05-14-2017, 10:09 AM (This post was last modified: 05-14-2017, 10:09 AM by rschissler.)
I've put cherry items, like a medium sized armoire, etc, out in the sun to darken with no problems. As long as it isn't blazing hot, it shouldn't be an issue.
Dave, almost every cherry or mahogany piece I build gets pot di. I order mine on eBay of all places. You can control the color by controlling the concentration. Here is a dilute coat and a full strength coat.
3 hours in the sun is more than enough to hasten the darkening process. Just one time, you will notice the tops a bit darker the following day in your shop. As others said, do nothing and the cherry will still darken over time. Sunlight helps it along.
mike
This is the basket of a cradle. The shadow you see is from the leg that holds it up. There was about a one inch gap between the two. It sat in a sunny room, but never in direct light, for about a year. Cherry darkens in some weird ways.
How do you know you're learning anything if you don't screw up once in awhile?
05-18-2017, 07:45 PM (This post was last modified: 05-18-2017, 07:50 PM by Bob Vaughan.)
(05-14-2017, 04:54 AM)Sawdustd Wrote: Bob - Where do you buy the Potassium Chromate and do you buy it in crystal form or in bottles?
Dave
The first pound I used I bought at the camera store that sold photographic supplies. It was used in the processing of color film. The next pound was needed 20 years later and that was a group buy purchased by a friend from an internet source. I just decanted it into the original bottle. I gave away more of the crystal than I actually used. A little bit of the solution goes a long, long way.
the concentration is a few teaspoons per quart of water. Its a very weak solution I've had it on my hands several times and it turns the skin a little yellow and that's about it. I use rubber gloves or that reason. Its not really all that caustic in such a weak solution that's appropriate for staining wood.
Doesn't anyone use lye any more? It has been my cherry darkening go to since I discovered it 10 or 15 yrs ago. It is getting hard to find. I heard, but cannot confirm, that it is used to make some kind of illegal drug, and for that reason many stores no longer carry it.
On the other hand, here's a keeping box I made from air-dried cherry. Applied BLO and let sit in the afternoon sun for a few days and got several year's worth of patina. Then applied SealCoat shellac.
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