Beech Strips

After sawing the 2mm strips of beech on the bandsaw I then have to sand them down to 1mm. This requires, as I've already said, belt sanding on the flat bed sander and then hand-sanding to a smooth finish.

This is what the strips look like after being sawn:

 After being sanded on the belt sander:

 The hand-finished strips:

As some of the beech I've used is very pale compared to some of the other pieces I feel I should even up the colours a little. Do do this I've been testing wood dyes and waxes on the paler wood to create a match to the darker, slightly redder pieces.

Colour matching:

Colour Matching:

Left: original wood colour

Centre: dilution of red dye mixed with liquid wax

Right: (lower end) diluted red dye with overcoat of liquid wax, (upper end) less diluted red dye, no wax.

From my tests I've found the closest match is the dilution of red dye with an overcoat of liquid wax. I had been intending to give all the strips a coat of wax before assembling the model which, will give the wood a warmer and softer appearance. It should also help prolong the life of the wood and stabilise it, preventing excessive warping from atmospheric moisture fluctuations.