Scorching advice

[Lazurus]

Had a go at scorching on a practice piece of oak over the weekend, not very successful just looked burnt. I was hoping it would show the grain a little more. Where did I go wrong? I sanded back to reveal the grain then it just looked patchy, have I missed something obvious.

S.

[Les Symonds]

Hi....I'm having considerable success with scorching at the moment and it seems to be very popular in the shop. Here's my method....

I use a plumber's blow torch, the type that screws to the top of a can  of gas which is about the size of a large aerosol can. I burn until the surface just starts to show checking....that's the breaking up of the surface into a square pattern which is caused by the rapid shrinkage of the surface due to the heat.
Next I wire brush along the grain to remove all the charred material and the soot.
Next i use a toothbrush to wipe lime wax into the grain, this makes a massive difference and really emphasises the grain. I rub the wax off, vigorously, before it dries, then buff with a coarse wheel that I keep just for this work. Finally I put a coat of microcrystaline wax over it to seal the surface.





The secret seems to be to get a good, deep scorch.

Les

[Les Symonds]

Thought I'd add this picture as well, to show how ash can look....I imagine that any coarse grained timber would work well.



Les

[Lazurus]

That's great, thank you, I missed out the wire brushing, I will give that step a try. Very nice work, something to aspire to.

S.

[Les Symonds]

That's great, thank you, I missed out the wire brushing, I will give that step a try. Very nice work, something to aspire to.

S.

Try different grades of wire brush....you can get very fine ones for cleaning suede, coarser ones for cleaning welding and brazing spatter etc etc. The oak in the first 2 pictures was brushed with a lime-waxer's brush, which has medium strength copper bristles, but the ash in the last picture was severely scoured with a very coarse, stell bristled wire brush.
Les

[bodrighywood]

If you want really drastic texturing another alternative is you can use a wire brush in a drill.

Pete

[George Watkins]

If you want really drastic texturing another alternative is you can use a wire brush in a drill.

Pete

thats the method i prefer aswell Pete

this is ash


and this is oak

[Bryan Milham]

I agree with the use of a wire brush, either handheld or in a power drill.

Never used a toothbrush, seems a bit small to me, my prefered small brush is a fingernail brush.

[Lazurus]

Best I have another go, wire brushes ordered, blow lamp refilled with a new canister, another practice piece to be turned. Thanks for the advice.

S.