Hi all:

I'm gearing up for my first major project with cherry. An associate of
mine recommended using a lye solution to darken the wood. After some
research, I'd like to try it. However, I've found that Red Devil lye
is no longer sold locally. I've found a few leads through candlemaking
websites, but they require me to purchase 30lb of the stuff. I just
want a little to experiment with. Are there any other brands to look
for? My local searches have yeilded nothing that is pure sodium
hydroxide, and I'm reluctant to use anything that has "other stuff" in
it. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John.

Anybody used potassium hydroxide?

Thanks again for any help!

Regards,
John.

the_tool_man wrote:
Anybody used potassium hydroxide?

Thanks again for any help!

Regards,
John.

That's why lye is, John. You can make it at home. This recipe is rather
elaborate, for producing significant quantities. But I'm sure you can
scale it down and simplify it. The basic idea is to pour soft water
over hardwood ashes. N. B.: don't use any metal containers!

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Lye

Dhakala wrote:
the_tool_man wrote:
Anybody used potassium hydroxide?

Thanks again for any help!

Regards,
John.

That's why lye is, John.

"What lye is," I meant.

In article . com, "Dhakala" wrote:

Dhakala wrote:
the_tool_man wrote:
Anybody used potassium hydroxide?

Thanks again for any help!

Regards,
John.

That's why lye is, John.

"What lye is," I meant.

But that's *not* what lye is. Lye is sodium hydroxide.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Doug Miller wrote:
In article . com, "Dhakala" wrote:

Dhakala wrote:
the_tool_man wrote:
Anybody used potassium hydroxide?

Thanks again for any help!

Regards,
John.

That's why lye is, John.

"What lye is," I meant.

But that's *not* what lye is. Lye is sodium hydroxide.

It can be either. The lye made from ashes is potash lye, potassium
hydroxide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lye

Hi Dhakala:

By lye, I mean sodium hydroxide. Potassium hydroxide is a.k.a. Potash
Lye. They are two different things, but with sorta the same name. The
question is, does it produce the same effect as "regular" lye. I ask,
because I think Potassium hydoxide is used as a pH modifier in spa
chemicals, which I can get in reasonable quantities.

Dhakala wrote:
the_tool_man wrote:
Anybody used potassium hydroxide?

Thanks again for any help!

Regards,
John.

That's why lye is, John. You can make it at home. This recipe is rather
elaborate, for producing significant quantities. But I'm sure you can
scale it down and simplify it. The basic idea is to pour soft water
over hardwood ashes. N. B.: don't use any metal containers!

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Lye

the_tool_man wrote:


By lye, I mean sodium hydroxide.

AKA: "caustic".

Almost every paint stripper uses it as the muscle to soften paint.

Does a great job of eating wood fibers.

BTW, have a couple of customers with 10,000 gallon tanks of 50%
caustic, but that doesn't help much.

It is used to make detergents as well as paint stripper.

Lew

"the_tool_man" wrote...
By lye, I mean sodium hydroxide.


Part A of a two step wood bleach, such as Klean-Strip brand, is sodium
hydroxide. Part B is Hydrogen Peroxide.

This stuff works great for bleaching walnut, but does not give a uniform
effect on cherry, IMO. Also, the lye component damages the wood fibers.
Lye is also used for making wood pulp for paper, IIRC.

You say this is your first project in cherry - putting lye on it seems like
a pretty drastic step. Most people really like cherry as-is, and it can be
dyed and/or stained for some really nice effects. Also, there is a simple
trick for darkening cherry that doesnt require any harsh chemicals. Just
put your completed but unfinished piece in the sun for a few days. It will
darken up very quickly.




--
Timothy Juvenal
www.rude-tone.com/work.htm

the_tool_man wrote:
Hi Dhakala:

By lye, I mean sodium hydroxide. Potassium hydroxide is a.k.a. Potash
Lye. They are two different things, but with sorta the same name. The
question is, does it produce the same effect as "regular" lye. I ask,
because I think Potassium hydoxide is used as a pH modifier in spa
chemicals, which I can get in reasonable quantities.

NaOH and KOH are both known as "lye." It's the hydroxyl group (-OH)
that does the job. It won't matter if the metallic ion is potassium or
sodium. NaOH is a slightly stronger base than KOH.

Here's a page that says Red Devil Lye has been pulled from retail
markets. It describes several other products that are NaOH or KOH, plus
retail and online sources.

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/co...lyesources.htm

"the_tool_man" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all:

I'm gearing up for my first major project with cherry. An associate of
mine recommended using a lye solution to darken the wood. After some
research, I'd like to try it. However, I've found that Red Devil lye
is no longer sold locally. I've found a few leads through candlemaking
websites, but they require me to purchase 30lb of the stuff. I just
want a little to experiment with. Are there any other brands to look
for? My local searches have yeilded nothing that is pure sodium
hydroxide, and I'm reluctant to use anything that has "other stuff" in
it. Any help would be appreciated.

Some drain cleaners are pure lye.
You can try lye for darkening; I have never had any luck with it. It sorta
works, but looks like wood that has had lye on it.

Toller wrote:
You can try lye for darkening; I have never had any luck with it. It sorta
works, but looks like wood that has had lye on it.

I'm with you there...in my experience it adds a tremendous amount of
red to the wood...a very unatural look.

Myself I prefer to fume it in order to speed up the darkening process.
No artificial look to it at all.

However, if I were the OP I would definitely try to get hold of some to
experiment with. That's the way I learned, and I've found there is no
better teacher. And there may be some opportunities where that red
look might just fit the bill.

And hey...what's the harm? If you don't like it, you just pour the
rest down the drain!

the_tool_man wrote:
Hi all:

I'm gearing up for my first major project with cherry. An associate of
mine recommended using a lye solution to darken the wood. After some
research, I'd like to try it. However, I've found that Red Devil lye
is no longer sold locally. I've found a few leads through candlemaking
websites, but they require me to purchase 30lb of the stuff. I just
want a little to experiment with. Are there any other brands to look
for? My local searches have yeilded nothing that is pure sodium
hydroxide, and I'm reluctant to use anything that has "other stuff" in
it. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John.

Here are some sources for smaller quantities.

http://www.chemistrystore.com/Sodium_Hydroxide.htm

http://www.sciencelab.com/search.php?q=sodium+hydroxide

http://www.sciencestuff.com/prod/Chem-Rgnts/C2582

wrote:
the_tool_man wrote:
Hi all:

I'm gearing up for my first major project with cherry. An associate of
mine recommended using a lye solution to darken the wood. After some
research, I'd like to try it. However, I've found that Red Devil lye
is no longer sold locally. I've found a few leads through candlemaking
websites, but they require me to purchase 30lb of the stuff. I just
want a little to experiment with. Are there any other brands to look
for? My local searches have yeilded nothing that is pure sodium
hydroxide, and I'm reluctant to use anything that has "other stuff" in
it. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John.

Here are some sources for smaller quantities.

http://www.chemistrystore.com/Sodium_Hydroxide.htm

http://www.sciencelab.com/search.php?q=sodium+hydroxide

http://www.sciencestuff.com/prod/Chem-Rgnts/C2582

Watch out for hazmat shipping/handling charges... they can kill ya!

On 29 Jun 2006 08:52:38 -0700, "the_tool_man"
wrote:

Hi all:

I'm gearing up for my first major project with cherry. An associate of
mine recommended using a lye solution to darken the wood. After some
research, I'd like to try it. However, I've found that Red Devil lye
is no longer sold locally. I've found a few leads through candlemaking
websites, but they require me to purchase 30lb of the stuff. I just
want a little to experiment with. Are there any other brands to look
for? My local searches have yeilded nothing that is pure sodium
hydroxide, and I'm reluctant to use anything that has "other stuff" in
it. Any help would be appreciated.

I've bought it at Ace Hardware.

Hi Wes:

I just went to my local Ace this morning. I was told that Ace no
longer carries Red Devil lye because it is used in the manufacture of
methamphetamine. I guess that's why I can't find it anywhere.


Wes Stewart wrote:
On 29 Jun 2006 08:52:38 -0700, "the_tool_man"
wrote:

Hi all:

I'm gearing up for my first major project with cherry. An associate of
mine recommended using a lye solution to darken the wood. After some
research, I'd like to try it. However, I've found that Red Devil lye
is no longer sold locally. I've found a few leads through candlemaking
websites, but they require me to purchase 30lb of the stuff. I just
want a little to experiment with. Are there any other brands to look
for? My local searches have yeilded nothing that is pure sodium
hydroxide, and I'm reluctant to use anything that has "other stuff" in
it. Any help would be appreciated.

I've bought it at Ace Hardware.

On 29 Jun 2006 14:36:25 -0700, "the_tool_man"
wrote:

Hi Wes:

I just went to my local Ace this morning. I was told that Ace no
longer carries Red Devil lye because it is used in the manufacture of
methamphetamine. I guess that's why I can't find it anywhere.

Crap. I use it for cleaing/etching aluminum. Glad I still have about
4 cans in stock.

... I've found that Red Devil lye is no longer sold locally. ... My local searches have yeilded nothing that is pure sodium hydroxide, and I'm reluctant to use anything that has "other stuff" in it.

You don't need pure "sodium hydroxide". In a pinch you can use Easy-Off
oven cleaner or Drano. Both contain lye.

In article .com, wrote:

... I've found that Red Devil lye is no longer sold locally. ... My local
searches have yeilded nothing that is pure sodium hydroxide, and I'm reluctant
to use anything that has "other stuff" in it.

You don't need pure "sodium hydroxide".

In fact, for coloring cherry, you probably *do* need pure NaOH.

In a pinch you can use Easy-Off
oven cleaner or Drano. Both contain lye.

Yes, they do. They also contain various other substances whose presence may be
undesirable. It's not wise to assume that they are interchangeable.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

http://www.chemistrystore.com/Sodium_Hydroxide.htm

$10 for 2#, $67 for 25# ships UPS in the continental US.

... I've found that Red Devil lye is no longer sold locally. ... My local searches have yeilded nothing that is pure sodium hydroxide, and I'm reluctant to use anything that has "other stuff" in it.

You don't need pure "sodium hydroxide". In a pinch you can use Easy-Off
oven cleaner or Drano. Both contain lye.

On 29 Jun 2006 08:52:38 -0700, "the_tool_man"
wrote:

Hi all:

I'm gearing up for my first major project with cherry. An associate of
mine recommended using a lye solution to darken the wood. After some
research, I'd like to try it. However, I've found that Red Devil lye
is no longer sold locally. I've found a few leads through candlemaking
websites, but they require me to purchase 30lb of the stuff. I just
want a little to experiment with. Are there any other brands to look
for? My local searches have yeilded nothing that is pure sodium
hydroxide, and I'm reluctant to use anything that has "other stuff" in
it. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John.


You can buy sodium hydroxide at a chemical supply house. It is
inexpensive and can be purchased as pellets or flakes. It is very
caustic, will dissolve flesh, can cause blindness if you get it into
your eyes, and hydrophilic. It mixes well with water. Wear
protective clothing, rubber gloves, and keep out of reach of children.