Vinegar/steel wool on turned parts

[Bert McMahan]

I am working on a pen that I thought would look neat with the dark blackish color you can get from vinegar/steel wool on oak. I turned the pen down and sanded it smooth, but when I added the solution it didn't turn out great. Some of the grain went very dark, but a lot of it just turned "darkish".

Another (different) piece of oak turned super dark in the same solution after just a couple of minutes. Does turning or sanding a part make it less suitable for this aging method?

Also, if you have any tips on things to avoid going on top of aged oak like that, I'd like to hear it. I'm currently thinking either CA finish, poly, or lacquer.

[Doug Hepler]

Bert

The variability might be caused by variability in the amount of tannin in different parts of the wood. You might get a more even effect if you prewash the oak with strong black tea solution. Don't add the tea to the iron acetate solution. Pretreat the wood and then apply the iron acetate.

After it has dried, I'm not aware that there would be any incompatibilities involving choice of finish. As always, test on scrap pieces.

Doug

[Marvin Hasenak]

Sounds like you needed more tannin in the wood to get a better reaction. Try wiping the wood down with w soaked tea bag, better would be to use a mix of tannin and water, but I don't know of any small sources. Wine brewers use tannins to add earthy flavor to their wines, but a pound bag would last you a 1000 years.

Or a bottle of Feibings Leather alcohol based dye will get it solid black.

[John K Jordan]

You might also experiment with fuming with ammonia, a different look.

One problem with pens and other very small things is variability between parts of the wood can be significant, "amplified" by the small size of the turning. If I have a choice, I look for pieces of wood with the rings (or figure) closer together, such as you often find in juvenile wood closer to the pith. (I haven't tried iron blackening so I don't have any idea if it affects juvenile wood differently.)

JKJ

[Prashun Patel]

Everyone has their favorite black dye. Mine is transtint. A little goes a long way. Mixes into pretty much anything. Even results.

[Peter Christensen]

If you glue your tubes in with CA it might be penetrating some areas more than others thus keeping the liquid out.

What you can do is to drill out a blank with a 1/4" bit and then turn the outside down between centres until it is round. Submerge it in the solution for a few days. Pull them out and let them dry a few days and then put them in a warmed oven with the light on, oven off until completely dry. Then drill, tube and finish the pen. That should make it completely black all the way through the wood much like bog oak.