Fourth Saturday No. 2.
For our second Fourth Saturday, we had work to do on our log rounds from the first Fourth Saturday. Last month, we spent the day sanding, planing, chiseling, and sanding our two log rounds (yes, there was a lot of sanding involved). Today then was a little more exciting because it involved, well, fire. First, K wet the wood to keep it from actually going up in flames (as well as to raise the grain).
Then, it was time to fire up our $15 propane torch we picked up at the Harbor Freight in town.
It, uhh, took some time. While K did that, J and I changed the front brakes on Luna. We have no idea what or where Sefton was all this time, heh. Likely playing in dirt or attempting to escape down the road. In time, though, she had it thoroughly charred and could brush off the soot to reveal the texture of the wood grain.
Burning works by softening the wood in between the rings (which is much harder) because it burns down faster. As such, the rings are raised above the rest of the wood which will (hopefully, or at least theoretically) let us transfer their pattern to paper. Once brushed and blown off with our air hose, the log actually looked really cool.
Ok, time to see if our hours and hours of work was going to give us what we envisioned. We picked up some 4'-wide roll paper at Hobby Lobby, along with black acrylic paint. Since we knew the paint was going to dry quickly, J and I held the paper K cut while she switched to rolling on the paint. Once she was done, J and I laid it down on the log and she rolled it with a tile roller (we still have one lying around from doing the fake granite, laminate countertops in our old kitchen) and then got the little details using the back of a spoon.
The result? Pretty freakin' cool, I'm not gonna lie.
The detail is incredible, as J remarked. Note: in this photo, hanging up our second print I'm on my tip toes and he's not even fully extended.
Not cool. Kids grow, I guess... With one down, we had one more to go. This one was bigger and a little funkier. It was the round we picked up for free down the street. J, seeing an opportunity to roast some marshmallows, didn't hesitate.
He didn't actually eat that smoky mess of a mallow. Rather, I toasted one for him with the torch that he said was actually quite tasty. Of course it was. Afterall, K and I may have already used that bad boy to make creme brûlé. Desserts aside, we're stoked about how our prints turned out. The final step: I get to build the frames and then we'll hang them above our bed.
Then, it was time to fire up our $15 propane torch we picked up at the Harbor Freight in town.
It, uhh, took some time. While K did that, J and I changed the front brakes on Luna. We have no idea what or where Sefton was all this time, heh. Likely playing in dirt or attempting to escape down the road. In time, though, she had it thoroughly charred and could brush off the soot to reveal the texture of the wood grain.
Burning works by softening the wood in between the rings (which is much harder) because it burns down faster. As such, the rings are raised above the rest of the wood which will (hopefully, or at least theoretically) let us transfer their pattern to paper. Once brushed and blown off with our air hose, the log actually looked really cool.
Ok, time to see if our hours and hours of work was going to give us what we envisioned. We picked up some 4'-wide roll paper at Hobby Lobby, along with black acrylic paint. Since we knew the paint was going to dry quickly, J and I held the paper K cut while she switched to rolling on the paint. Once she was done, J and I laid it down on the log and she rolled it with a tile roller (we still have one lying around from doing the fake granite, laminate countertops in our old kitchen) and then got the little details using the back of a spoon.
The result? Pretty freakin' cool, I'm not gonna lie.
The detail is incredible, as J remarked. Note: in this photo, hanging up our second print I'm on my tip toes and he's not even fully extended.
Not cool. Kids grow, I guess... With one down, we had one more to go. This one was bigger and a little funkier. It was the round we picked up for free down the street. J, seeing an opportunity to roast some marshmallows, didn't hesitate.
He didn't actually eat that smoky mess of a mallow. Rather, I toasted one for him with the torch that he said was actually quite tasty. Of course it was. Afterall, K and I may have already used that bad boy to make creme brûlé. Desserts aside, we're stoked about how our prints turned out. The final step: I get to build the frames and then we'll hang them above our bed.
