06-19-2010, 05:30 PM
Been away for a while, took a group to Trinidad and Tobago for 10 days of world-class scuba diving. Update on the Woodshack project.....When we last visited, I had put a stain recipe in three different containers and let 3 different batches of stock wood soak for different times. Container 1 soaked for about 24 hours before I started taking random pieces out to dry for the next 12 hours or so. I repeated the process for the 2nd container after about 36 hours, and again with the 3rd container after about 48 hours. After 10 days' of drying on paper towels on a flat surface while I left the country, the wood did indeed come out varying shades and with little imperfections that will look good on the final product. The picture below does not do it justice, I'm much better at underwater photography than land photos for sure... 
Hopefully you can get some idea of what they really look like in the picture. I tried to take them outside with macro set up, not happy with results. Any photo tips would be appreciated so you can get better pics next post.
Next step will be to distress the tiny pieces of wood using a new stiff wire brush and the trusty ole' #11 blade to nasty things up a bit. You might notice a dark spot on one of the pieces, I hope that will make a nice knothole in the wood.
All in all I like the way it turned out. I think the advantage to this technique vs traditional painting is the randomness of the stain, it doesn't look like it was wiped or painted with a brush. It looks a little more natural.
So far lessons learned are:
1) Use more india ink in the recipe, it would probably speed up the process....
2) Have replacement marble counter tops ready for installation immediately after pouring stain....
3) When told by you-know-who to take it outside, don't do it on a windy day....
4) When hiking thru the jungle less than 7 miles from Hugo Chavez country, don't wear camoflouge shorts!
Comments and suggestions are welcome and needed, especially for the close-up photos.....More after I visit good ole' Dad tomorrow...
Hopefully you can get some idea of what they really look like in the picture. I tried to take them outside with macro set up, not happy with results. Any photo tips would be appreciated so you can get better pics next post.Next step will be to distress the tiny pieces of wood using a new stiff wire brush and the trusty ole' #11 blade to nasty things up a bit. You might notice a dark spot on one of the pieces, I hope that will make a nice knothole in the wood.
All in all I like the way it turned out. I think the advantage to this technique vs traditional painting is the randomness of the stain, it doesn't look like it was wiped or painted with a brush. It looks a little more natural.
So far lessons learned are:
1) Use more india ink in the recipe, it would probably speed up the process....
2) Have replacement marble counter tops ready for installation immediately after pouring stain....
3) When told by you-know-who to take it outside, don't do it on a windy day....
4) When hiking thru the jungle less than 7 miles from Hugo Chavez country, don't wear camoflouge shorts!
Comments and suggestions are welcome and needed, especially for the close-up photos.....More after I visit good ole' Dad tomorrow...