Chris Head Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 Fuming Oak is a traditional way to 'taint' new timbers and blend them into old surroundings. I use ammonia and either fume in situ or prior to installing. I've just completed a huge fire surround for a client and it's been fumed in situ (having first been enclosed with plastic sheeting). The beauty of the process is that it's easily controllable, when you have the desired colour you simply remove the ammonia, and it's cheap, less than 2 euros for a litre of about 28% which is strong enough for most applications. But be careful, the fumes are unpleasant so either wear a respiratior or fume in a well ventilated workshop/barn.If anyone wants any pictures then let me know, lavaud7@wanadoo.frCheers, Chris Head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchy Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 Hi Chris, would love to see the photo's. It sounds very interesting. Why not post them on this site for all of us to see? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Head Posted December 6, 2004 Author Share Posted December 6, 2004 Ok Frenchy, here goes! The explanation could get a bit lengthy, I hope I don't bore anyone to death! I hope this isn't seen as advertising!All of my 'architechtural' Oak is cut freehand by chainsaws, the only reason I do this is because (in my opinion) large section Oak that is perfectly straight and square can never have that feel or look of 'hand' worked timbers. After cutting I then texture it (the photo's don't really show the texturing) and shape out any straight lines or hard edges. The mortice and tennons are then cut, all by chainsaw, and then 'shaved' until they fit.This picture is the fire surround in place before fuming.And now with the plastic surround in place, as many gaps as possible have been taped up and the chimney has been blocked with polystyrene, the better the seal the more efficiently the ammonia fumes work.And now after the fuming process.........Now I'll apply several coats of Danish oil, thinned 50:50 with white spirit (there are several reasons for this but that's perhaps another subject). The fuming of this project took about 9 hours, the shade being checked often. The oiling will darken the timber down a little more. The fire surround will now be blended to the walls behind with granite masonry.Below is a support post for the same client, this time a darker shade was required.The same process will be used for the oak floorboards, but they'll be fumed outside of the house and to a much lighter shade.The fuming process only works effectively with timber that has a high content of tannic acid, Oak and Sweet Chestnut are the two main candidates.I've pictures of the cutting and joining process at the risk of boring y'all to death!Any help I can give then fire away!Salut, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Head Posted December 6, 2004 Author Share Posted December 6, 2004 Oh sod it, why not! My wifes away, my Rolph cd is trashed and I'm bored so here's some more pictures of the process!First one is cleaning the log prior to marking it, even a speck of dirt will affect the sharpness of the chains and can reveal hidden hazards, such as stones or nails which could be very dangerous if hit by a chain travelling at around 20 metres per second. The tool is similar to an adze, with a straight edge and very sharp.Having spent a good time marking the log out it's time to get stuck in! Note the size of log required to extract the desired mantlepiece. There's alot of waste, this particular is lovely! You can also see that I'm wearing the best protective chainsaw clothing, boots and headgear that money can buy....very important! The saw is very powerful at this stage, 100cc and tuned, I 'doctor' my own chains according to their use as well.The log having been cut, it's now inside and having the mortices chainsawed into it (lightweight chainsaw trousers underneath the dpm's by the way!) using an electric saw..... These pictures will be added to my website with some other work early spring next year.Hope I'm giving some of you ideas!Chris Head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchy Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 Hi Chris, the photo's aren't showing up at least not on my computer. All I see are squares with red crosses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David584 Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 ChrisYou are trying to show pictures direct from the hard drive on your PC. You need to enlist the facilties of one of the free hosting sites and upload your pictures to there so that you have an http:// address to link your pictures onto this forum. That way everyone viewing this particular topic will be able to see the pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Head Posted December 7, 2004 Author Share Posted December 7, 2004 Oh, that's a shame, they're loud and clear on my screen. Does right clicking on the box and 'show image', work? I'll have a go at that David but I think it's beyond me.Chris H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalpa Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 You could always upload them to your own site and then post the link. Alternatively Forum Admin posted the following info in another thread and it may be of help to you.-----Uploading from your computer to this forum is not permitted due to security but you can link to pictures/images that are currently on the web by clicking the button and add the unique link to the prompt: 'picture source code' and it will then show up within your message compiler.If you have a photo on your computer that you wish to show on this forum and it isn't currently on the web, you could open an account with an Image Hosting company which in most cases is free (such as http://www.villagephotos.com or http://www.photobucket.com). You can set up a username and password and upload images from your computer to their site so you can share them with other people on the web, these websites are easy to use with step by step instructions, but remember that your pictures will be in the public domain.When you have uploaded an image onto their site, take note of the unique link given to each image (this is given when you upload an image) as you will need to use this.Then when you want to upload it onto this forum, within the message compiler use the button and add the unique link to the prompt: 'picture source code' and it will then show up within your message compiler.----I'd like to see the photos too. Carole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Head Posted December 7, 2004 Author Share Posted December 7, 2004 Thanks Carole, perhaps it's easier if I put the link to photobucket here http://photobucket.com/albums/v609/chrishead/ and give the password...which is, France (original eh?).The fire surround has been oiled and had its pegs holding the mortice &tennons added.Excuse the confusion!Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalpa Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Hi Chris -seriously interesting pix. I really like the fireplace. We're trying to figure out what to do with our fireplace when we reach that point of renovation. At some point in the last 20 years, the (we assume) stone, Norman-style fireplace was replaced by the owners with a rendered surround which is painted red brick colour and lines have been traced in the rendering to imitate bricks. It's... lovely. ;^How old was the oak you used? Green or somewhat seasoned?CarolePS: you have a good supply of firewood there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Head Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 It's a shame that so many old properties were treated in the way you describe Carole but that was just the fashion of the day I guess, just as we're ripping it all out again and taking it back to our interpretation of what it would have been. I have great respect for the materials and workmanship of yesteryear, the time and patience they had and the results they produced, one of the reasons for being here is to have the time to carry out projects like the fireplace without having to worry about churning out the same old work to pay bills that would take you over if you let them! The Oak I use for projects like this is always green, for many reasons but mainly because you simply cant get dried Oak of that size section, it's easy to work green, and I want it to split and move, I'd be very disappointed if it didn't!Thanks for your kind words!Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 "At some point in the last 20 years, the (we assume) stone, Norman-style fireplace was replaced by the owners with a rendered surround which is painted red brick colour and lines have been traced in the rendering to imitate bricks. It's... lovely."So you've got one of those, too? What on earth possesses people to do that. In Husson there is an entire house painted gloss brick red with the pointing picked out. That's lovely too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.