Undo Ebonizing?

[Dennis J Gooding]

My mind turned off the other day and I left a large Madrone pot reverse chucked overnight. It would have been no problem if the wood were dry, but unfortunately this was wet wood and the high tannin in the Madrone reacted with the iron of the chuck to produce an ebonizing effect wherever the two were in contact. Unfortunately the stain penetrated too deeply to sand it out. My question is is there a practical way to bleach out the black stain?

 

[hockenbery]

Lemon juice works great on oaks and maples to remove black from iron reactions.
We keep a bottle of real lemon in the shop fridge.

 

[Dennis J Gooding]

Thanks Al. I will give that a try.

 

[robo hippy]

When turning madrone, I keep a bottle of concentrated lemon juice by the lathe. You may have to apply a couple of times. If the wood has dried out, then the lemon can bleach out the wood a bit. If the bowl has just come off the lathe, the black stain is gone in seconds. Lime juice does not work for some reason. You can also stretch a nitrile glove over your chuck jaws as it doesn't have enough bulk to make your chuck jaw fit sloppy.

Hope you are not as smoked out as we are up here in Eugene.... Waiting for the rain! I do remember a day or two, back when they used to burn the grass seed fields, but never for days on end...

robo hippy

 

[Dennis J Gooding]

Thanks Reed, I will try that. The smoke here in SW Oregon is cited as unhealthy. We have three major fires burning 20 to 40 miles of me. Thousands of houses and businesses lost so far. Thankfully, few lives lost.