On 12/15/2009 12:58 AM,
[log in to unmask] wrote:
[log in to unmask]" type="cite">
I love it. Please cross-post this.
I am very mush interested in the recent discussions regarding burnt
wood. At a McKim Meade & White library interior we need to
replicate a used fireplace using new firebrick to build the firebox
(unfortunately the old firebrick was thrown away a few years ago when
this project first started). The developer intends to install a gas
log. Currently there is an engineer drawing up the design of the box
though we are not sure how historically accurate they will be in their
considerations. Though we have ideas on how to make the firebox look
authentic, as if it had been previously used for decades, we have a few
small details that worry us. We are not sure if the original in this
setting would have been for burning of wood or coal. In either case we
presume that the soot patterns, the black charring, and the chemical
composition of the patina would be vastly different. We have considered
building mock-up fireboxes and testing them with both wood burning and
coal, but any comments of expertise in burn patterns on masonry would
save us and our end-client a whole lot of trouble. At present we are
thinking about using shellac mixed with lamp black and dispersed with
hand-held propane torches. This methodology also troubles us as the
library walls are all carved wood and we would be burning in an
enclosed space where we will need to accommodate appropriate
ventilation. We have been negotiating with the developer in hopes to
convince them to let us also fabricate a custom gas log, not one of
those store bought ones, and in this effort we have been burning oak
and locust logs at our rural studio and then recording their
appearances at various stages of consumption. More than likely despite
that the original fireplace was probably coal fired we think that the
money on the project will go with an interpretation of burnt wood.
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