A question of how to bleach??

[curtis rosche]

how dou you bleach a peice of wood? and would that prosses do anything to epoxy?, i was thinking of doing another paralam bowl but coloring it, doing one dyed and one bleached. but when i tryed to dye it i let it soak for over night. when i turned it today the dye did not penatrate at all, only in a couple spots,. would it be possible to bleach the paralam?

[robert hainstock]

Curtis,
the two products that I have used to Bleach wood are common household bleach, (clorine) and oxalic acid. The latter does the best job most of the time, but I doubt that it will penetrate the glue used for that stuff.
CAUTION: the acid is fairly powerful right out of the container mixed with H2O You do not need much. Good luck with this one, Sounds like a humdinger.
Bob

[curtis rosche]

will the stain turn it while? or just pale? wit the dye, could it be that the reason it didnt penetrate is that i didnt boil the dye or heat it, just hot water instead?

[Ron Ainge]

Curtis

I found out early on in my dying days that if you dye the wood before you turn it, you will almost always cut through the staining. I always wait until after the project is turned and sanded to stain it. If you use a alchy base stain it should not raise the grain. If you use a water based stain you may raise the grain and have to do some light sanding when it drys.

[curtis rosche]

whats the actual prosses for bleaching, just set it sit then take out and finish? when i dyed the peice i am working on right now the dye didnt penetrate at all, just a light touch with 220 and almost all of it came off

[charlie knighton]

before you start, get some industrial rubber gloves to work with chemicals, next there are 2 part bleaches with instructions, be sure to have some white vinager on hand to neautrize the bleach action, you have to be carefully picking up the gloves after 1st application because you can get the solution on you then

before you put on gloves, put on full face shield, and after taking off gloves then take face shield off

you can experiment with any and all wood etc, some things work better than others, i have only done one piece but hope to do more

[Ed Heuslein]

Howdy Curtis: What you want is a two-part bleach. That kit consists of 1 bottle of peroxide and 1 bottle of lye. Both are highly concentrated so use gloves and be careful (it'll start to burn after a minute if you get it on your skin. I have a sink with water nearby just in case). I use Kleen-Strip because it's readilly available at Woodcraft, Rocklers, and many hardware stores and big-box stores. Vinegar is recommended but I don't use it any more. I bleach, usually about 3-5 coats (about 5 hours between coats, min.). I've found that different woods produce very different results. I can't speak to paralam as I've never turned it.
I've had lousey luck with clorine bleach and oxalic acid. Clorine bleach is highly diluted to be used on your clothes. Oxalic acid is used to clean wood, not bleach it - although it does bleach a little in the process.
Let us know how you make out. - Ed

[curtis rosche]

ed, paralam is simply pine thats been made into plywood beams with epoxy, will this method turn it white?

[Dennis Peacock]

Curtis,

No....I've turned a paralam before and nothing will penetrate those glue lines in the wood. I learned that the best thing to do was to finish turn it, sand really well through 800 grit and apply a nice garnet shellac to it. Really pretty that way.

[curtis rosche]

ok, so the paralam might not work, what about osage? i was thinking of making another flower, but bleaching thstem and dyeing it green and leaving the top the natual orange, will this work?