Mornin',a little help please?

[Jon Grider]

My employer asked me to make a stand to display a duck mount he has. The look he wanted was matte black with the pores of the oak showing through with no filler... kind of the ebony look. My experiments with ebony Miniwax stain have not been too positive. I have no spray equipment, most of my finishes have been wipe on types. Any suggestions?

[John Keeton]

Jon, I have not tried it on oak, but you could use leather dye, or India ink - either of which will get you the black. Then, for a matte finish, go with your choice of satin/matte topcoat. You may want to seal the dye first, and there may be others that will have some specific ideas on that as some finishes may "lift" the dye.

[Peter Elliott]

Head over to Staples, Office Max, Office Depot and buy black fountain pen ink.. Some do not say "india ink". It's waterbased as well. You'll need to coat it 2x. But it works very well. Comes in a little glass bottle with a dipper tube.

I would give it a top coat. Wipe on poly or you can hit with dewax spray can shellac found at the borgs, which is what I would do (shellac).

Both of these can be done in quick timing. The pen ink dries very fast. I use cut up sponge to put it on. Try to buy a white one. I like the car wash type.

I pour my dyes in a plastic/paper bowl, usually throw away type used for picnics, etc. ( I buy one huge pack at costco).

Work fast and not let an "edge" dry.. It's not super fast. Just keep a good pace (no coffee break).

You can control the depth of color by how much you apply. I normally do 2 even coats.. Oak may take 3 coats?

The ink comes in little 2oz bottles, so you made need to get a few.

Or..

If your near a woodcraft, go get General Finishes Dye Stain in ebony. Works well too! http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2020491/22650/General-Finishes--Water-Based-Dye--Ebony--Pint.aspx

Hope that helps!
Peter

[Scott Holmes]

IF you want a flat or matte finish you will need to add shellac flat to your shellac or use steelwood to make it satin. Shellac is naturally GLOSS.

[Jon Grider]

Thanks John, Peter, and Scott. I tried several places after work and finally found India Ink at a Michael's Craft store. The ink came in 2 oz. bottles so I bought one to give it a try. It colored the oak great on a sample piece. I tried to wipe on some satin poly after letting it dry for a couple of hours, there was a little bit of 'melting' but not too bad. However I will pick up some dewaxed shellac tomorrow to try to seal the ink in better before a final topcoat of satin poly. I'm hoping there won't be compatibility or bonding issues between the shellac and poly if I steel wool the shellac first or maybe I'll let the shellac be the final topcoat. Thanks for the direction,guys it looks like I may be on track. Any further input is greatly appreciated.

[Conrad Fiore]

Jon,
Wiping just about anything will result in the color bleeding up into the topcoat. I would suggest that you try a spray can of shellac if you can get it. At that point you can either leave it with the shellac, or topcoat with anything after that.

[Peter Elliott]

Good point about shellac.. forgot to mention! The spray stuff will be glossy.

I use a gray scotch pad to knock down the sheen. Then apply a good paste wax and good to go. Gray pad is found at the same borg.

A few coats of spray shellac is pretty tough. Just keep the coats light. Remember, they will burn into each other.. I use 400 to knock down the nibs after the 1st coat.

Unless you need real tough protection for this display. Spray shellac will do a good job. I use it a lot! It's mentioned in this forum a lot too!

-Peter

[Pete McMahon]

My employer asked me to make a stand to display a duck mount he has. The look he wanted was matte black with the pores of the oak showing through with no filler... kind of the ebony look. My experiments with ebony Miniwax stain have not been too positive. I have no spray equipment, most of my finishes have been wipe on types. Any suggestions?


Why not just use a water soluble dye? It will not fill the pores with color leaving them pronounced. They are simplicity personified to mix, just add some powder to warm water. Lockwood sends complete directions along with their products.
W.D. Lockwood has a very good ebony black #327. The color will be superior to an india ink. The exact same color can be ordered from Lee Valley or Woodworkers Supply.
Once dry spray a coat of shellac on it to set the color and you can put whatever finish you'd like over it.