How may ways to color cedar?

[bradleyheathhays]

I'm working with a local artist to develop an idea I've had over the last year. Have you ever seen what's known as a photo collage? It's where hundreds of small pictures are put together, side by side in rows and columns so that they make a larger picture when viewed as a whole. Those photos are always made by software. We'll I'm trying to do basically the same thing except with small wood blocks. The idea is that I'm to make a lot of different small wood squares, I'll say instead of blocks, and the artist puts them together to make a larger picture. The smaller the square the higher resolution the final image will be, just like the pixels on your tv. So, with all this in mind, my goal is to find wood with unique color patterns. After thinking on it for a long time I'm sure just regularly grained wood would not be suitable for this new process, and so I've just been sitting on this idea for a minute, until I went to the lumber yard for the first time after having this idea and found cedar! I originally went there for some Ambrosia Maple as it has unique color patterns, but they're always the same...just long streaks. As it turns out cedar can have very unusual color patterns when it's milled down as compared to other wood species. So now my idea is a little more developed, thank heavens. So now I've got a couple questions.

I see now how finding wood species with a sharp contrast in color between the sap and hardwoods would work well in my process. Is there any other species out there that has such sharp contrast between the sap and heart wood like cedar? Walnut, maybe, is the only other that comes to mind.

Second question...how many ways are there to change the color of cedar? Staining and applying aging solutions are the only two ways I know of, and have very little experience with either so I don't know what products are out there. The idea is I want to be able to produce as many variations of color using cedar as possible.

What ways are there to color cedar that I haven't thought of yet?

Many thanks!

 

[trc65]

Somebody was asking about that very same type of project within the last couple of months. It it was me, I'd use maple and dye everything. Colors and gradations will depend on what image will be generated.

 

[bradleyheathhays]

Hey trc65 yes that was me back then. I hadn't found wood with the coloration I was looking for so I sort of shelved the idea until now.

I got some great colored Poplar at the sawmill. I didn't know it could be that beautiful, the greens grays and bluish purples. Poplar might work if I can find a good amount of it with good coloration. How would you go about stabilizing poplar's natural colors? Do they turn maybe fainter over time?

 

[phinds]

How would you go about stabilizing poplar's natural colors? Do they turn maybe fainter over time?

the only known way to stabilize the colors in rainbow poplar is to make your object quickly after the wood is dry and then wrap it in a thick woolen blanket and put that inside a thick cardboard box and then put that in a dark closet.

Open it all up once a year, QUICKLY, and drool over your creation and then put it all back QUICKLY.

For even better results, never open the closet door.

 

[trc65]

I've never worked with poplar, so can't comment directly on it's color change. However, the color of nearly every wood changes over time regardless of the finish used. Changes occur through oxidation and exposure to UV light. With specific finishes, you can slow changes, but unless you are going to completely enclose in epoxy and keep the wood in a dark basement, colors will change. Another potential complication is that the rate of change will vary by species.

I don't know the size, scope or duration of your project, but if it were mine, I still think I would go the route of using dye on a single wood. It just eliminates a large variable.

Of course, all these comments are based on my assumptions that the artwork will depict a representational image and color will be key. If the image will be more abstract, I'd definitely go with natural wood colors.

 

[Cloud of Sawdust Farms]

Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) has dark red heartwood ("red gum") and light pink-gray sapwood ("sapgum"). Both can be beautifully patterned. The problem is that, at least at my local supplier, the stuff tends to crack a lot. I'd probably work with sweetgum a lot more often if I could be sure of getting pieces that didn't crack every which way but loose. If you just want small blocks, this may not be a problem.

Honey locust has a contrast between yellow sapwood and pink heartwood. It's not a super sharp contrast, but it's still pretty. The same is true for cherry, with creamy pink sapwood and heartwood that can be anything from light pinkish-brown to brick red, although again the contrast isn't nearly as strong as in Eastern red cedar. Mulberry has a nice contrast between creamy sapwood and dark yellow heartwood, if you can find it. And you already mentioned black walnut. That's all I can think of right off the bat. I hope this is somewhat helpful.

 

[phinds]

Is there any other species out there that has such sharp contrast between the sap and heart wood

Well, a few that immediately come to mind are desert ironwood, kingwood, tulipwood, Siam rosewood, sissoo rosewood, African blackwood, camatillo rosewood, ziricote, and Honduran rosewood. There are lots of others, mostly in the hardwoods.