J_Mac
Well-Known Member
Anyone tried this? I’ve seen mixed results, like this one: http://lumberjocks.com/topics/52092
DIY roasted maple?
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J_Mac
Well-Known Member
Yeah, like the forum you linked said, I think all it really takes is baking the wood in an oven for a few hours. Results will probably vary depending on temperature and time and stuff, but it seems relatively easy? I could be totally wrong since I haven't tried it, but I'd love to give it a go on a neck one day.
Cellulose (the molecule upon which all wood is generally based) oxidizes at high temperatures in the presence of oxygen, is damaged by hydrolysis in the presence of water, and can burn violently at too high a temperature even without any other influences.
I haven't done it myself, but I think that there might be a way to do it without a vacuum oven if you get just the right temperature and time, and if the wood is dried properly. I do work with electrical insulation materials (sometimes plywood - usually paper or pressboard/cardboard), which I routinely age in both air ovens and vacuum ovens at my day job, and I will say that there are tried and true methods based off of collective trial and error of the people who came up with the standards and instructions.
The idea here, of course, is to not thermally distress the wood fibers whilst thermally distressing the simpler carbohydrates. You want the sugar to invert and polymerize without saturating. Maple sap is primarily water and sucrose. Free water is released through vaporization, which is accelerated by temperature, but bound water within wood fibers might not release until a temperature as high as 160 °C is reached. Incidentally, sucrose caramelizes at about 160 °C. Cellulose oxidizes spontaneously, and oxidizes faster at elevated temperatures, so you would not want to leave timbers at 160 °C for very long. I think the key information is how long it takes to caramelize the sugars in the wood and how long it takes before the cellulose in the wood oxidizes noticeably. And then you need to hit the sweet spot somewhere in between.
But, we will often leave cellulose-based materials baking at temperatures as low as 150 °C for several months, and just the pyrolytic damage without any free oxygen present is enough to substantially degrade the material. But brittle paper aged at 150 °C for a few months is still nothing compared to the blackened crumbs left after the same test at 160 °C, so 160 °C seems to be where a lot of magical things happen.
I haven't done it myself, but I think that there might be a way to do it without a vacuum oven if you get just the right temperature and time, and if the wood is dried properly. I do work with electrical insulation materials (sometimes plywood - usually paper or pressboard/cardboard), which I routinely age in both air ovens and vacuum ovens at my day job, and I will say that there are tried and true methods based off of collective trial and error of the people who came up with the standards and instructions.
The idea here, of course, is to not thermally distress the wood fibers whilst thermally distressing the simpler carbohydrates. You want the sugar to invert and polymerize without saturating. Maple sap is primarily water and sucrose. Free water is released through vaporization, which is accelerated by temperature, but bound water within wood fibers might not release until a temperature as high as 160 °C is reached. Incidentally, sucrose caramelizes at about 160 °C. Cellulose oxidizes spontaneously, and oxidizes faster at elevated temperatures, so you would not want to leave timbers at 160 °C for very long. I think the key information is how long it takes to caramelize the sugars in the wood and how long it takes before the cellulose in the wood oxidizes noticeably. And then you need to hit the sweet spot somewhere in between.
But, we will often leave cellulose-based materials baking at temperatures as low as 150 °C for several months, and just the pyrolytic damage without any free oxygen present is enough to substantially degrade the material. But brittle paper aged at 150 °C for a few months is still nothing compared to the blackened crumbs left after the same test at 160 °C, so 160 °C seems to be where a lot of magical things happen.
skeels
..to pay the beels
This ferretboard was in the oven at 350°F for two or three hours..
https://www.flickr.com/gp/151836336@N05/182F78
https://www.flickr.com/gp/151836336@N05/kdR774
Made my apartment smell like maple syrup for days..
A neck blank might take longer due to thickness, and be careful if yehave a gas stove.. Too close to flame will scorch.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/151836336@N05/wa84Kc
https://www.flickr.com/gp/151836336@N05/21K51g
https://www.flickr.com/gp/151836336@N05/182F78
https://www.flickr.com/gp/151836336@N05/kdR774
Made my apartment smell like maple syrup for days..
A neck blank might take longer due to thickness, and be careful if yehave a gas stove.. Too close to flame will scorch.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/151836336@N05/wa84Kc
https://www.flickr.com/gp/151836336@N05/21K51g
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J_Mac
Well-Known Member
Cheers guys
I will have a crack at this, pending The Boss’s permission...
I will have a crack at this, pending The Boss’s permission...
Omzig
Well-Known Member
I think this looks fantastic on quilted wood's
These's YT vids are worth a quick watch for some diy oven based adventures
I had a mate who tried to do this with some neck f/b blanks using an old oven element and length of steel pipe which he tried to vacuum seal,it didnt go very well (dumb ass forgot a temp monitor and tried to use a hand held one)
i did end up with some free maple charcoal which made some excellent BBQ chicken/steaks
These's YT vids are worth a quick watch for some diy oven based adventures
I had a mate who tried to do this with some neck f/b blanks using an old oven element and length of steel pipe which he tried to vacuum seal,it didnt go very well (dumb ass forgot a temp monitor and tried to use a hand held one)
i did end up with some free maple charcoal which made some excellent BBQ chicken/steaks
You have an oven that's big enough for a neck blank? Wanted to do that last year, but my oven's not even close although it's 90cm wide on the outside...
Phantom
Well-Known Member
This has been a topic on my mind for some time now. After some research, it seems like you can get good results at home based on the right mixture of time and temperature, as previously stated.
I came across this in my search
https://www.popularwoodworking.com/articleindex/roast-your-own
I have yet to try it because I recently moved to an apartment and my oven is terrible. I hope to try it sometime though
I came across this in my search
https://www.popularwoodworking.com/articleindex/roast-your-own
I have yet to try it because I recently moved to an apartment and my oven is terrible. I hope to try it sometime though
Walshy
Well-Known Member
I'm gonna need a bigger oven...
