How do I make Red Cedar look grey

Hi All,

Please excuse any stupid questions, this is my first post.

My wife has requested a new table, preferably with a grey-ish finish. I want to use fairly thin hardwood planks for strong wear, but thin to reduce weight (I have a very bad back).

My father has a pile of house cladding that he thinks is 80 year old American red cedar. Attached is an image of a cut section, the non-cut surface is very grey with age. It's not paint you're looking at!

The grey aged surface is quite worn and pitted (not necessarily bad) but does need some clean up including some glue removal. How do I use this lovely timber, but return it to an aged grey coloring?? I also want a polyeurothane (I think?? Something shiny) finish.

Thanks for any help.

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My very limited understanding is that the grey appearance that Western Red Cedar takes on after a few years exposure to the sun is the result of natural bleaching resulting from exposure to Ultra Violet light.

Maybe try bleaching a sample of freshly milled western red cedar with some Ammonia Bleach, or maybe with Hydrogen Peroxide. You may get the immediate results you're looking for. But how the appearance of the bleached timber will change in the future under a varnish finish is something that you may not know for a few years. Do a Google search for "timber bleaching" - there seems to be heaps of stuff out there.

Roy

Artificial aging of wood can be induced by using potassium dichromate. (http://www.shellac.net/Dichromate-Tannin.html) It is extremely dangerous stuff and unless you're very familiar with chemical safety and have a way of properly disposing of the waste I don't suggest it.

If you work with dilute solution and go easy this may be an alternative: http://www.wwgoa.com/article/ebonizing-wood/

Simple. Get some really strong household bleach and bleach it.
Strongest stuff you can get from your local supermarket should do the trick.
Splash it on liberally, let it soak for a good while.Then hose off.
Wait till it dries out and ,ta dah!.
If that does not bleach it enough for ya, then try some Sodium Hyperchlorite (use appropriate safety equipment). Eye,protection, breathing protection. etc.

FYI.
Used the bleaching process on these bones (sculptures). As I was after a well.....bleached bone finish.

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Top one, tried builders lime to start with.
Then bleach.
Other ones went straight for the sodium hyperchlorite.
Peroxide is another option, but it becomes very dangerous when it gets pure. Like. really really dangerous and best left alone.
I reckon you could even use pool chlorine to bleach the bejeezus out of timber.....just research what you are doing first.
It's all fun and games till someone loses something....you know, like an eye, a lung, a rental agreement etc.

Could try diluted hydrochloric acid, brick cleaners had no problems turning WRC windows grey on a few jobs.

Slightly off track, but there are certainly some dangerous chemicals mentioned here, so use appropriate protective equipment for whatever you choose.

Interesting that potassium dichromate was mentioned, now well known as being carcinogenic and allergenic. At school, we used it in Tech. Drawing to develop blueprints, and I was able, as a 13 or 14 year old, to buy a packet from the chemist.

Potassium Dichromate used to be used in Qld schools in the 60's as the so called "volcano experiment ", a small pile was ignited using a hot wire and it would "show" a volcano. Noooo way should this be done :no::no::no:.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by headingwest

My father has a pile of house cladding that he thinks is 80 year old American red cedar. Attached is an image of a cut section, the non-cut surface is very grey with age. It's not paint you're looking at!

Attachment 347461

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I can't help re the finish but, to me, the photo does not look like American Western Red Cedar, nor even Californian Redwood (both of these are coniferous plants that were/are frequently used in Australia). It is a bit difficult to tell from the photo but there seem to be distinct pores in it. If there are pores then it is a flowering plant, not a conifer. Conifers (like pine trees etc.) do not have pores but have distinct banding (called early wood and latewood, the latter being denser, darker in colour and hardness).

If your timber does have pores in it it may be Australian Red Cedar (Toona ciliata).

If it is Toona it is worth more than if it is an American conifer, and it may also react differently to treatments, though I have no experience with that, apart from knowing it does go grey like that in the weather.

I hope this helps in your quest.

David

Just to close off this thread with my result...

Most opinions for people who've handled the timber suggests Eucalypt. It fits that it's 100yo cladding from a local house on the estate of a saw mill here in Sydney. Grants used to be given for a tract of bush to be milled, this was in Pymble. Timber was a lucrative business.

We achieved the colour we wanted as follows:
- Mix fresh ground coffee with steel wool and white vinegar
- let it soak for a week
- brush it onto the timber

The mix bleaches and greys/browns the timber and really brings out the grain.
Attachment 365011Attachment 365012

We finished it with 3 layers of floor lacquer, which surprisingly already has scratches. I'd hoped the floor lacquer would be super tough as people walk on it.