Shou-sugi-ban is a Japanese wood burning technique that makes the Cedar more fire and weather resistant. It provides a smooth long lasting natural finish. The fire not only sands the wood, but it brings the natural oil within the cedar to the surface. This provides a very complex finish that enhances the wood grain and provides changes in color with changes in sun angle or the angle in which you view the finish. This technique would be ideal for those who like to grow their maples in cedar boxes. If you want something different than the aged cedar look, then maybe give shou-sugi-ban a try. All you need is a hand-held propane torch and a shop brush. The wood surface is evenly burned with the torch, then the ash is brushed away. Some use water to wash the ash away. A second or third fire treatment can be used to get the desired finish. Removing the ash in-between fire treatments. I do not recommend doing it on a cedar box with a tree in it. Be sure to remove the tree first or burn a new cedar box before placing the tree in it. We decided to use shou-sugi-ban on our cedar gate that is being built for our Japanese Maple garden. My wife burned the first door panel yesterday. Here are some pictures to give you an ideas of how the finish looks. The first picture shows the technique in progress. The second picture shows the burnt wood with only the top left corner brushed to remove some of the ash to reveal the finish underneath. The third and fourth pictures show the finished color and finish. Overall it is so easy when compared to the time and effort required for modern wood finishing techniques.
Very cool, and beautiful! Thanks for sharing. Does this work only with cedar, or could you achieve the same/similar result with other woods? Do you need to do it with 'fresh' wood (ie, wood that has not been sitting out in the elements, untreated/stained/etc, for a few years), or can it be done with wood that is older/weathered? I have a couple of cedar benches I made to put my pots on, and this would definitely spruce them up. No other finishing is required to keep the look?
Thank you! I have heard of people using the technique on other species of wood. I would recommend using a scrap piece of wood first to ensure you like the finish. The scrap piece of wood would also allow you to sharpen your skills, so that you have the technique down before starting the finished piece. My wife is going to use the technique on my cedar bonsai tables that are weathered for two seasons. I will let you know how it goes. All the wood treated with this technique in the photos were new and un-weathered. She did it on the gate post that was set at the beginning of the summer and was exposed to the elements and the wood responded the same as the un-weathered wood.
BTW, "Sugi" is the Japanese term (杉) for Cryptomeria japonica. Very interesting technique. I suppose it works with other kinds of resinous such as cedars(Cedrus), larch (Larix), Thuya, etc. Apparently in America, "cedar" is the vernacular name for lots of (very) different species, that's why I always prefer to use the scientific names of plants ;-) Yours might well be Thuja plicata, "giant cedar", know for its natural resistance to decay.
