General Meeting March 2019 – Ralph Bagnall- Sand Shading

President Peasley called the meeting to Order at 7:04 PM

Total of 63 in attendance with 12 guests!

Announcements:

A big thank you to the State Fair volunteers.
The PICNIC and 2×4 contest is March 31^st. at 7289 Palmer Blvd, Sarasota. Last chance to sign up sheet passed around can also e-mail or call if you wish to attend. Meat to be provided, attendees can bring a pot-luck veggie dish, desert or salad.
New this year for the 2×4 contest will be awarding of four $50 gift certificates
We still need members to sign up for Demo Meets and Shop Meets for most months this year.
Mike Swart has magnanimously volunteered to take over managing the door sign in, 50/50 and door prize drawings and general crowd control. A big thanks to John Slezak who handled these tasks for a long time and is now moving up north. For efficacy the club will have door prizes shipped directly to Advantage simplifying the task of procurement.

Presentation:

Ralph Bagnall showed us the magic of sand shading veneers to give and inlay a 3D effect. Ralph collects old books and magazines in them he often saw reference to sand shading, or “hot sand shading” but no detailed instructions… So he decided to figure it out and is here to show us what he has learned so we can do it too. While you can use an old frying pan on a hot plate Ralph prefers an Electric skillet (needs to be able to reach 400 degrees) you can get one at a thrift shop or big box store.The sand, the finest you can find, enough to have ¾” in deep across the skillet. you can go deeper with sand for a larger shaded area. Wooden tongs work well for inserting and removing pieces, just make your own, much better than store bought.

Heat the sand to 400 degrees F. Place the veneer (preferably a light-colored wood) with edge down into the sand this will scorch the down side enabling you to create a 3D effect. The longer you leave it in the greater the contrast. You will need to experiment with the timing on the wood you choose to use until you get the contrast you want. The color will be all the way through the piece so it wont sand or scrape off. The shaded area next to a lighter tone gives the 3D effect. In one technique you can shade one side of a long strip then cut it into shapes (like triangles) and alternate to create a rope like pattern.

Ralph showed us a veneer conch shell pattern that he was working on. First he cuts the veneer to form a conch, one can see the outline well but not the spiral detail until… he then shades one side or each individual piece and reassembles giving the conch a really nice deep spiral appearance.

Q&A:

Can you use salt or other materials besides sand? Maybe but salt absorbs moisture so you might have clumping or excess moisture to cook off in the heating up process.

Sand needs to be dried slowly. Don’t dump it in a hot pan. Put the sand in a cold pan and let it dry as it warms to temperature.

He uses a scraper not sand paper on inlays as wood dust from sanding may discolor lighter pieces next to it and get into the finish. He finishes primarily with water-based polyurethanes.

Side Note: Ralph mentioned a small Box entered in the State Fair where the exhibitor used sand shading type create a weave under / over pattern very effectively. Ralph encouraged the club member to enter projects in the State fair, he thinks the members some very high-quality work.

You can find Ralph at: https://www.consultingwoodworker.com/

You can see some of Ralphs’s instructional videos on Amazon Prime, you must be a prime member:

https://www.amazon.com/Ralph-Bagnall-Prime-Video/s?k=Ralph+Bagnall&rh=n%3A2858778011

He has a few videos on youtube also: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ralph+bagnall+youtube&view=detail&mid=21FB83990B817F99318F21FB83990B817F99318F&FORM=VIRE

Reports:

Treasurer Randy Cooper updated us on the number of folks who re-upped and total membership, there are now 87 members in the club.

Show & Tell

Floyd Yoder: Nice cutting Board as a going away gift for a friend and two tissue boxes from yellow pine, experimenting with strong colors and techniques to apply