Sulfur inlay is a rarely used technique for decorative surface

inlay Inlay covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with th ...

in wooden cabinetmaking. Sulfur-burning-at-day

The technique originates in the 18th century, but was only used for a short period. Between 1765 and around 1820, German immigrant cabinetmakers in

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania ...

, used it to decorate the surface of chests. The Deitrich chest of 1783 is now in the Smithsonian. Commercial reproducers of such chests may rarely re-create this inlay technique as well.

Technique

The inlay technique is simple. A small groove is carved into the surface of the wood, then molten

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...

is poured into the groove. Once cooled and hard, the surface may easily be scraped flush. Sulfur is used as it has a low melting point, easily achieved on a hotplate. This also reduces the risk of charring the wood with a hotter liquid inlay material. On cooling, sulfur also expands slightly, locking it into place. The colour of the sulfur inlay is a pale yellow or off-white. Overheating the sulfur causes it to darken to brown, and also produces noxious fumes and a risk of fire. Antiquarians unfamiliar with sulfur inlay have mistaken old examples for varieties of

beeswax Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive work ...

or white lead.

Related techniques

* Pewter may be inlaid by a similar process, albeit rather hotter, giving a silvery metallic inlay. Wood's metal has also been used as a low-temperature alternative. * Sulfur has also been used as a historical hot-melt glue for setting ironwork into stone, or for bonding stone together. * Niello uses the darkening effect of sulfur compounds on silver.

References

External links

The Worst Way to Inlay
a 2005 replication of the technique by

Theodore Gray Theodore W. "Theo" Gray is a co-founder of Wolfram Research, science author, and co-founder of app developer Touch Press. Education Theodore Gray was educated at the University of Illinois Laboratory High School. He would later graduate w ...

Surface decorative techniques in woodworking {{furniture-stub