thorough and to the point.
If industrial grade ammonia isn't available in your area you can use Ace Hardware's "Janitorial" ammonia - it's 10% (household ammonia is generally 3%-5%). Years ago I've seen old timers place the ammonia in a metal can and suspend it above a candle, the ammonia will boil off faster then the water so the concentration within the tent will be higher - this works very well if you only have a lower strength of ammonia and you'll need to replenish the ammonia frequently. I live in a farm community and noticed the oak beams in horse stables are darker then in cow barns. Why? Because the urine in horses have a much higher content of ammonia then other animals - I've read about this and personally observed it. True.
Excellent and helpful video. I have an old oak plant stand that was fumed (1920s) and I sanded some pieces too much. I will try this.
VERY NICE...thank you
How do you dispose of the "spent" liquid?
Good results. So refreshing to hear a straightforward non-hysterical how-to instead of the usual "Stickley used ammonia fuming but that's so dangerous I would never try that so here's my complicated multi-step workaround finishing schedule to simulate it". I had always heard fuming should be followed by BLO to warm the color. I guess the Watco Natural is mostly BLO...resin without pigment contributes little to the color?
Beautifully executed, Chris. I love your attention to detail, making the joinery perfect. And, if I ever want to ammonia-fume some oak, my favorite wood, I'll know how now!
this is art
Might want to add that WATCO contains a polymerizing oil which is spontaneously combustible and go over safety care and disposal of rags. Otherwise, yours is an excellent production.
That stand really came out great. The video really doesn't show the finished grain pop. If you ever want an eye full of the stickley finished pieces, come to East Aurora, NY, to the Roy Croft Inn. You can see clocks , tables , chairs , lamps , what ever they made is there to see. Oh did I mention the food is outstanding and resonable. they do have some videos here on youtube.
ua-cam.com/video/6pwoJHR7w-g/v-deo.html here
Good video. Thanks for the education. Very nice plant stand. One question - I was surprised to see you refer to Watco as varnish - isn't it more just oil?
I have done fuming on select pieces. I would never fume in any area that is even remotely connected to living quarters. I perform the task in a stand alone garage with doors wide open while handling the ammonia. After everything is set, I close the doors and leave. Open all doors and wait for complete ventilation before reentering the garage. This is dangerous stuff!
Can this left over solution be reused for fuming
When fuming does the oak used move, planning to use this process for drawer fronts but if the fronts shrink they won't fit on the fronts(false fronts)
Nicely researched, thanks. With all the extra work involved in fuming, I don't think it's for me.
In case you are thinking of speeding up the process, use a hair drier to blow air over the closed, concentrated ammonia and direct the fumes into the tent, vent the excess fumes to the outside.
It is no more work then staining if you include prep and clean up with stain and wait and knock down sand several times. Tent is lightweight materials that you build with pin nailer. The rest is 'soak' and wait once and seal. How is this extra work? Its less.
Thank you!
I have never known it - now will definitely try.
Many years ago I used potassium permanganate to achieve similar effect, but never did any research and prepared the solution by eye.
Did you try potassium permanganate?
And did the potassium permanganate process give you the results you wanted? Pros/cons?
Very cool. I'm left thinking that this is definitely an outside endeavor.
Household strength apparently works just take a few days longer. A room with the window open wide should be safe.
After watching this video my boss and I decided it would be a good idea to try it out. We built a good solid wooden frame and wrapped it with heavy duty plastic sheeting.
We unfortunately couldn't buy Ammonium Hydroxide in the UK unless we bought at least 100ltrs- which seemed okay as it was all going to be so easy. Within minutes the fumes from the ammonium hydroxide had filled our studio space and workshop space. The masks we bought that were meant to be specially designed for those fumes were entirely insufficient and for goodness sake do NOT wear swimming goggles because they can mist up and you don't want that when you're tackling renegade fumes. Despite keeping the tankers in a reasonably cool and dark place the temperature got up to over 30 degrees and we had fumes rising out of the tankers because they had pressure holes in the lids to stop them swelling up and bursting in the heat. The constant fumes not only filled the studio and workshop but also got into the adjoining house and believe me the smell WILL hang around for over a week. With the useless masks and misty goggles we were absolutely done for. I couldn't breathe properly for nearly 2 days and experienced nosebleeds and a sore throat; my boss was coughing terribly for 3 days and luckily we were told we were okay and were just suffering short-term effects of the fumes when we sought medical help.
It was a nightmare getting the stuff picked up too. We didn't want to pour it down the drain because of the warning signs all over the tankers and so had to contact professionals. Independent firms wanted the Earth to have it taken away which, being a small business we couldn't afford, and the local council wouldn't take it away until they received the completed forms they had sent us and even then they didn't come for over a week. Basically I would say if you live in a detached property with a large garden and a decent sized shed and can get a hold of the stuff in a small quantity maybe do it. OR if you have a state of the art facility kitted out for the process, do it. If you're an average member of the public like us with a small space in which to work just don't even think about it unless you want a potential disaster for your health and your property, as well as the surrounding area. I think it's scary that someone can just buy the stuff with no license and without the proper background checks on the customers being carried out.
Jeez man, sounds like you used wayyyyyy too much!
Very good vid. Question: Does temperature have an impact on the fuming process? (My garage is about 50 degrees this winter).
I image it would effect the evaporation
As he said, you need to do a test run on cutoffs. Save test of your situation and season (dry, wet, cool, hot, ammonia strength )of the test plus the commonality ( same board, same milling) of the project pieces and select effect that you want. Too many variables to give you any kind of useful answer. Part of woodworking is the fun of experimentation and develop a feel from the grain patterns and density. Unique, that is the point. It can't all just be handed to you nor should it be desired.
would this do anything to any other species of wood or even like pine
Google 'tannin content of wood' .
I applied water/ baking soda mix to a remanant piece of cherry and it turned into a nasty green color; that reminds me of poplar.
Will it work with other woods or does it have to be Oak?
Any wood with significant tannins....Maple, cherry, mahogany....many more....does not work with red oak which is best used as firewood
)
The process is simply not worth it for wood working.