Looking for goood easy way to make wook grain "pop" for display

[DR Buck]

Is there something that I can wipe onto the surface of a dry milled or planed board to make the grain show better?     I'm getting ready to do a booth at the local county fair to promote the sawmill and firewood processing business.  It will be a static display only.  Fair organizers think running a sawmill may disturb the livestock and other animals (like the amusement rides won't) and will only allow me a booth type setup without the mill.    :'(      I plan on having a large screen slide show with milling , processing, logs and lumber photos plus various brochures and such.   I also would like to stand up and display several pieces of milled lumber to show what could possibly be recovered from "plain old logs".     ;D      This is a 5 day event and I will be inside a building so spraying water on the boards is not an option.     I was thinking something like a lite coating of Tung oil, Teak oil, or even clear wipe on furniture polish that will not penetrate the wood too deep.  This way I can plane off the surface later if I need to use the wood for some other project. 

Any ideas?

[maple flats]

I have no suggestions. I have never heard of a County Fair that would not allow you to run a sawmill. Far less noise than tractor pulls or demolition derbies, but our fair has both, plus as you say, the rides. Their reasoning is hogwash!
I wonder if the person or committee in charge has an interest in a competitive mill?

[Don P]

Never assume malice where ignorance will suffice
Invite them out to see you running?
Our little group set up at a river fest a couple of months ago with the slabbing rig. They had specific run times, between bands. With the mill operating it is a big draw. I think the only thing they brought home was the outer slabs, it was selling right off the saw.

Boiled linseed oil but there is penetration. Shellac has less pop but no penetration.

[Planman1954]

Why not go to kitchen and pilfer the vegetable oil. Put a small amount on and see if it does the trick. I used to put it on cutting boards.

[mike_belben]

Olive oil, or burn it a little.

[tule peak timber]

Mineral oil.

[Don P]

If you go with an oil I wouldn't use a food oil. whether you agree with the debate over rancidity there is the perception in part of the market. I'd put raw linseed into that group as far as not drying. Mineral oil has the same pop with no rancidity concern. Those are all iffy with future finishes. From boiled linseed up through tung and into the varnishes it isn't going to go sour and is compatible with most oil finishes. Pop is in my mind about wetting out a few cells deep so that we pick up some of the chatoyance, flash, of seeing into the grain a little and it playing with the light and our eye. Its like staring into a fire, its deep in our wiring. That takes oil and some amount of penetration to give the best effect.

Then you can go to things that dry faster, don't penetrate much, or at all, and have less or no pop. They aren't wetting out the fiber.
When people talk about finish penetration and deep penetrating oils. Put some finishes on scrap, let dry, crosscut in half and notice how deep we are talking about. In a slab or something with checks or very open grain it can get to places that will cause trouble in the future if it is incompatible with that finish. If you are keeping those slabs "in-house" then it would be better to pick the future finish and use that or something that won't cause problems.

[buzzegray]

A harbor freight weed torch on pine, lightly applied, sure makes the grain pop.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Agree with above, mineral oil

[E-Tex]

 
<


br>

I put some in the upper-right corner.  Very subtle difference, but does pull the grain out somewhat......and you can just sand it off later.  

[thecfarm]

Too much noise        ???   I would think most of the (farm) animals are use to tractors.  :  

[Resonator]

If it were me, I would use a permanent clear finish on the wood, and then put a price tag on it at the booth.  Also make sure to use the best pictures you can for your presentation. That way you can experiment with different finishes, and pick the best pictures to "sell the sizzle", (old saying), and get customers interested.

[DR Buck]

Thanks ---   Part of the issue has been resolved.  We just made a trip to the fairground and presented a case for actually setting up and milling on site.   They have agreed and will be marking off an area for us.   8)    Now all I need is a sawmill.  ;D     

I sold my LT40 hydraulic last month and all I have right now is my Lucas dedicated slabber and not enough slab worthy logs.  :(         However, tomorrow I take delivery of my new LT40 Super-Wide.   8)     


As far as the grain pop goes, I have tried a few oils and it looks like the clear teak oil I have  will be fine.   Most of the wood I want to display is 5/4 so there is plenty I can plane off when I am ready to use it for projects later.

[Tom the Sawyer]

DR,

It may not just be the noise they are concerned about.  Last year I did a demonstration for a museum at KU.  They closed the street between museums and had me set up near where the Arts department was doing a timber frame demo. There was a 35 mph South wind and they had me set up about a block south of the food trucks....  I told them I didn't think it was a good idea but they said to continue.  

Midway through the second pass on the first log someone came running up to shut me down.   They had me sit for about 90 minutes, until the food truck business tapered off, and I had to hustle to finish the two logs they wanted milled.   ;)

[mike_belben]

Kind of a sidenote at this point, but regarding food oils going rancid, i have been processing waste vegetable oil from fryolator dumpsters since 2009, a few thousand gallons or so. The water in the bottom is what will go foul, not the oil in my experience.  I just burned a drum this summer that was filtered and dewatered in 2013, surprisingly no smell.  I dont think a clean unused oil can go rancid.. Atleast ive never experienced anything close to it. I have only encountered it in grease that sat out in the sun and had rainwater in it for years, in addition to a lot of breading and such. 

Polymerization smells like drying oil based paint (they use linseed oil for its rapid polymerization.  Boiling makes it even faster.)  Plant oils will polymerize upon contact with copper, brass, bronze, mild steel.  Stainless, aluminum and plastic are fine. 

Ive put about every kind of oil you can think of on rake handles, fence posts, trailer decks etc.  Not saying any of it was for show, just that i dont think youll experience any issues with foul smell so feel free to get creative with whatever is in the pantry.  

[YellowHammer]

I suggest different strategy.  We make permanent display samples of our boards, using the best techniques for each species, if its unique, and make them look as good as we can so that customers see them and say "wow."  I would pick a few of your best small pieces and work them up and use them as your permanent show pieces.  We have some pieces that are probably 5 years old, and if anything, look better with age.  Some species look best with a couple coats of BOL cut 50% with thinner plus a couple coats of wax, some look better with mineral oil, some better with just wax, some better with lemon oil, etc.  The better and finer the surface finish the better the chatoyance, and we don't try to change the color, just make it really pop.

Congrats on the mill!