violins88 Posted August 26 Report Share Posted August 26 I placed a maple rib strip in sunlight for several days. Then I got another strip, which had no sunlight treatment. I applied 4% pot nitrite to both. Then placed in sunlight. After only one day of sun, one of the strips show much more darkening. Both pieces are from the same batch of wood. I wasn’t expecting this result, therefore I had not kept track of which one had been pre-treated with sunlight. I’m wondering if pre-treatment was the cause. I shall be investigating this. Does anyone have guidance or explanation for me? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephan Osthorst Posted August 26 Report Share Posted August 26 That's interesting, intuition would tell me that the piece that already had some UV tanning done would be the darker one. But I guess repeating the experiment exactly the same and labeling which piece is which will give you a definite answer. Shouldn't be hard to do because it's always sunny in Wellington right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violins88 Posted August 27 Author Report Share Posted August 27 LOL. Actually we have a fair number of beautiful days, which help one forget the wind and rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Noon Posted August 27 Report Share Posted August 27 I have heard: "UV, nitrite, UV" from a pro as the way to use nitrite. So I would assume the darker one had that sequence. It may not be relevant, but torrefied pieces that have had some pre-processing UV exposure come out of the chamber extremely dark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violins88 Posted August 27 Author Report Share Posted August 27 Thanks, Don. I know we have chemists on mnet. Please let us know your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiddleMkr Posted August 29 Report Share Posted August 29 Does potassium nitrate highlight annual rings or does it just make the entire piece darker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violins88 Posted August 29 Author Report Share Posted August 29 Good question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodacious Cowboy Posted August 30 Report Share Posted August 30 On 8/29/2023 at 1:10 PM, FiddleMkr said: Does potassium nitrate highlight annual rings or does it just make the entire piece darker? In my experience potassium nitrate does very little. Potassium (or sodium) nitrite makes the entire piece darker and does not highlight annual rings to a noticeable degree. Pre-tanning before application of nitrite significantly enhances the effect and gives a nicer color. I have no idea why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_Danielson Posted August 30 Report Share Posted August 30 Violins88, you should repeat the test with better note keeping. There is nothing stopping a person from adding more coates and more UV until you get it really dark. Old nitrate solutions should also contain nitrite since bacteria will grow and make the conversion. And of course, you can always use horse pee which will contain both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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