Oil Finishes - Kuksa or other Handcraft Stuff with a dark patina?

[Falko81]

Hello,

i am from germany and new to this Forum.

Maybe you can help me to treat my Kuksa (a finnish traditional cup).
At the moment i have still to do some carving. But i want to be prepared when its time to finish it with oil. The wood i use is birch.

What can i do to get a shiny dark patina?

I already read, that many people use walnut oil (100% coldpressed) but this oil isn’t dark enough for me. Could i mix it with black tee?
Do you have some suggestions for me how i can get a dark shiny patina on my Kuksa.

Here are some pics of the current carving status:

Best Regards
Falko

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Hi mate. I've just about finished my first Kuksa and I used Walnut oil for the first time. It did darken the wood a fair bit. Here's a before and after pic...

It has left a nice sheen finish, a velvety sort of touch. I like it more than I thought I would to be honest. Walnut oil will harden as it dries unlike most cooking oils so the nice finish should last. Might be an idea to try it on an off cut of the same wood to see how you like it.

I've tried dying wood in the past using tea, coffee and a tea/coffee mix. It can work quite well I've found. Again experimenting with amounts and saturation times using off cuts will help.

I like the finish from Danish oil. Now using Danish oil on food utensils will no doubt cause some reaction from other readers so I've always been wary of going into it on a forum. Just for the sake of caution I'm not recommending it for food/drink utensils but I have read a lot of discussions about the pros and cons and have made my own decisions and can provide links to those discussions from wood carving and wood turning forums if anyone is interested.

If the mods feel that would be inappropriate just shout out.

Anyway...hope that rambling helps some. Your Kuksa is looking great.

 

[Two Socks]

Welcome, and that carving is coming along well!

I have heard of people boiling their kuksas in coffee to stain them darker. When it is in normal use it will also develop a patina. The beverages will stain the wood over time, and holding it will eventually make the outside darker and shinier. This can take years though, so boiling it in coffee could be a shortcut? I have never done this myself though, so I`d advice you to try it on a piece of wood of the same species and thickness as your kuksa is and see if you like the result. Then dry it sloooowly.

 

[dwardo]

UV light will darken any wood with time and regardless of finish. I have always wondered if a quick blast on a sunbed would speed things along
I wish there was a product that would stop this as fresh yew and other woods have amazing colours that all darken over time.

 

[Monikieman]

Nice bit of carving there. Lots on www about boiling in salt water to relax the wood fibres after carving so adding in a few scoops of freash coffee would help.

You could try it with a scrap piece of wood and different strengths of coffee. the oil should darked it a bit after that.

That's a really nice bit wood as well.

Cheers

Brian

 

[grey-array]

Very sweet lovely job, love the colour and the shine mate
Yours sincerely Ruud