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Thermally Modified Oak? (Nope)

Started by metalspinner, August 28, 2021, 07:05:37 PM

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metalspinner

I think? Or maybe vacuumed fumed oak?
Whatever the process, this stuff looks awesome.
I've worked with it in butcher block form for a custom countertop and small pieces like cutting boards. It's beautiful!  Turns almost black with an oil finish.
Here's a little piece I saw at a local countertop shop.


 

And they have a few slabs in the 36" range by 16'



 

Here is a countertop that is butcher block.


 

The treatment and coloring is through and through.  

Anyone familiar with the product and process? The counter shop guy was a little vague. I'm think this is vacuum fumed.
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

KenMac

I don't know what it is but it sure looks a lot like walnut to me. I'm not familiar with the processes you mentioned, but if it make normal wood look like that it should be very popular unless cost is high.
Cook's AC3667t, Cat Claw sharpener, Dual tooth setter, and Band Roller, Kubota B26 TLB, Takeuchi TB260C

metalspinner

kenMac
To me, walnut looks like milk chocolate. This oak looks like special dark chocolate. 

Here are the two side by side unfinished.  


 
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

Cutter Lee

In can't say for sure, and I don't know anything about " thermally modifying" at all, but do a YouTube search for ebonizing or french wash for oak. If I remember correctly, you use a wash ( made from vinegar with steel wool soaked in it) and that reacts with the tannins in the oak.

Been a long time since I fooled with this, so research to be sure, but the effects happen nearly instantly. Might not be the same thing as what's in your pictures, but it might be something inexpensive to play with to get you similar results.

peakbagger

It could be wood treated with a process like this

Thermally Modified Wood - Cambia Wood by NFP

It "toasted" wood. Kiln dried then heated without oxygen.


metalspinner

Thanks for those links. 
Here are a couple more pics of the oak slabs I mentioned. They had a finished one in the showroom.  

And this wood is definitely vacuum fumed. He said they tried the thermally modified but had warranty issues with it. So they no longer use it. 



 



 
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

Don P

Soo, pull a vacuum and then inject ammonia into the chamber? That is a cool look.

serg

Hello, friends!
 I hope that Google Translator will give you the necessary understanding of my text. I want to add a photo of thermally modified wood of different types of wood. All breeds have their own color, this makes it possible to replace tropical trees that are very expensive. The color of the tree changes throughout the entire depth of the forest. The quality of the thermomodification of the tree takes place at a forest humidity of 6-7%. The processing temperature reaches Fahrenheit 201-221, the time is 12-36 hours. The tightness of the vessel is 100%, the steam from the tree does not give fire. Advantages of heat-treated wood: - no insect burns out everything, beetles will never start; - no mold of fungi; - stable geometry of products; - beautiful color of the forest; - well polished. In the photos, the color of the wood is natural without dyes. All carpentry works have a 5-year warranty. My opinion is that the thermal wood is not of the future, but of today. 
With best wishes, Sergey.

serg


Don P

Does the moisture content rise back to 8-12% after a year or is the wood permanently dryer?

serg

Don P. 
You have asked a good professional question that worries many carpentry workshops. I constantly monitor how thermally modified wood behaves in various weather conditions, I also observe thermal wood in the sauna, in the kitchen. After heat treatment, the thermal tree has a humidity of 2.5-3.5 %. After 15-30 days of operation, the humidity in this tree becomes 5-6 %. The absorption of moisture from the air is several times less, which is very important in the manufacture of end kitchen boards, filling the cuts with epoxy resin - these products are very difficult to operate. If the plate or board swells or shrinks, collects moisture, then it will be scrapped, cracks will appear, the epoxy resin will fall out of the hole of the table. Thermal wood copes well with these problems. The photo shows a thermally modified pine tree. Annual rings are compressed, moisture flows less from the air into the tree, there was a conditional blockage. I have been observing the properties of the thermal tree since 2007.
The best wishes Sergey















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