color shift table top honey locust.

[doc henderson]

Hey guys.  I just got some follow up from my tree service friend Sean.  I milled a honey locust for him to make a table.  It has been years in the process.  He stacked and air dried and then finished in a solar kiln.  He is now modifying his own band mill.  He sent me a pic and we spoke today.  He used book matched boards, but had a different tone to the wood.  In the pics you can see they are book matched, but seemed to finish differently.  one has a "redder" tone.  Interestingly, it switches looking from the other end.  they are oriented the same length wise, but were face to face in the log.  what say yall.  He used oil based general finishes arm-r-all.  



 

 

but wait, there is more.  He just sent a pic from the end and they look the same.  what the heck.  any ideas?  I assume it may be the reflection/iridescence from the slope of grain?   was noticed some before the finish.


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now if that does not keep you up at night and make you not want to work with natural stuff called wood.  

[doc henderson]

Just go a few more pics.  he can see it in most of the book matches but not to the degree of the first example.  yes he made the legs and here is a shot of the table overall.  very nice.  i blame the sawyer (me).  



 

 

we milled this a few years back before he had his own mill.

[btulloh]

There's a lot of steep grain in those two pieces. Changes the way the light is reflected depending on light angle and viewing angle. It's a very exaggerated example of chatoyance.  Nice table. 

[Larry]

Color difference may be from sanding.  If he used a stroke, wide belt, or drum sander and fed the boards from different directions that might account for it.

[Don P]

There's a lot of steep grain in those two pieces. Changes the way the light is reflected depending on light angle and viewing angle. It's a very exaggerated example of chatoyance.  Nice table.

Bingo, which way your eye is stroking the cats fur.

Look at the grain direction on the edges and you'll see a diagonal. That bias is back and forth when you flip the boards. There is another analogy, bias plies when you "look" through the table edgewise.

[btulloh]

That table would be perfect in my new house. Can he deliver to Virginia? lol

(I'll need chairs also!)

[beenthere]

The table looks great. No question that is some fine cabinet woodworking skill put to work. 

And yes, interesting that the grain seen from different angles coming to the surface gives it the color difference. 

[btulloh]

Reducing the gloss would lessen the effect somewhat because there's refraction plays a part. The finish in in the open ends of the grain creates a bit of a mirror/lens effect. He probably chose a higher gloss on purpose though. The gloss could be reduced by either rubbing out with pumice or adding a lower gloss top coat. 

I think the color variation is just part of the beauty of working in wood. 

[doc henderson]

His young boys work with him.  the table has two legs in this pic, but can extend to 23 feet and the seen legs split and make 4 legs.

[doc henderson]

Chatoyancy - Wikipedia

[Don P]

Dark night, hang a blacklight over the table and walk around it. I bet it would be neat.

I dunno, Pink Floyd keeps playing in the background of my mind  :D

[Southside]

Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus.
;D

[doc henderson]

Uranus.  oh sorry.

[doc henderson]

reminds me, what do the USS Enterprize and a roll of toilet paper have in common.












they both circle Uranus in search of Klingons!   :D :D :D

[doc henderson]

(219) Star Trek Discovery Opening Scene | T'kuvma's Speech English Subtitle | Klingons Prepare For Battle - YouTube

[SeanF]

 

 

 
Thanks for the comments guys.

[Texas Ranger]

I refinished an antique oak table top and leaves.  They stained out and finished the same, but had the same reflection shift  when you looked at them from different sides or angles.

[tule peak timber]

Boy howdy,,,,really pretty !

[doc henderson]

welcome Sean.  getting lots of Ks guys on here!  

[SwampDonkey]

Nice table Sean. Love the grain patterns. Yeah, the light plays tricks. 

[firefighter ontheside]

Amazing Table!  It's like one of those To and Fro toys we used to get that was a different image depending on which direction you looked at it from.  I wonder if direction that the boards traveled thru a planer had anything to do with it.

[beenthere]

Maybe the direction the grain approaches the surface? Looking away from the cells, vs looking into the ends of the cells? 

[doc henderson]

they are all book matched, so lived in the log a fraction of an inch apart.  but opened up like a book, so in a sense oriented opposite each other.  I assume they were disoriented and planed randomly.

[tacks Y]

Very nice! Can you explain how the slide works to get to 23'? I made mine with oak and steel, not as fancy but plenty heavy. Finding it is to small as the family grows.

  

[SeanF]

I made the sliders with a router bit from Infinity, #18-633.




There are 3 sliders on each side, about 2 1/2" x 2 1/2". 




The middle sliders of each set are 8 1/2ft long and attached to a leg at each end. The legs are stabilised by a board connecting them near the floor. The satellite sliders and their legs are 8'9" from edge of tabletop to end of sliders, so when the table is extended to the full 23 feet, the sliders overlap about 16 or 17 inches on each side.