Sunlight aging

[chatometry]

A friend of mine has a connection in the UK (woodworker with really old genuine Swietenia mahogani)- if you are interested I can have him forward me his info.

Thanks for offering. I don't want to waste your time; first I will see what I can find surfing through internet.
The "Mahogany" word ("Mogano" here) is definitely abused.

Weathering is also involved.

Maybe we already discussed this, but I can't find the conclusion: is there a way to artificially weather wood? Was it vinegar?

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

Vinegar and steel wool gray it out but are mainly a tannic acid reaction. Ammonia is the "official" weathering agent to the best of my knowledge.

 

[chatometry]

Thank you! Will give it a try!
Paolo

 

[phinds]

Ammonia is the "official" weathering agent to the best of my knowledge.

My understanding that with oak, at least, ammonia doesn't weather the wood, it darkens it. Weathering it would make it silver.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia_fuming

 

[chatometry]

That's interesting, because I was planning to start with oak... Any known effects on black walnut?

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

My understanding that with oak, at least, ammonia doesn't weather the wood, it darkens it. Weathering it would make it silver.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia_fuming

The vinegar will silver it first. I am not an expert on aging or treatments. Just messed a little bit with the vinegar thing.

 

[chatometry]

Hi everyone
Here are some more data about UV exposure of other species.

UV light exposure – PZC Chatometry

I am not 100% sure about the reason for the fluctuation.
To sum up, no evident change on Swietenia Macrophylla.

Black Walnut had an interesting shift from a violet-ish to a bronze-ish color:


Before exposure


After exposure (40hrs)

The next batch will include purpleheart and padouk; any other suggestions are welcome.

Paolo

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

Hi everyone
Here are some more data about UV exposure of other species.

UV light exposure – PZC Chatometry

I am not 100% sure about the reason for the fluctuation.
To sum up, no evident change on Swietenia Macrophylla.

Black Walnut had an interesting shift from a violet-ish to a bronze-ish color:

View attachment 229103
Before exposure

View attachment 229102
After exposure (40hrs)

The next batch will include purpleheart and padouk; any other suggestions are welcome.

Paolo

Mulberry and most other yellow toned woods turn deep golden brown with uv exposure. Many of them will turn golden brown with oxygen exposure even without sunlight. It just takes much longer.

 

[chatometry]

Could Black Locust also make sense instead of Mulberry?

Paolo

 

[phinds]

Here are some more data about UV exposure of other species.

Great info, Paolo. Thanks.

 

[phinds]

Could Black Locust also make sense instead of Mulberry?

Paolo

Not sure what you're asking. Black locust does darken with age but takes longer than mulberry.

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

Could Black Locust also make sense instead of Mulberry?

Paolo

Just a moment. When I finish my coffee, I will try to find my black locust. I reckon it changes some.

 

[phinds]

Just a moment. When I finish my coffee, I will try to find my black locust. I reckon it changes some.

You can see on my site that given enough time it changes significantly.

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

My phone disagreed with me. It died before the coffee was gone. I checked my stack of black walnut and would estimate a 15 % max darkening in 12 weeks of sun light.

 

[chatometry]

I went through the Hobbithouse page about black locust - impressive how dark that dark piece is!
I have a very dark piece from a very old table, I should cut it to see how it looks inside!

 

[SENC]

A pretty piece of cocobola I cut a chunk off yesterday - seeing the color variance made me think of this thread. I've had this 2" thick board for roughly 10 years. It would have had some but minimal direct sunlight/uv.

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

The darkening in the interior leads me to believe this is oxidation as opposed to uv darkening. Uv darkening will usually stop at less than 1/8 inch or 3 to 4 mm.