# color change in wood



## phinds (May 23, 2016)

I've been processing samples from that huge batch that @ELBeau gave me such a great deal on a few weeks back and as I fully expected, one of the things I got, because of the age of the samples, was another opportunity to show color change in wood.

A LOT of the samples show exactly what I'm sure most of you are already familiar with, which is that the surface darkening of wood with age is just that ... SURFACE darkening, and when you knock off a bit you quickly get down to the original wood color (possibly with a slight darkening from the fresh milled color but nothing like the darkening at the surface).

Here are a couple such examples. On all these, I sliced off 1/8" but probably would not have had to go down even that far.

spruce pine:




English oak:




And then there's a very nice example of one of my favorites. I've seen this many times before but I always enjoy it. It's mineral stained tulip poplar (aka yellow poplar) that is pure green throughout. Over time it turns brown on the surface but only on the surface. I once opened up a piece taken from a set of end tables that was at least 30 years old and it was BRILLIANT green inside. This one isn't as bright a green but you seen what I mean:




An then one that is NOT just surface deep. This is also something I've seen before, as have probably all of you who work with black locust. Over time, it goes from the fresh-milled yellow/green tint to brown, but it goes all the way through the wood. Surfacing it does get rid of some of the aged patina but it will never get back to yellow/green wood. Another wood that does that is persimmon that has been dried badly and turns gray over time. The gray goes all the way through the wood. Here's the black locust:




Here's my web site article on color change in wood:
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/_color change/index.htm

The samples from Beau will add a bit to that article but more importantly, it will show with a LOT of woods, the kind of thing you see in this post.

Reactions: Like 2 | Way Cool 3 | Informative 3


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## barry richardson (May 23, 2016)

Thanks Paul, I love this stuff!

Reactions: Like 1


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## ELBeau (May 28, 2016)

Thanks for the update. I am happy to see them being put to good use.


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