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Lichtenberg Wood burning & Metal banding

Started by WV Sawmiller, July 31, 2018, 05:04:32 PM

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WV Sawmiller

   I met a guy at a local flea market who had seen some of my benches and suggested I bring him a board for him to do Lichtenberg wood burning. He showed me some pallet art he had burned for another vendor at the flea market. I took him an 8/4 X 4' Live Edge cherry blank I had planned to make a mortise and tenon bench out of. I went ahead and drilled the mortise holes so he could work around them accordingly. I picked it up Sunday and made the bench then applied a tung oil finish. I gave him a couple of planed ash boards to burn as samples also. He showed them to me Sunday also. The ash failed miserably. Apparently the wood was too dry to carry the current but it was a cheap lesson and now we know better. Here is the finished cherry bench.


 The burning gives a lightening strike appearance I think is pretty neat. Now to see if it will sell.

I met a blacksmith at another flea market and had been interested in having metal bands placed around fireplace mantels to help keep them from checking and for decoration. While I was at it I decided to take him a small LE ash mortise and tenon bench. I chose one that had a noticeable check in both ends as this is the kind most applicable for such work. It is not something everyone will want but it gives the customer something to think about. The blacksmith made a good note too. These are the prototypes and future work will be even better. Again, it is something to think about.


 The rough nail heads sticking up are an issue we need to resolve for future work.


 This will probably be cost prohibitive for most customers but you never know till you put one on display. The bands are approximately 2" wide.


 This is a recently cut N. Spruce 4" X 8' X ~15" with one live edge and a 4" band. I would prefer a tighter fit in to the wood but for a prototype it looks good. Because of the highly customized nature of fireplace mantels this is not something I could routinely stock but the bands can be added after the mantel is cut to length and edged per the customer desires. Having one in stock is good to show customers. Once again - something to think about.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Crusarius

I have been wanting to try that lightning bolt trick. definitely looks really kool. Could make an amazing wanscot in a hunting cabin.

Just Right

That cherry bench turned out very nice.  But I am a huge fan of that band!  Great idea.  Thanks for the idea and pics.
If you are enjoying what you are doing,  is it still work?

WV Sawmiller

Cru,

   You are right. If you want to decorate some wainscoating be sure to take a small sample first and see if it works. If not you may need to try a different type wood. Also I am not sure what a finish on the wood such as tung oil or such does to the the electric current. I need to take some other type of wood to him to try. He did say oak and poplar worked well, the cherry was good and we know ash does not work at all. 

JR,

   Do you think the band works better on the bench or on the mantel? The bench was an afterthought.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Crusarius

do you think the moisture content has anything to do with the lightning?

I did just finish cutting some cherry. could be fun to try. unfortunately in this case the cherry has some real nice figure, not sure I want to change that.

Magicman

I would be tempted to use horseshoe nails or these; Wrought Iron Nails.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

WV Sawmiller

Cru,

   Moisture content is very relevant in how the electric charge passes through the wood. The ash I tried was very dry which was why it did not work.

Lynn,

  The blacksmith made his own nails but they looked very much like old style concrete cut nails. Yes, they would have worked too. 

   Sort of like Eustace Conway on Mountain Men who used cut nails to make his $3K kitchen table out of wormy pine lumber.

Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Magicman

The flooring and wall paneling in our Guest House are surface nailed using wrought iron nails.  They give it a special distressed look.

I like the metal banding.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

WV Sawmiller

   The blacksmith said he really liked and enjoyed putting the bands on the bench but hated the mantel. Evidently the extra width and such made it a lot harder to work. The mantel is open at the back but could be used on either side depending on how the user wanted to display the live edge - up or down. Angled down would give about a 2" wider surface on top than if angled up.

   Another touch I have added to the benches is adding a steel wedge (like you use in an ax or sledgehammer head) to spread and tighten the tenon. I found some got loose as they dried. I had tried adding a deck screw angled under the bottom but the wedges work much better. Not sure how well the customers will like that look. I found a source to buy the wedges by the pound from a handle maker in Arkansas. The ones I use are about 1/8" thick X 1" wide. I guess someone could drive them deeper using a flat bar then fill the top with wood putty if they don't like them.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Bruno of NH

WV
You should try wooden wedges in the bench legs
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

WV Sawmiller

Bruno,

 Thanks for the suggestion. I thought about using wooden wedges but that would require splitting the tenon before driving the leg into the bench and would actually be considerably more labor intensive than using the metal wedges. I'd have to saw a 3 inch split into each tenon before installation (I think a band saw would be best for this and I'd have to buy and maintain one for this purpose), install the leg, saw off the excess tenon (as I do now with a Japanese pull saw with set only on one side to keep from damaging the bench top), drive in the wooden wedge then saw off the excess of the wooden wedge.  A mis-struck or broken wedge could damage the bench top. Also I don't have nearly as much confidence the wooden wedges will hold tight enough. My experience is when wooden wedges are used at the end of the process a metal wedge is still often, if not usually, added.

   The same supplier I got my metal wedges from could supply the wooden wedges and they are about half the price per pound and 3 times the number per pound so about 1/6 the cost but either way is a very low cost.

   I currently find the direction of the grain in the end of the tenon and drive the metal wedge into the wood parallel to the grain and they do a very nice job of tightening the leg. If I really wanted to hide the wedge I think I'd try driving the wedge deeper with a flat bar the same width, pound in a flat piece of wood (A 1/2 to 3/4 inch might be enough) and saw off the excess then sand and finish as desired.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Just Right

WV,

I have always  been a contrast kind of guy,  So I like the metal on the mantel and the bench.  They both look great to me.
If you are enjoying what you are doing,  is it still work?

WV Sawmiller

JR,

   I like the way it turned out too. He said he could do either for around $40 each. I doubt most people would pay that much more for the benches but some will on the mantels. 

   I did meet an HVAC guy this weekend who says he installs mantels and seemed excited to find a source for mantels and said he would be calling in the future. We will see if that actually pans out.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

FLPINERAT

Most of the burning I've seen utilizes a baking soda/water solution to "route" the burn. I'm sure MC of the wood plays a role, but therotically you path your burn with a solution track.

It'll kill ya too...has been multiple deaths. A lot of woodcraft organizations heavily frown on it. But hey, walking across the road can be dangerous as well.

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