How to make a "metallic" black finish?

[Dave Mueller]

Attached is a picture of a HF that I found somewhere on the internet. It is not my work, but really cool and I have tried to duplicate the finish, but with no luck. All I get is a dead black finish, not the beautiful "metallic" appearance. Any suggestions on how to get this finish would be greatly appreciated.
Dave

[David E Keller]

Are you sure that's wood?

I agree it's beautiful. The matte areas could easily be achieved with paint. I'm not sure how you would get that glossy area. The surface would need to be absolutely flawless underneath, but maybe metal leaf would work.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dave - I remember the turning but do not remember the artist. If you have that info - should be able to find out a little more about the piece.

To me, I would think the piece was dyed black and then has a combination of gloss and mat finishes.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I don't remember the exact things that used, IIRC the wood was first colored black then black polish (shoe ?) and a final of black wax.
I don't remember the name of the person that made it though :-(

[Jim Underwood]

That finish looks similar to this John Jordan piece:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/images/image/61788-popup.html

This was dyed, but I'm not sure if anything went on top of it or not.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Pretty sure the artist is Mac Ray - out of Maine. Believe he uses India Ink for the dye and uses a steel rod to burnish those outside areas where he wants a satin sheen. That's about all the info I can find and that was off the WOW site. Maybe a Google search on Maine Woodturners may help.

[Jim Underwood]

Pretty sure the artist is Mac Ray - out of Maine. Believe he uses India Ink for the dye and uses a steel rod to burnish those outside areas where he wants a satin sheen. That's about all the info I can find and that was off the WOW site. Maybe a Google search on Maine Woodturners may help.

Steve seems to be correct. Here's a link to the image:
http://www.mainewoodturners.org/mac_ray.html

I don't see anything yet on the process, but I'll post back if I see anything on it. Thanks for asking the question, because I wondered how it was done also, but just hadn't looked into it... So this has provided the necessary impetus...

[Matt Hutchinson]

This isn't really a comment on how Mac Ray created his finish. More of a personal observation.

I have found that I can get a difference in sheen depending on how fine I sand between coats (sounds pretty obvious, I know). On a couple bowls I only went up to 600 before the final coat than Beall buffed. It was a nice semi-gloss finish. On a different bowl, I did everything the same, but sanded up to 1200 grit. There was a HUGE difference after the final buffing.....quite a high gloss. (I was using a gloss polyurethane.)

I am curious if a person could merely sand the different areas with different grits before the final coat and buffing. I may have to go try this out..... :)

Hutch

[Jamie Buxton]

The pictured piece might well be wood, but if so the turner is pretty clearly following the work of Maria Martinez, a famous potter in New Mexico.

http://www.mariapottery.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Martinez

[Jim Underwood]

Andy Hoyt may be able to chime in here with info since he's a member of the Maine Woodturners club...

I believe I have seen some of Maria's work here at a local show. It's quite eye-catching.

[Dave Mueller]

Guys,
Thanks so much for the leads. I have been intrigued by this finish for some time, but was just never able to duplicate it. The pictures on Mac Ray's webpage look a little more black than the black/gray in my picture. Regardless, it is a beautiful finish and I hope he responds to SMC with some suggestions.

Again, thanks for all the help. SMC is the greatest.

Dave