Sunday, February 1, 2015

He's fuming!

  Sir Old Man is fuming!  That's a good thing, too.
  Last January I finished up this quilt, the Buzz Saw quilt.  The agreement was I would make a new quilt and  he would build a new bed.  The quilt has been waiting for the bed since then.

   Over the last few months I have shown the progress on the bed parts....the slats, the legs, part of the head board in various posts.  Today I want to share the fuming stage.


  When Sir Old Man completed the end table  last fall, I mentioned that he had fumed the wood before putting on the finish.  It gives the natural wood a very unique patina.  There is an aged appearance that can not come from a stain or dye.  The "blonde highlight" on the table is from sap wood, which does not change with fuming.....even with stain it has a lighter appearance.


  I have been waiting for this stage---not very patiently---because I know it means the finish is getting near.   Or so I thought.  Let me explain......
  Fuming is done with ammonia....it is dangerous when breathed in, so a great deal of care must be taken.  That means the fumes from the ammonia must be contained in a type of covered cage along with the furniture parts/pieces/sections and it must be sealed.   This sits for a couple of days  to allow the fumes from the ammonia to react with the tannin in the wood.  The tannin will darken during the react which gives the deeper patina to the wood.  Actually, this explanation is the easy part.  Designing and building the cage and internal structure to hold the pieces took over a week!
   If you have hung on this long and are not bored, here are some photos of the fuming cage.


  Sir Old Man  recycled some shelf brackets and supports by building a structure out of 2x4 lumber.  The pieces for the bed can rest on the arm brackets.













   The support system is inside the actual cage structure.  The cage is built of PVC pipe.








   It was like designing a puzzle to figure out how to get the long and short pieces, the legs, and such to fit inside.  Once he was happy with the arrangement, out came the heavy plastic.





  One last look to be sure everything is positioned and ready to be sealed.   Wait......what do you mean you need to go to the big box store?  Now what do you need?
  ....Duct Tape!!!  
  ....You don't have duct tape?  Well, be sure to pick up a pretty color.
 .... Colored duct tape?
.... Yes, duct tape comes in lots of colors and designs now.
  At this point he did not believe me.  I stuck out my hand and said "Betcha".  He refused and went to the big box store.
Guess what he found?  Guess what he brought home?

Note the end sealed with ugly, manly, grey duct tape!
I had to laugh. He told me I was right, and could buy more fabric....lol.
   That's okay, I was happy to see the bed pieces caged and sealed with grey duct tape.   Now the wait begins.

   Thanks for visiting the workshop with me today.....let's go make some scraps, or sawdust.  Happy stitching.

14 comments:

Mary said...

Whew! When I first saw the title to this post I was a little worried.

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

The process is long but I bet he enjoys every minute from the design stage all the way to the finish.

Kathy@KayakQuilting said...

So much talent in one household! Amazing!

Vroomans' Quilts said...

You should get him some that great 'designer' duct tape - I have all colors and patterns, just makes it more fun and still does it's job.

Janet O. said...

I've stained a lot of wood in my time, but have never seen anything this complex! Wow!
Glad you could expose you hubby to the wider world of duct tape! : )

Dana Gaffney said...

That actually sounds dangerous, keep an eye on him while he's doing this. I try to get David to buy the pretty duct tape, but no, it's always the gray stuff.

Sylvia Anderson said...

Good morning Debbie, What an interesting and educational post today. I think you are a very lucky lady to have Mr. Sir Old Man as a hubby who like to do woodworking, and he is just as lucky to have a wife who is so creative and talented, and who sews beautiful things to compliment the furniture he takes such pride in making, even if he doesn't use all the pretty duct tape available today. We had 13+1/2 inches of snow yesterday here in Yorkville, IL, and are very thankful for our wonderful and caring neighbor who helps us out whenever it snows. It's absolutely beautiful out there, but dangerous with the temps being about 6 degrees. Stay warm! lv2bquilting2@comcast.net

Flo @ Butterfly Quilting said...

interesting process, thank for explaining this. My DH has started building things too, but had not head of this .
Both the bed and the quilt look amazing! Bet you are looking forward to getting it all put together.

Terri said...

How wonderful... a handy hubby, a homemade bed, a unique finish. Your quilt will look great on that special bed.
Hugs

Samplings from Spring Creek said...

I've never heard of fuming wood, but if it works go for it. The quilt is beautiful and I'm sure will be more beautiful when displayed on the new fumed bed

Cheree @ The Morning Latte said...

I look forward to the days both my husband and I can spend creating, maybe my boys too. Hoping for some time this upcoming spring break. That just always puts everyone in a great mood, too!

KatieQ said...

My husband is not a woodworker so I had no idea how much goes into the process. It looks like an amazing amount of work. Thanks for the interesting post.

Lynne said...

Woo-hoo! How exciting. My local K-Mart has only black or grey duct tape but I haven't checked out the large hardware superstore! I wanted painters' tape - which KMart didn't carry - but that's okay: WM went to the hardware store and bought some while there -- two rolls in fact: I'll have enough painters tape to mark lines on quilts forever! LOL

Lindah said...

How interesting! I have not come across fuming before. How resourceful your DH is --even tho he did use the old gray tape.
:-) I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...