What woods do you prefer to use

[rtropp]

I would like my next build to have a wood finish with only limited painting to highlight certain parts.

I am curious about the woods preferred by scratch and bash builders. For example, on a single POB build, what wood do you like for for the planks, the wales, the deck, etc.

 

Richard T.

[tlevine]

Richard, there are two issues here.  First, which woods are best suited to model building?  Second, which wood species look good together and (maybe) simulate the appearance of the prototype?  As far as the first question...any reasonably hard wood with minimal grain will work fine.  There are many builders who insist basswood is fine to use for hull planking.  Personally, I prefer to use hardwoods.  They cut cleaner, sand better and are more resistant to minor damage during the building process.  They, however, are more expensive and do not take paint as well as basswood.  Pear, swiss pear, costello boxwood, pau marfin, holly and satinwood come to mind for the lower hull planking.  For the wales and upperworks, wood with natural color (apple or cherry) or dyed/stained wood gives a nice contrast.  Check out the build logs or the gallery for a palate you find pleasing and contact the builder to find out what woods were employed.

[rtropp]

Thanks Toni

[ChrisLBren]

For me its Swiss Pear and Costello Box.  Swiss Pear takes dye really well to imitate Ebony. I agree with Toni on all of her points regarding workability of hardwoods vs anything else.

[Jim Lad]

There is, of course, another question - which woods are available to you?

 

I use mainly Privet and Cherry Ballart, but I doubt that you'd find either of these woods commercially available or outside Australia.

 

John

[popeye2sea]

What about spars?  I will be replacing the plastic ones for my Soleil Royal kit.

[rtropp]

Chris,

What dye do you use to get ebony with swiss pear?

[Jim Lad]

Brian,

 

In the wild is the only place to get Privet as far as I know.  It's also a noxious weed here in NSW, so nobody minds if they see you taking to a Privet with a chain saw!

 

It's very hard, close grained and usually straight grained - takes an edge very well.  My Stag's hull and deck are of Privet.

 

John

[mij]

Fruit woods are excellent to use, along with Boxwood.

 

mij

[rtropp]

Janos,

Thanks for the tip. I am in the U.S. and when I google "Feast Watson proof tint" I do not see any outlets in the U.S.

 

Richard T

[ChrisLBren]

Hi Richard,

I use Fiebings Black Leather Shoe Dye available at most cobblers/shoe repair stores.

Chris

[rtropp]

Chris,

Would never have thought of that. does it finish well?

 

Richard T

[ChrisLBren]

Hi Richard,

Swiss Pear takes it really well - better than boxwood.  I typically apply 4 - 5 coats buffing between coats.  It dries almost immediately and has a sheen very close to Ebony.   It is a little dangerous to dye wood on a model - because it will run.  But Ive developed ways of dealing with that as well.  I usually top coat with Watcos Danish Oil.  Check out my scratch build Confederacy Build log if you want to see some pics.

Chris

[Chuck Seiler]

I have used black India Ink on both Swiss Pear and Holly to simulate Ebony.

[Richard Griffith]

Richard, prior posts are all good, any close grain (that means no open pores and no pronounced annual rings) hard wood will work well, plus the 'usual' box (English or Costello), Swiss pear and a few other inports.  Matching the colors is a matter of personal perception.  Experiment to see what looks good to you. 

 

Duffer

[rtropp]

Hi all

I just returned from some travels and have been catching up.

 

Christ, I had ordered some Swiss pear and it looks a lot better, although also a lot more expensive.  The sources I have looked at have boxwood but I do not see Costello Box.  Not sure if these are similar or whether Costello Box is available in the U.S.

 

Janos, Christ, while I could not find the Feast Watson, I have found the Fiebings Black Leather Shoe Dye and will test it. Thanks for the step by step.

 

Crackers, It is possible for me to get some fruitwood at local orchards.  We do not have Cherry in Georgia, U.S., (damned red clay) but do have apple and other.  (Wonder if Peach would be any good, have tons of that.) I was wondering, how long do you dry the wood and in what environment?

 

Duffer, are box and boxwood different?

 

Brian, I was thinking of using ebony which is available but not sure what you mean by "messy".

 

I appreciate all your comments.  I am investigating woods because my next build will be mostly wood finish and I am going to try my hand at scratch.  I was thinking of bashing but the thought of paying for the model then replacing its parts seems doesn't sit right.  I may get over that once I try to cut out the parts myself rather than using the kit for that. Still have a lot to do on my current build which is my first. 

 

Thanks all.

Richard T

[mtaylor]

Richard,

 

Ebony is extremely hard. It dulls tools quickly and is a bear to bend.  It doesn't take PVA well.  Epoxy seems to work best from where I sit.  When cutting or sanding, it gives off a fine black powder instead of the normal looking sawdust.  You should always... always.... wear a dust mask when cutting or sanding as the sawdust will create health issues.  Also, always have a dust collection system running (even if it's just a shop vac) and you will need multiple passes to get all the sawdust up.

 

Having said that... it's a beautiful wood to work with.  Polishes and carves nicely.  It finishes to a glass like surface. I'm not fond of working with it but I am very well pleased with the way it looks. 

 

If you chose not to use ebony, there's also MinWax's ebony stain which works a treat on most (but not all) woods.  I've used it on boxwood and pear with great success in non-model projects.  I've not used the leather dyes but have seen the results and they are excellent.

[mtaylor]

Ah.. thanks Brian.  I'll get some and try it.  I was referenced to using epoxy after finding out PVA didn't do the job. 

[WackoWolf]

Like Brain and Mark said it makes a mess when you sand. If you are going to sand with it on the model it would be best to tape off as much of the model as you can, because the dust gets in everything. Try testing it away from the model and you will see what happens. It is always better to be prepared as to what is going to happen then being caught by surprise.

[ASAT]

Richard, I have never used peach but before the crash there was a guy that was using it on a Chebec I think and it looked awesome to me.... close grained and kind of pinkish/tan - I thought it worked well on his planking...

 

Lou

[rtropp]

Lou,

I may test some of the peach. While I am at it, I may try a couple of different local woods to see how they work. 

 

I need to learn the process for drying and getting it ready for use.   I understand the drying process can be a long one so might as well put up some now.

 

All,

The ebony sounds nice but not sure if it is worth the mess.  I will get some to test and see how it works for me.  At the same time I will try the staining suggestions.

 

Thanks,

Richard T

Edited October 16, 2013 by rtropp

[captainbob]

The other day I was visiting a man who makes cabinets in his garage.  He had a jar of vinegar in which he had put a few links of steel chain.  It was the darkest rusty color I had ever seen.  Using a rag he rubbed some onto a piece of walnut.  The walnut instantly turned a beautiful black with warm over tones of brown like lovely ebony.

 

Bob

[rtropp]

Interesting, wonder how long he had to soak the steel before getting the solution to where he wanted it.  Its worth a try. 

From what I am hearing about working with ebony, it might be worth finding a work around.

 

Richard T

[mtaylor]

For those interested.. here's a link on ebonizing:  http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/ebonizing_wood  It goes further than just vinegar and iron as some woods don't take that method well.

[WackoWolf]

Thanks Mark. Very nice link, enjoy reading it very much, never new about the acid in different types of wood. It is an easy way of doing it so that it does look natural. Now to find the tree bark.

[Richard Griffith]

Hi Richard T, box and boxwood are the same (it is easier to say and write 'box').

 

Ebony (diospyos) makes a mess as others have said.  Diospyros is a genus of about 450–500 speicies of deciduous and ever green trees, shrubs and small bushes.  This means there are MANY ebonies. 

 

Caution: many of the ebonies are toxic.  The dust can cause acute dermatitis, skin inflamation, conjunctivitis and sneezing; possible skin sensitizer (source-"Wood" by Terry Porter ISBN 978-1-60085-465-1). 

 

Although I have used an ebony for a couple of small parts, I personally do not favor this wood due to its toxiticy.  People who do must use dust collection systems, and if not collected efficiently must use respirators. 

 

Duff

[rtropp]

Thanks Duff,

Good info, I wonder if there is a dark wood substitute, i.e., black walnut or similar.  Not sure why I am trying so hard to avoid staining. I imagine using boxwood or similar with an ebony stain would look pretty good.

 

Mark's link to Ebonizing has an interesting solution but I am not sure how to make stuff like the bark tea.  I wonder if a good quality ebony stain would not do the trick instead.  I will have to experiment with some different solutions.

 

Thanks.

 

Richard T

Edited November 17, 2013 by rtropp

[captainbob]

The other day I was visiting a man who makes cabinets in his garage.  He had a jar of vinegar in which he had put a few links of steel chain.  It was the darkest rusty color I had ever seen.  Using a rag he rubbed some onto a piece of walnut.  The walnut instantly turned a beautiful black with warm over tones of brown like lovely ebony.

 

Bob

Try it you might like it.  I did.

 

Bob

Edited November 17, 2013 by Cap'n'Bob

[mtaylor]

Here's two links to get you started on wood selection.  

 

http://www.wood-database.com/

http://www.dlumberyard.com/wood.html (click on wood samples to see)

 

For ebony stain, I'm pretty happy with the Min-Wax stain.  Works very well.

[rtropp]

OK Bob, you know I am going to try the steel chain link and vinegar. Sounds too simple to be true.

I will let you know how it turns out.

Richard T