shou sugi ban, tung oil , shellac, epoxy. nothing is off limits to me.

[wilkeswood]

Hi guys,
I am making a dining table for a mate of mine. I have charred the top of it Shou sugi ban style, and my plan is to pour a nice layer of clear epoxy over the top of it. but as I'm making it out of Kauri, I am wanting to darken the timber a little to a bit of a coffee type colour before I do this, I can achieve the colour I want with Blond Shellac. In using the shellac will that cause a disruption to the epoxy properly curing to the wood? I can also achieve a good colour out of some danish oil, how will that go?

Thanks in advance.
Ash.

[AlexS]

I've never tried shou sugi ban, but I use shellac under oil and polyurethane finishes with no problems. Put on a coat of shellac then lightly sand. I think it should be OK under clear epoxy, but try it on a bit of scrap first.

Have you tried the shou sugi ban on jarrah? You probably won't get the same effect as you do with a softwood with pronounced growth rings.

[wilkeswood]

Hi alex,
thanks for the reply, No I haven't tried it on Jarrah, I have however done it on Iron bark and that wasn't visually very appealing. it was just a big black hunk of timber… To be honest on alot of timbers it doesn't have a great appeal to me especially if the grain is close as because the way I do it is very light in comparison to the authentic way of doing it which doesn't have any scope for seeing the natural grain very much.