Ebonizing using steel wool and vinegar

[Dan Friedrichs]

I wanted to attempt the ebonizing process that involves wiping wood with a solution of steel wool dissolved in vinegar. I put a pad of 0000 steel wool in household vinegar, but after a week, it has not rusted. I think this was just borg-brand steel wool. Any ideas why it didn't work? What did I do wrong?

[Gary Max]

You need to start with rusted steel----then add it to your vinegar.

[Prashun Patel]

I disagree.

The water doesn't need to have visible rust for the solution to work. I bet you have a potent mix as is. Try straining out the steel wool (which should pretty much fall apart upon contact now) and then try painting a little on.

I've made all manner of concentrations of this stuff and left it for all kinds of durations. In the end, a 'hunk' of wool in a 'jar' of vinegar left for '24-48 hours' is about all the precision it really demands.

Depth can be managed by repeated applications.

[John Keeton]

Most of the borg steel wool has a heavy residue of lubricants from the milling process. You may try a quick swish in a degreaser before placing it in the vinegar.

You might also want to review this in depth article (http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Ebonizing_Wood/) by Brian Boggs on the process. He has some tips that make the process easier.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Most of the borg steel wool has a heavy residue of lubricants from the milling process

Actually - all of the steel wool you'll buy has oil sprayed on it to prevent - you guessed it - rust..

If you want unoiled steel wool, soak a Brillo or SOS pad in water and rinse out all the soap residue.

Soaking store bought steel wool in mineral spirits isn't economical.
The mineral spirits will dissolve the oil, but, it will redeposit it back onto/into the steel wool.
You'll end up using way too much mineral spirits - which is going to be contaminated with oil so it's reuse will be very limited.

[Steve Schoene]

Frankly, I don't understand the fascination with this method of coloring wood. With commercial dyes you can be much more precise in the color you end up with, be it a warm black or a cool black, etc. And, the dye will work pretty much the same on the wood in a project, while the steel wool techniques can give different results on wood from different trees, even if they were color matched to begin with. Or, use a very fine pigment, such as found in India Ink to get an intense black.