Celery top pine bracing?

[Paul B]

Speaking of big blouses...

That stuff you're using is a carcinogen Matthew. Also can cause a nasty type of dermatitis on your hands and arms. Further, it's also corrosive so it'll burn the crap out of your eyes if you get any in them.

Gloves and safety specs are called for, up to you if you use them. Keep the kids away when you're using it.

Common name (IUPAC name) these days, is Potassium dichromate.

Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_dichromate

[matthew]

Funny, I used to play with K2Cr2O7 whe I was a 13 y/o kid in Tassy, always had a little jar of it in the shed with my potassium permanganate, ferrous sulphate, HCL, NaOH, CuSO4, H2SO4, even conc nitric acid and glacial acetic acid, aniline, iodine crystals, suplur, ammonia, copper chloride, acetone, phenol pthaline and the rest of the gang. And a box of matches. And a still.

My dad worked at the Uni of Tas and had a chem lab and brought me many things to play with. I had virtually no supervision, made several explosives, noxious gases and bad smells, with virtually no supervision, nor safety gear. Lucky I never got burned, poisoned or blown to pieces. I burnt my eyebrows once when the balloon filled with gas ignited. Like an idiot, I repeated the experiment in my late teens with three BIG 1m balloons suspended over a dam. it was a GREAT explosion, but no-one was hurt.

Now I am Risk Manager where I work!

yes, I'll be careful, though I probably won't use goggles doing my test strips.

By the way if the above story resonates with you ... you MUST read Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks. The BEST.

Also if anyone wants some oxalic acid (poison, yum) drop by my place with a bottle. I bought a litre and only need a few ml for removing stains on the ribs.

Now, back on topic ...

[matthew]

Allen, strong tea is good for darkening wood gracefully, or van dyke brown. Both are water based (no kidding).

[Kim]

I had virtually no supervision, made several explosives, noxious gases and bad smells

Much to the displeasure of my wife and two daughters I am still doing that far to frequently I am told

Cheers

Kim

[Rick Turner]

Got my hands on some celery top on my trip over to Tassie, and I have to say that if what I had in my hands was typical, I'd not use it for tops or for bracing tops...it's too dense and heavy. I'm still impressed with King Billy, though...