Making Wood Last Forever (Almost) - The Shou Sugi Ban Technique
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ก.ค. 2022
- Shou Sugi Ban is an ancient Japanese technique to preserve wood.
It's done by first charring the surface of the wood. This makes the wood fire retardant and resistant to rot, insects and decay!
The oldest wood building in the world (now about 1311 years old) employs this wood preservation technique. That's practically forever! - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Very nice! Used motor oil works fine too!
Fantastic point! I have heard of Farmers making Fence Posts using Motor Oil. What a brilliant idea!
For those interested, here's a list of stuff I've used myself or heard of from other folks. Feel free to add to this list:
Oils:
- Tar
- Linseed Oil
- Pine Tar
- Used Motor Oil
- Beeswax (As an additive to an oil)
For thinning:
- Mineral Spirits
- Denatured Alcohol (96%+)
- Terpentine
How would you apply that. Would you smell it later?
@@martinp.cadillackid3408 I’ve found that oils do have a smell but it fades after a few days
@@TheFincaAdventure do u think the oil runs off the wood and into the soil, polluting it?
@@tmackjr8652 I wouldn’t soak the paint brush that much. Though like anything you want a surface under the workpiece as you’re working just in case.
Once it dries it doesn’t come off even with rain. I’d give it a week for it to fully dry.
🪣🪥
I brush my teeth with that stuff and I've never had a cavity
No teeth no cavities
Exactly. I was doing great till my hair fell out and head exploded. 🤯💨🧠
🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@andyh9382 🤣🤣🤣😘
Lol
This treatment is very common on wooden buildings in Japan. Thank you for finally allowing me to understand what the process is.
They do this process?!
@@luisapaza317 yes, it's called yaki sugi, literally "burnt cedar". It's used on siding for buildings because the wood can no longer rot. You add oil and it becomes a durable material.
@@fletchro789 lol cedar is already durable material. It’s rot resistant and immune to fungal and insects…if your doing this method on cedar, it’s for looks..
@@Itsreallymarcus No, it's not, because cedar alone will STILL get pests, not be as weather resistant and rot faster.
Please tell us more shit you don't know.
The char reduces the weathering and rot effects by magnitudes and the added protection for pests is anything but purely cosmetic.
Most don't even use a tar coating on the outsides. I've build hundreds of yards of siding and framing and I've only had three clients ever ask for a tar. This is japanese natives.
It's function married with beauty.
Try it with yourself sometime.
@@Itsreallymarcus resistance to rot and lasting for hundreds of years are a
little different.
I already knew about lightly charring the outside of the wood but I didn’t know about applying a few coats of tar/oil mixed with denatured alcohol. I can totally see how this added process not only protects it from water damage and rot but it also keeps the insects away especially termites. Thank you so much for the info! Take care!
Good but there is a better way
@@Mattlawton-ft6ewand that is?
@@Emiliapocalypse creosote 😁👍👍
My grand dad did his fence this way!! I know some of those boards are 40+ years old!!!
He used professional expensive waterproofing placco k-89. Just another useless clickbaiting TH-cam short.
@@suprememasteroftheuniverse What a rubbish comment. Ignore the person that is actually there, make a baseless statement about what was used. Ignore all evidence of the efficacy of the shown technique. Master of the universe my arse.
@@suprememasteroftheuniverse It's bitumen, there is nothing special or expensive about it...
We do this here in Europe too, even when it's not really legal & I don't like it too. But we got some buildings with studs & boards, that got finished like that, that are 600 years and older.
It's called creosote. Been used for hundreds of years.
He named the technique
... Shou Sugi Ban.
Here I thought creosote was a build up of wood tar. Damn I guess I dumb.
@@PhullyNo1 it is, but it's also the binder that keeps the cellulose fibers together. Sticky softwoods, like pine, produce a lot of creosote when burned, which is why it's not advised to burn it indoors
@@dickbutt7854 good to know, thanks!
@@dickbutt7854 creosote used to be used for railroad ties and telephones poles. And wood that was going to get wet or underground. It was mostly made from coal tar. You could buy it by the gallon at the hardware store. It was outlawed years ago , cancerous. But yes what's in your chimney is creosote from the burning of wood. Just charring wood will help make it water and bug resistant.
I do a variation of this on the canes that I make. After I've carved and medium sanded the wood, I char it lightly, fine sand it, and then seal it with Danish rubbing oils or Teak/Tung oils. It makes the wood much, much harder and almost impervious to moisture and temperature extremes.
Would this be good for garden beds?
@@jksattethat’s a great idea. I wonder if any of the chemicals would affect the plants
Isn't this what they used to do to telephone polls to keep them from rotting?
Absolutely. Some places they still do
I think so I remember seeing this some where but now where I live they switched to concrete poles which after hurricanes there's still snapped poles I think they should just run it underground
Oh and the wood for the train tracks?
Yeah and it itches like crazy when you rub agents it.if same stuff
Not just telephone poles, but electrical utility poles as well!
Can’t put that in your house or anything. Thats only really used on old bridges and railroads.
And telephone poles
And fences & barns...
And foundations too my first home had a treated lumber foundation we raised 3 kids there numerous grandkids for 31 years and in what has been the "World's worst weather by the Chief Pilot of Penair in a letter to the FAA arguing for a ILS for the airport
The stink never goes away.
The bottom of porch and deck posts
If you don’t have access to the product shown here, but have trees that produce fat wood growing nearby, you can make pine tar/pitch and if you capture the steam and condense it that becomes turpentine.
Thank you!!!
The thing is about that old type of lumber,termites hate it...thats why the old timers knew to use it... knowledge is power folks 😎👍
True. If I had to guess I would say that's either white oak or Red Oak or locust. Kind of looks like white oak.
@@bigcountrymountainman9740
All the old lumber you see here are Heartwood which you mostly never see any longer...
It is from the center of the tree which was saturated with natural oils And very hard that insects hate...
Homesteaders built cedar closet chest for their clothes for the same reason...👍😎
Actually learned this from my grandpa. I can approve this is extremely effective!
If you want a more environmentally safer finish, you could use plain old linseed oil. Same durability without leeching petroleum products eventually
Petroleum is naturally in the ground and every one is worried about it going back there lol 😂 I get the short term in the water table but this is such a small amount over a long period of time.everything causes cancer just ask California…..
Petroleum comes from the environment. Biggest scam ever told
@@thomastonnessen8056 Petroleum products are toxic af, wtf are you talking about lol
Poison ivy comes from plants, so why don't you go throw some in a salad?
@@bricknolty5478 they are also 100% natural
I’m immune to poison Ive and Oak and poison sumac. So try again
From what I know, even in ground as fence posts, heavy charing alone will keep bugs from eating it. But if you want, boiled linseed oil/turpentine, 2/3 to 1/3, works very well. Lin/terp is beautiful on unchared oak, even indoors after the terp evaps. I've been using it on homemade furniture for 30+yrs
Will this work on 6x6 built up in the ground for small retaining wall
What about on raised garden beds?
@@jksatte not sure about the turpentine but I seal all my wood for raised Beds with linseed oil. Works amazing plus no chemicals leeching into your soil
Olde and still a Goldie Carpenter right here. You young Bucks better watch out.
@@jessejames5924how frequently do you have to reseal it with linseed oil? And this is done on untreated wood which you apply the shou sugi ban method right?
This is how they use to build underground, root cellars and basements. It has a strong Oder for a while but it protects against water and insects, some of these root cellars are still in use today after 150 years or more
I've also used transmission fluid . That coating will make that wood outlast anybody that watches this video .
Building fences, sheds or barns, this stuff works perfect for. He's doing a lot of extra work for nothing. You can use transmission fluid like you said, if you use the old transmission fluid it's even better. Motor oil works okay, but as far as transmission fluid goes and growing up on a farm and a ranch I've never seen anything work better than transmission fluid. Also, if you'll take a pressure washer and clean out from underneath your vehicle and spray transmission oil up underneath your vehicle and let it drip, you will never ever ever ever have rust. I got an old buddy of mine that lives out the road from where I grew up at in West Virginia and the dude can't even read or write, but he can listen to a vehicle and tell you what's wrong with it. He showed me about putting transmission oil up underneath vehicles and I laughed. Then I got the looking around his property and none of his vehicles have rust on them except face rest. He's got two old trucks, 1975 Chevrolet four-wheel drive and a 1977 F250 and neither one of them have rest on them at all underneath because he's put transmission oil on them ever since they were bought brand new in 1975 and 1977.
@@bigcountrymountainman9740 How often must it be reapplied? Also does this affect the wood's flammability?
Just transmission oil? Or you mix it with something else?
Transmission fluid dissolves pavement, mix them together and paint it on. The stuff in the road tar ain't going away for a while.
finally someone showing how to do it correctly! most folks just char not realizing they made it worse because they didnt lime wash or oil the wood after to seal it
You don't make it worse by charing. I did it to a cheap compost set made from slim boards of soft wood (probably pine), less than an inch thick. The compost sets were 80x80cm, so roughly 32x32 inches with interleaved boards.
Compost means constant moisture and rot next to the boards. The treated wood has been working as compost frame for 8 years now, and I'm going to move them to a different location now. >90% of the boards are still in perfect condition.
I did the same to boards used for a raised garden bed. Again, less than an inch thick and still going strong after 8 years. I didn't want any chemicals in either structure, as we eat what we grow.
@@brag0001 actually you do and I dont need a lesson with your gaslighting and exaggerations. some wood has oils inside that for a short time will make a barrier but then all at once it self destructs. Why do folks always argue? This already known. The burning in most cases was for pest control not rot. They ALWAYS treated the boards after a char and back in the day it was creosote. This is why no one really noticed and just thought it was char,
@@genghischuan4886 well, you can't argue with results. I could even explain to you why it's actually working, but you've already demonstrated that you don't want to learn anything, so, have fun ...
Also extremely flammable in the event of a fire careful with its application
Not really. It's less likely to catch fire after this treatment
Now to make the most goth looking indestructible cabin
I hate that it doesn't let me save shorts to playlists! I hope I can find this one again.
Share \ Send it to yourself via message
You could still save it to your shorts.
Go to th channel where the short is listed like a normal vid.
Or get a TH-cam downloader and save your vids to your phone or computer
or write down: clean, char, coat twice in 50/50 tar/alcohol
I sprayed a new wood fence with a 50/50 mix of old engine oil and parafin. That fence is still good after over 20 years with no other treatment
Bird screaming in the background is the star of the show
Sounds like a Blue Jay.
No idea. Though most likely not a Blue Jay coz they are not common here in South America
@@erikforseth1535 100% a blue jay
The tar is really not necessary. In Japan they seal it in with a kind of linseed oil
Lol, believe it or not you can use petroleum jelly like Vaseline or Aquaphor and mix it with water in a blender really really good and put it in a pump sprayer and do the same thing. You can also use mink oil
In Japan there are plenty of people who still burn plastic garbage and use the ash as fertilizer . . . But yeah linseed or mink oil.
@@ericryckman1559 doesn't matter what they do on their farmland. It is about the wood😅
Tar or oil.
Or
@@zbk3411 the problem with tar is that it's not all that healthy and or biodegradable.
Transmission oil works good I personally know a fence that has lasted for 30 years without any problems or repainting but the oil is toxic and drips in rain
Looks nice. I think linseed oil would be more eco-friendly then tar or motor oil
Tar is a natural resource
Eco friendly lol get off your phone
I just found some of the most beautiful rough cut oak you’ve ever seen. Found it at a campsite. They were gonna use it for firewood.
You can often find pallets that are made from oak. And sometimes you can find pallets made from "exotic" woods if they happen to come from another country. I once found a 3x8 pallet made from purple heart - a purple colored wood that is also a heavy hard wood. I think it comes from Africa.
But something like that is a lot more rare than finding oak pallets. Most pallets in the U.S. are either pine or oak and you'll know the difference when you pick them up, oak pallets are frigging heavy AF. 😂
Did you save them?
@@sandasturner9529 no, I burned them. 🙄
But you can’t use it to cook your marshmallows ?
Charring a fence post , then standing it in a bucket of oil overnight , will repel underground termites for years. (They will eat a post in 6 moths here.)
Nice pollution tip. the USGS found. Runoff collected from pavement with coal-tar sealcoating was toxic to test organisms up to as much as 111 days after application
This is what I was thinking.
I forgot the number of gallons of ground water a quart of used motor oil contaminates. But I do know its mind blowing. We dont need more pollution, agreed!
The linseed combos seem much better imho.
Gotta admit, that wood even looks good after treated!
Making wood last forever.....
Mother nature: hold my beer
Entropy: "you may slow me, but you cannot stop me"
Y'all know this is basically kreosoting the wood is what your doing
you know they stop making that because it caused cancer. Not sure where this will be used but hopefully this guy doesn’t have well water or he will be drinking this “ good stuff”
very soon!
@@buzzedalldrink9131 unless he has a bad well very close to the surface that's completely untrue which I've never seen, soils such as clay, hard pack, etc. Do not allow fluids to pass through, that's why you can have a septic system 200' from your well without any contamination
@@ryantracey8574 yeah sure Ryan the science guy , if you say so you are right, ground water never get contaminated you can drink all of it you want
@@buzzedalldrink9131 Creosote is still legally used in the US, but only on telephone poles and railroad cross ties.
@@buzzedalldrink9131 my first job was deep water injection well drilling, then I did smaller residential and monitoring wells, now I do underground pipe installations so I still deal with the different soil layers. Well contamination is usually from salter water or massive leaks that go undetected for a long time and when everyone's wells are running they pull thousands of gallons and you end up pulling in water from miles away over the course of time, it is not from you spilling something on the ground near your well because if your well is drilled to the correct depths which varies based on the ground materials it will take years and years for that contaminate to reach the water table and it will be naturally filtered by the ground. Fyi real world knowledge is way better than text book knowledge.
I learned to use a mixture of diesel and lindseed oil from an old farmer to preserve wood. The old timr New Englanders up north would paint their barns with it.
I think if a person is using linseed oil, they have to have perhaps a little more expertise. It seems to me that if it’s not used correctly, it may be prone to spontaneous combustion. Now, that could just be the rag that was used to wipe it down or something, but perhaps somebody with some experience with it could speak to that.
@@daphneraven6745 no lol. That’s rags and it’s from fumes. So it seems you are completely wrong lol
This shit leeches into the ground water, it works like a champ but there is a reason they don't do it anymore , fun fact 1 qt of used motor oil will contaminate 1 cubic acre of soil ,average oil change on a car 5-5.5 qts
Oh no that’s depressing. So what is the safest way to dispose of used oil?
@@bari2883 Take it to just about any parts store & they'll take it for free
@@mikevickers4727 thanks.
You can do the same thing with used motor oil and diesel
Nicee!
The birds in the background make me feel like I’m back home.
Great idea! I will try at my home...thanks for the example!
Basically railroad ties without the extra elemental poisons.
It is a combination of both Yakisugi and Creosote, in 18th Century Japan as a way to treat Cedar cladding and make it weatherproof. The use of Creosote to treat wood prod- ucts first occurred in 1717 in England. Dr. William Crook's patented process used creo- sote to protect ships' wood planking from decay and worms.
Good stuff for fire.
Borax also works well. The Japanese have been charring wood forever. In fact the digging of paleo Indian fire pit’s have been found with well preserved chunk’s of wood!
Old guy that gave me my first job had me treat a ton (actually several tons) of wood like this. Char, then mix some tar with diesel until it was good and liquid, then get to painting. Seeing this video made me remember the smell, clear as day!
Having a migraine just looking at the tar.
I use the oil but not the other ingredients so that's very helpful 👏✅👌👍🙏💯➕
Hey you got dust in my eyes. 😬
Excellent rendition of ancient technology
Sugi trees are from the cedar family. It’s not just the process of charring but which wood you use
Isn't this why they stopped allowing old railroad ties to be used in landscaping because it was so bad for the environment??
Very nice but some of stuff causes some really. Ad sickness I love the video no obnoxious music or endless chatter. Thank you for posting
My father used creosote on his fence posts before I was born and they are still standing today more than 60 yrs later.
And as always... Use gloves, eye protection, and be in a well ventilated area, creosote is a skin irritant and can cause respiratory issues... Long term exposure can cause skin and testicular cancer.
This could make it more flammable.
Pure pine tar cut with turpentine is best( in my opinion).1st coat should go on thinner for deeper penetration ( especially end grain).
We use creosote in the uk 👍🏻
Can do the same thing with Creosote Oil. The railroad industry swears by it. They've only been using it on their wooden railroad ties for more than a century. Best part is you don't have to char the wood first, it just soaks right in. As thin as that denatured alcohol and less expensive too.
Just burning it give a measure of longevity😎
What happens if you use a vac bag over the wood before the coat dries? Wonder if you could further the protection of the tar as it would in theory help to pull it into the wood. Regardless this is the good good right here, bout to do it to the sections of my shed that need repair.
I think you mean pressurize the wood not vacuum it ? Pressure would push the oil in deeper while a vacuum would evaporate the VOCs before they can react with the wood fiber to turn into a resin.
That's how they used to preserve wood in the old world.. there's so many things from the old world that were made to last pretty much forever and I don't know why we shifted as a society to disposable everything..
never thought of charing the surface first, but i can definitely see how that would help.
About the same as creosote except without the heavy metals like arsenic. Works well but it can never be disposed of below ground due to leaching of chemicals.
That is the world's loudest bird... Factually
Yep. Penetration is aided if one can heat the wood ( or leather, or most items) AND the coating ( obviously not over an open flame) . Alow the wood to cool somewhat to allow "outgassing" to complete then apply not as hot coating. It will disappear into the wood. A problem with a simple tar and spirit mix is there is no "drying agent" . It will always be sticky and smell. A traditional finish in boat building is linseed oil and pine tar .
Linseed oil acts as a dryer ( to some extent) There is also a product called "Japan" dryer. Tung oil also works. Magnesium salt? Something.
I brushed my teeth with that stuff and never had a termite
Brilliant. I’ve never seen this but of course
Creosote is a byproduct of burning anything really, but mostly wood. It’s a slimy tarry substance that can be mixed with water to make it brushable. This isn’t creosote, it’s legit just oil on wood. A lot of people just brush used oil on their trailers to make the boards last twice as long.
Many "old timers" would just use their used motor oil and I've seen many wood deck trailers with many many gallons of oil in the boards that would last decades. This probably works well too. Any oil based protectant obviously keeps the water out and bugs from eating away at it.
Like others in the comment section said we refer to this technique as, "creosote". In South Louisiana it has become a necessity when building on the water. But do not get that stuff on your skin or you will regret it.
The palisades around my moat are gonna look freaking awesome !!
Thanks for the info.
That wood will survive anybody who preserved it
Great to see someone salvaging and re using wood... and planning on it being around for a long time .... awesome 👌
I like linseed and mineral spirits too, 8m sure this will kick linseed oils ass in the long run...for all those who question it
This is not shou sugi ban technique. The heavy charring (to the point of scaly texture) is what repels bugs and is even fire retardant. Shou sugi ban does not use petroleum products.
You would ideally want to use proper crude. The sulphur content plays a huge role.
Smells so good when the sun hits it.
Taste good too 😊
Thx. New knowledge for this wood working guy
Boiled linseed oil protects at the cellular level
Lol - whatever that means.
Remember not to lean on it. Another alternate for termite protection is to soak the wood with Boric Acid Powder solution. It’s not an acid that will burn, I don’t know why they call it an acid.
Boric Acid and Borax make good treatment for Bamboo I hear
Basically TOXIC CREASOTE
Probably better than chromium copper arsenate!
@@FonicsSuck Or Trichloroethyline , with peroxide and Whistlers xxx tungsten carbide. But let's leave sex out of this !
Awsome!!!
Pressure treated? Ha, this stuff is the real deal. Well done, literally!
That tar coating will evaporate when hot and in sun. It will last about 5-7 years and then water will contact wood fibers and fungus will rot wood.
I used to coat the wood floor of my trailers with used motor oil from my vehicle oil changes , worked great 👍
Very creative use an used oil with a reducer to make a stain it will keep termites, and weather off of it, it would last definitely very good sir. I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.
That would last one winter in the uk.
Really? Lasts decades in Alaska but the UK winters must be much more severe!
@@joe3USA I’m sure it would do fine in the cold of alaska, not so sure about the perpetual wet in the uk winters.
Yes I've heard of used motor oil
For all type of wood is good, and can use used motor oil too for coat the wood, but there's some type of wood that if get in touch with water, it began to crystalize and turned into a crystal (after a long time)
Thank you!!!
rubbing alcohol should work to correct? since denatured just has added chemicals so you cant consume it (according to google)
Thanks
Or just buy pressure treated timber and use a preservation coating.
I thought that was obvious.
I grew up in a log cabin. Logs painted with creosote
Telephone poles, train tracks, & peers/docks/warfs; all used to be done like this.....also I believe I've seen an old 4 story brick building with an exterior staircase + supports done like this..... just what u did if it was wood & outside
Shou sui ban is about to creat a way more burnt surface and linseed oil is actualy optional just to fix the charcoal layer
Now we know why fire big bad thing ships back in day.
Very interesting, but how does it fare against UV and salty/coastal environments?
And it’s totally healthy and def won’t give you cancer
It’s not Creosote but the best health conscious option would be Pine Tar I think. It’s quite easy to make. If I find some Pine here in Colombia I’ll make a video on how Pine Tar is made
It smells like heaven too. No really, I love the way this stuff smells..
I was planning to make few wooden planters for outdoor garden. But it will be in constant contact with water and moisture. In outdoor environmental conditions sich as rain wood will damage easily. So i was in search for a solution. Here i find it. If we use the mentioned material to give a complete cover, Will the wooden article last for years in outdoor?
Looks great!
How good does it smell?
Smells like roses🌹 dipped in grease and gasoline.
In India', we used "black Japan" paint until some years back and it' looked similar to your black liquid.
Whatever bird that was it sounds like a very loud fire alarm
Basically made a simple Creosote. They actually banned this in the UK for enviroMENTAL reasons.