Bleaching and Blasting.

With the benign disruption of the festive season well behind us I have been trialling a two processes which could be applicable to box body crafting, bleaching and grit blasting.

Bleaching;- Whilst I do believe that any wood should normally be left “as is”, the enhancement of “white” species by bleaching can be beneficial without changing the timber`s character, After much fruitless experimentation I have settled on a bleaching process which suits my ends. Of the timber species so far tested , three are considered worthy of pursuing further, sycamore, holly and rhododendron. Sycamore, however, is showing to be a clear favourite due to the chatoyant reflectance it already exhibits being much enhanced by bleaching. This in combination with blackwood, and accents of silver, provides the visual contrasts I am always .seeking. Two such boxes are nearing completion and images will be posted soon.

Grit blasting:- Some woods, especially burrs, are not presented to best effect with a high polish finish, this mainly due to the slight and capricious surface changes which nearly always occur over a period of time. A high polish accentuates these slight changes whereas a matt finish does not. Wet sanding can achieve a matt surface finish but will show striations in the direction of sanding. To achieve true matting I first create a polished surface and then degrade it uniformly by blasting with aluminium oxide grit using a “mini” air blasting system. The results so far are very promising.