Message Thread:
Fir coffee table
11/7/14
I need to gray the exterior and am planning on using shop-made (table vinegar and stew wool) iron acetate to do so. Also, the clamp is holding the doors shut as they are on self-opening hinges. I need a positive hold latch that isn't the cheap looking plastic crap. If anyone has a source for well-made catches I'd love to buy some; otherwise I'll be building them so let me know if anyone has a shop-made solution they're proud of.
Regarding the graying: I have done this on oak but the fir (and maybe some cedar snuck in there, too) is more liable to soak up the vinegar and I'm wondering if I can remove the vinegar smell easily, short of pressure washing the whole thing. I'll do a clear topcoat, probably poly or OSMO polyx.
11/7/14 #2: Fir coffee table ...
Here are the pictures.
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11/10/14 #3: Fir coffee table ...
I don't have any experience with aging fir. Iron oxide reacts with the tannins in oak, (white especially) to turn it black. Perhaps, fir has some available tannins, but it's a drastically different species, so I wouldn't expect the same results. Around here, some woods age brown, some grey, and some silver. Perhaps, the color difference is due to species, perhaps it's due to oxidation vs. UV degradation. The makers of hard wax oil floor finishing systems have figured some of this chemistry out: check there first. At any rate, I like your block of 2 x 4's.
I'd prefer not to think that there are euro hinges in there, but if so, I'm pretty sure that Salice, Grass, and Blum all make a push release hinge.
11/11/14 #4: Fir coffee table ...
Thanks for your response. This is the fir sample with the chemical solution, whatever it is. It was done a few weeks ago, so it's been knocking around the shop a bit, but the tone is pretty close to what I got when it was fresh. The bench it's sitting on is untreated old fir; not sure how well the colors come through from a camera phone. I also noticed there is no vinegar smell on the sample, so maybe time will take care of that problem. It was still somewhat present 4-5 days after application.
The hinges are concealed 35mm cup hinges, an amazing engineering marvel! These are push by salice, but they're all marvels. I've never used these before; I usually stick to blum products, and these do feel like a slight step down, fit and finish-wise.
I don't really have qualms about using this type of hinge in modern furniture. I know I am supposed to feel like it is too pedestrian or something, but I think that is mostly because they're inexpensive.
I guess I draw the line at using their latches, though; I am considering the ives cl11, but would have to order it. Anyone have thoughts on the quality of those latches? Can't find anyone locally with a sample to put my hands on.
I think the solution is iron acetate(II) which is not depositing color on the wood but reacting with the tannins, few as they may be. It goes on basically clear, starts to darken, and then dries to the color you see in the pictures. It reacted much more quickly on the white oak. The topcoat does change the look quite a bit so it takes a lot of experimenting.
View higher quality, full size image (1632 X 918)
View higher quality, full size image (1632 X 918)
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11/11/14 #5: Fir coffee table ...
Yeah, ok: I've made my fair share of euro cabinets, so I won't give you too much of a hard time, regardless of your preferred mode of transportation...
For some reason I thought that the Salice push had a push-release catch within the hinge. Marketing. I have one of those Ives kicking around the shop that I didn't use for it's intended project. Fit and finish wise, it'd be ok, if you can mortise the box into the side of the cabinet, or the top, whatever's more appropriate. It's no good for surface-mounting, but that may just be my aversion to big wads of unnecessarily complicated gagetry poking through. It's got a good amount of power, and needs 1/8" to 3/16" at the mechanism for the push release to work. As I recall, it seemed more suited to a passage or closet door than to a cabinet door.
The vinegar and rusty nails seems to do the trick. On white oak, the effect is cumulative, so multiple applications can yield a nearly black color. It is interesting to note that texture has quite a lot to do with the appearance of age. Not that you expressed aging as your goal; just looking at your pictures.
11/18/14 #6: Fir coffee table ...
Salice makes a drill in catch to use with push. See attached
Click the link below to download the file included with this post.
Push_Ed08_04_2013_ENG.pdf
11/25/14 #7: Fir coffee table ...
Rare earth magnets work well. They are available in different sizes. Drill the appropriate hole in the edge of the door and the rail, a little deeper than the length of the magnet glue it in with a wood plug at the top and it is hidden.
http://www.kjmagnetics.com
12/20/14 #8: Fir coffee table ...
Jesse,
Try some Monocoat "Rubio Smoke". It is a reactive stain. I used it on some fresh end cuts in wormy Chestnut to match the weathered grey of the original surface and it worked well. You can control the intensity of the color with the amount you put on.
Jeff
2/23/15 #9: Fir coffee table ...
Website: http://v-dubfurniture.com
Iron oxide reacts with the tannins in oak, (white especially) to turn it black. Perhaps, fir has some available tannins, but it's a drastically different species, so I wouldn't expect the same results.
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