Roman wood finishing

[Titus Labienus]

Does anyone have any sources on Roman wood finishing? They obviously didn't run down to the local home center and grab a can of poly. Do we know anything about what, if anything, they used for wood protection?

Thanks!

[M. Demetrius]

Linseed oil would be a good guess, since it's harvested/extracted from flax seed. Still in use today, so why not then? Do I have documentation? Not a scrap. 8+)

[Michael Kerr]

There is a book called Roman Woodworking by Roger B. Ulrich. It is available on Amazon but it is very expensive about $500 for a new copy. However if you subscribe to Scribd it is available there. It covers tools & woods used, the best time of year to cut etc. I found some information from the book which covers a bit of what you wanted to know.

Drying, Preservatives and Conditioners
Drying by application of heat.
Columella De Re Rustica. 1.6.19: “the smoke room too, in which timber, if it has not been cut for a long time, may be dried quickly, can be built in the part of the country villa next to the rural baths.”
Treatment by charring.
Vitr. 1.5.3: (on binding and reinforcing the outer and inner walls of a defensive circuit): timbers of charred olive wood should be frequently placed [transversely] in order that both facades of the wall as if connected by pins...may have everlasting strength. For such timber cannot be injured by decay, weather or age.
Treatment by oiling.
The use of cedar oil on wood:
Plin. HN 16.198: “timber daubed with cedar oil suffers from neither worms nor decay.”
The use of amurca (the by-product of olive oil production):
Cato Rust. 98.2: “lest moths ruin clothing...rub the exterior of the bottom, the feet and the corners of the chest with [amurca]...If you rub wooden furniture all over with amurca it will not decay, and so treated will shine more brightly.”
Treatment by smearing with or immersing in dung:
Cato Rust. 31.1 see fibula under ÏV.2 Joints.”
Plin. HN 16.222: “we have in our country some timbers that check[split] by themselves, on account of which architects prescribe that they should be smeared with dung and then dried, so that drying winds will not harm them.
Treatment by immersing wood in saltwater:
Plin. HN 13.99: “the shattered remains of ships have recently shown that this timber, dried by the action of seawater, is solidified with a hardness that resists decay more strongly than any other method.”
Treatment by drying wood in piles of grain and burying it in earth:
Plin. HN 13.99: “carpenters lay citrus wood in heaps of grain for periods of a week with intervals of a week between, and it is surprising how much weight is reduced by the process.” In the same passage Pliny reports that some barbari (probably North African Mauretania) where citrus wood was harvested they treat the raw timber by coating it in wax and burying it in the ground.

Regards
Michael Kerr

[Augustus Janus]

Really interesting information Michael. I need to look this book up. I got linseed oil for treating my hilt parts but had asked the question in another thread if they used some form of olive oil. Linseed oil is great stuff though.

Jim

[Michael Kerr]

I found another paper from Scribd called Egyptian Woodworking and Furniture by Geoffrey Killen. In it he describes tools and types of woods used and techniques where he describes varnishes.

Clear varnish, made from resin mixed with oil, was used to protect
timber during the Eighteenth Dynasty. Black varnish, made from pitch
and oil, was also painted on wood to seal the grain. To cover and protect
paintings, beeswax was often applied but it is uncertain whether it was
used as a polish on timber, although it is the base from which many
modern polishes are manufactured.

Regards
Michael Kerr

[richsc]

You can get the paperback version of Roman Woodworking from Amazon for $36.

[Titus Labienus]

Huge thanks, everyone! That book looks particularly useful.

[Titus Labienus]

I am looking at this book right now through Scribd. This has to be one of the most useful books I have ever seen. Thank you so much!

[Michael Kerr]

Jim Bertagnolli wrote:

I got linseed oil for treating my hilt parts but had asked the question in another thread if they used some form of olive oil. Linseed oil is great stuff though.

I found some info on amurca from another site
Amurca: Olive Oil Byproducts

The leftover water from the milling process is called amurca in Latin and amorge in Greek, a watery, bitter-tasting, smelly, liquid residue. This liquid was collected from a central depression in the settling vats. Amurca, which had and has a bitter taste and an even worse smell, was discarded along with the dregs. Then and today, amurca is a serious pollutant, with a high mineral salt content, low pH and the presence of phenols. However, in the Roman period, it was said to have had several uses.

When spread on surfaces, amurca forms a hard finish; when boiled it can be used to grease axles, belts, shoes and hides. It is edible by animals and was used to treat malnutrition in livestock. It was prescribed to treat wounds, ulcers, dropsy, erysipelas, gout and chilblains.

According to some ancient texts amurca was used in moderate amounts as a fertilizer or pesticide, repressing insects, weeds and even voles. Amurca was also used to make plaster, particularly applied to the floors of granaries, where it hardened and kept out mud and the pest species. It was also used to seal olive jars, improve the burning of firewood and, added to laundry, could help protect clothing from moths.
Regards
Michael Kerr

[richsc]

You can buy the paperback version on Amazon for $36:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300199...UTF8&psc=1

(Funny thing, rat said this post (with Amazon URL) was spam and I thought it had been blocked)

[M. Demetrius]

The way around that, Rich, seems to be to put the copy you want in the block, submit the post, then edit the link in. The spam screen doesn't seem to pay attention to edits.

Evidently, though, it does think that a single line of info plus a link is spam...which it sometimes is. Not in this case, of course.