Ebonizing Voodoo

[Burt Alcantara]

I've read through a lot of posts about ebonizing. The majority prefer the steel wool & vinegar brew. What is the difference, if any, between using the this brew over Rit, India Ink, shoe polish, commercial stains such as Minwax and acrylic paint?

I've become aware that Rit is not color fast and will fade over time. What "over time" means is never defined. 1 month? 1 year? 1 decade? 1 century?

I saw an old post by Leo of a bowl he gave to his wife. Gorgeous! So, Leo, jump in please!

Steve's got me going on coloring wood. I've always been fond of black woods, either burned, dyed or natural. For Oak, I'd like to be able to see the grain and rays. I have acrylics to use for a solid glassy glossy black.

Thanks,
Burt

[Bernie Weishapl]

Burt I have used the minwax ebony stain with decent results. It doesn't seem to fade with time. If you put it on lightly on oak it will leave the brown showing through in the depressions. Looks pretty cool but like I say it has to be put on lightly. I am also getting started with the india inks, airbrushing, coloring, etc.

[Burt Alcantara]

Bernie,
What kind of effects do you get with the different methods? In most cases, I'd like the grain to show through and in some cases, have the ability to control the amount of ebonizing through sanding.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Burt, I haven't tried ebonizing yet but have to believe that a dye is the way to go over any type of acrylic or stain - if you want to be still see the grain of the wood. Haven't tried the steel wool/vinegar solution but it does sound interesting. About the only thing I know for sure - when it comes time to try ebonizing - is to make sure the form of your turning is exactly what you want as it will really be the main focus when the wood becomes monochromatic. (That was my big word for the day!! Now I can relax and get back to turning!)

[Burt Alcantara]

Steve,
Not only have you got me into colorizing, you also got me into the Southwest look. So there!

The SW pottery type of turnings can look like pottery when ebonized. That's the look I'm going for. I have a cedar turning all ready to go. I tried a number of different finishes on sample wood and didn't like any of them so I think ebonizing is in order. I'll probably do this today so hopefully, I'll get to post within the next few days.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Burt - glad to see you are experimenting - it helps keep the vortex alive! Looking forward to seeing your SW HF!

[Richard Madison]

Burt,
Tried some ebony stain years ago with mediocre results. Not really very black. Good success with steel wool/white vinegar, filtered through a coffee filter. Turns black but still looks like wood. Think I tried Rit dye too but do not recall the results.

[Dwight Boesiger]

Burt
My daughters Christmas request for an 18 inch, black, peppermill got me searching for a method to ebonize the woods I had available. They were walnut, mahogany and maple. I had pretty good success using at least two applications of a black TransTint dye dissolved in alcohol (water would likely work as well) followed by at least two applications of General Finishes Java gel stain. For the walnut and mahogany I first applied a Behlens water based grain filler since I wanted a smooth finish. This wasnt necessary when using Maple which was a relief since the grain filler application is a pain to apply and sand. The Java gel stain really smooths out the finish but imparts a slight mahogany cast to the black. If you want the grain to show through just stop with the TransTint step. My daughters liked the result and I just put another black mill on a charity auction and it raised $250 so some others apparently liked the finish . Unfortunately now I have had additional requests to make more and sell them and I dont really want to get into the sales business.
Dwight Boesiger

[Mark Burge]

Burt: I tried the steel wool and vinegar thing on some scraps once and the result was pretty awful. On the oak it just muddied things and was kind of splotchy. On sycamore it didn't seem to work much at all. Maybe I did something wrong, but I would definitely suggest testing it before you try it. I never did actual ebonize a piece.
- Mark

[sascha gast]

I am gonna vote again for airbrushing, they have translucent black color and they leave the grain as is, also, there is a candy black as well and that adds lots of depth to the piece.

[Burt Alcantara]

I tried ebony stain. Didn't like it. Tried india ink, didn't like it either. I think I'll take Sascha's suggestion and go with airbrushing. I have all the colors and equipment, just no place left to set it up.

[Steve Schlumpf]

they have translucent black color and they leave the grain as is, also, there is a candy black as well and that adds lots of depth to the piece.

So, are we talking acrylics? I have zero experience with them and this is the first I have heard of translucent anything. Always thought you had to work with dye in order to see the grain once finished.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Burt I have used it on oak. I put it on while on the lathe with a old T-shirt at a extremely slow speed around 30 rpm. I don't sand the oak smooth. It leaves some of the natural oak showing through.

[Jim Kountz]

As usual the creek has given me some more ideas of things to try. With the cost of real ebony being so much some of these alternatives sound real good!!

[sascha gast]

So, are we talking acrylics? I have zero experience with them and this is the first I have heard of translucent anything. Always thought you had to work with dye in order to see the grain once finished.

right now I am shooting Auto Air colors, and they have opaque, translucent and even candy colors and you can dilute them all even more, so you can see the grain as much as you want, it's just amazing

[Steve Schlumpf]

Hope you are going to have something to post fairly soon - now that you got my attention! Seriously, looking forward to it!

[Mark Hinchliff]

I wanted to ebonize a sheet of veneer to insert as an accent line in a segmented bowl, so I tried the apple cider vinegar and steel wool route. I had plenty of mahogany veneer in my shop so tried inserting a small strip in the solution. After a couple of days I could barely see any change. I then tried a stip of walnut veneer. A couple of hours later it came out black. When I broke the veneer it appeared to be black through and through.
Lesson learned: this technique depends very much on the specie you want to ebonize

Mark

[David Walser]

...
Lesson learned: this technique depends very much on the specie you want to ebonize....

Correct. If I recall correctly, the acid/steel wool mixture reacts with the tannins in the wood, causing the tannins to turn black. If the wood is low in tannin, the technique does not work well.

[Bob Hallowell]

I wanted to ebonize a sheet of veneer to insert as an accent line in a segmented bowl, so I tried the apple cider vinegar and steel wool route. I had plenty of mahogany veneer in my shop so tried inserting a small strip in the solution. After a couple of days I could barely see any change. I then tried a stip of walnut veneer. A couple of hours later it came out black. When I broke the veneer it appeared to be black through and through.
Lesson learned: this technique depends very much on the specie you want to ebonize

Mark

As far as I know it only works well with oak or walnut unless you add tannin to the wood. I used it with awesome results on the "Ipe Hall table" I posted in the wood working projects forum. The muddle look someone mentioned earlier is just some rust on the surface. Wipe it off the Mineral spirits and some fine steel wool. Black as ebony plus you can see the grain.

Bob

[robert hainstock]

If all of that hasn't got your brain reeling, here's another. Our ancestors used a variation of the vineger method. A chemical called "Ferric Nitrate" Iron particles disolved in nitric acid. I have used both solutions, and find that color depth with the FN solution is more controlable for depth and intensity of color. I use it mostly on Figured maple to pop the grain. And I believe our grandpas used these solutions because they were somthing they had easily available. They are however, far from ideal . I've seen some worthwhile alternatives posted. And much better choices for you to make. I'm looking forwaard to seeing what you come up with.
Bob

[George Clark]

Excellent article on ebonizing wood in the June 09 issue of Popular Woodworking by Brian Boggs. He has a method for ebonizing woods with low tannic acid.

George