Fumed Oak

[Jeff]

I'm going to make a bookcase out of red or white oak, but I need some collective advice and input. I'm learning and and you fellow woodworkers have a good knowledge base so I thought that I'd pick your brains a bit. Here's my idea:

It will be about 36" w x 12" d x 64" height with 5 shelves including the base.

Red or white oak, but the choice will be FSO or QSO. How or why would I choose one over the other? Personal choice for grain effect or the expansion/contraction characteristics of the wood? Why? :eusa_naug

Thinking about fuming it in 28% ammonia just to see how it looks. I have 4 test pieces of red oak fuming now (2 QSO, 2 FSO) and I'll check them at 24 hours and again at 48 hours exposure. It'll be interesting.

My organic chemistry background suggests that I would construct/sand, etc. the entire case and then fume it. Final step would be the finish after fuming. Any thoughts and/or experiences there? :slap:

Thanks in advance. BTW I had a great time helping Jeff & Jim saw some QSO & FSO this past Saturday. Very interesting and informative. Will likely go back this Saturday. It's not lazy man's work by any means, but then again, a good day's work won't hurt any of us. It'll sure make you appreciate where your lumber comes from before you even touch it in your shop.

 

[Mark Fogleman]

Fuming scares me to death...brings back memories of the "Gas Chamber" at Ft. Jackson but with stuff that will seriously kill your lungs. In one of the Dave Marks' Woodworks shows he set up a fuming rig outside and finished off with his "Tung oil" which is Seal-A-Cell followed by multiple coats of Arm-R-Seal wiped on. Not sure if you need to raise the grain prior to fuming. More details here:
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_wwk/episode/0,2046,DIY_14350_26902,00.html

Jeff Jewitt has a finishing schedule for his version of the different Stickley finishes w/o fuming here:
http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/pdf/mission_oak_rev4-2008.pdf

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Jeff- It is a personal decision, but I personally do not like the cathedral arch grain of flatsawn oak. For regular case work I prefer riff-sawn or a mix of quarter-sawn and riff-sawn, and for Mission/Arts & Crafts, quarter-sawn white is the oak of choice. As I found on my shop bench work- mixing riff and quartersawn oak with flat-sawn, doesn't look good in my book. If you are going for rayfleck, QSWO has more and larger rayfleck than QSRO.

While fuming can result in a more uniform coloring and often color the wood where there has been glue squeeze out, the appearance can often be improved with the application of a dye stain as well, as the Stickleys found. You can get a warmer, more reddish color by staining after fuming. Finishing with oil based finishes etc. will change the color of the fumed oak.

When I build my fuming assembly I will use a polysheet tent with a grid floor over drainable tray- fuming works best/quickest if the ammonia has a lot of surface area. I hope to keep the ammonia in a "closed system"- a sealed ammonia container will sit below the fuming tent. I will likely use a squeeze bulb type pump to move the ammounia from container up into tray. The tray will have a drain line with a hose clamp so I can drain the ammonia or excess ammonia back into the container.

Ammonia is dangerous and can severly harm eyes and the mucous linings of the throat and lungs, so wear a good hydrocarbon mask or have independent air source and good eye protection.

 

[DaveO]

Personally I would use QSWO over flat sawn or even QSRO for several reasons. First the ray fleck in the WO is much more pronounced than in RO, I like that grain pattern better than flat sawn. Second QS wood has much more uniform movement in service and is less likely to wrap and cup.
If you like playing with chemicals and have access to a strong enough ammonia solution fuming would be cool to do. If not there are many ways to achieve a similar look without the danger, and no one would know any different.
If you do fume, you would build the piece, tent it and expose it to the fumes. Then a protective top coat would be applied over the wood...after it has aired out.

Dave