Oddbean new post about login | logout I'm working on a solar dehydrator based on one at Wheaton labs in Montana. Does anyone have a natural paint recipe for black paint? I would like the solar collector downstream of the food to have no gick off gassing. I'm thinking of crushing charcoal up into powder and using a binder such as oil or eggs. Any thoughts? #asknostr https://image.nostr.build/1e7766959d287f75c54b4f08483729227ea05bcea6b256929dc951673e5a0d90.jpg
Hmmm I know black walnut can produce a dark brown stain. Try searching ‘paint’ on pfaf.org
Thanks,i forgot about this site
Charcoal in pine tar? But that's not going to be a nice finish...
I think that would be a good binder, not sure if the pine smell would go away. I would not want everything to have a pine taste. I don't really care about the finish, as long as its black and heats up the air.
If you're concerned about taste/smell, all of my suggestions are terrible. 😅
Lol. I love pine smell, just don't think apples would pair with it. This would need tested first
Haven't tried this yet but am hoping to use it for our barn. Comes in red and black: https://www.earthandflax.com/swedish-falu
That looks nice. The pictures on the website look great. I'll keep this in mind for any exterior paint project I have
My first thoughts are either a food grade drying oil like walnut oil, or homemade milk paint, both using finely powered charcoal as the pigment. Walnut oil will polymerize and cure, so shouldn't continue offgassing to affect your food's flavor. Use a fan to move plenty of air over it for a few days to speed oxidation and curing. Milk paint is essentially just curds from nonfat milk blended up with pigment. Curdle the milk using lime or lemon juice, strain out the curds, and then blend it up. Add water to thin if, needed. I'm not sure how milk paint will do in a humid environment like a dehydrator, so you may need to seal it, perhaps with a coat of walnut oil after it's fully dried.
Thanks for the detailed response. I think I will put a coat of oil on the egg and charcoal mix I used
I ended up using eggs and charcoal. I think the results are pretty good. I will put more on before putting the glass up. Thanks for all the suggestions. Once my test board dried I ran water over it to try rinsing it off. It held up just fine. The final dehydrator will only be exposed to whatever moisture is drawn in https://image.nostr.build/d192bbad5d1e30da7d68345685d515a7252c4524335599d0a3e87c58573bae30.jpg nostr:nevent1qqs0vmtqucgn7235utqf3u3j4axvtdwx8j79ytu7flrz0nut275u8ncpr4mhxue69uhkummnw3ezucnfw33k76twv4ezuum0vd5kzmp0qgs856uv0hshr92uy9x76l34e3uze4kamlg5r2a3j2wxxtmfxj8x7jgrqsqqqqqputxm88
These apples were dried in two days in this dehydrator. I've got a few improvements to make, but I'm happy with the results. Herbs can dry in a few hours. https://image.nostr.build/7cbd03aba1eaced2a19edaa6baf39b8949f8c6b400ee1ec5d83de0e7178f2720.jpg #grownostr nostr:nevent1qqs0vmtqucgn7235utqf3u3j4axvtdwx8j79ytu7flrz0nut275u8ncpremhxue69uhkummnw3ez6ur4vgh8wetvd3hhyer9wghxuet59upzq7nt3377zuv4tss5mmt7xhx8stxkmh0azsdtkxffcce0dy6gum6fqvzqqqqqqyexr443
I know this is an old question, but what about charring the wood itself and sealing that with linseed oil for your blacking? I forget what it's called, but it's a traditional Japanese wood preservation technique, maybe sho sugi ban? Or something like that.
