Ebonized Mimosa Finial Practice

[Richard Madison]

From left to right; first crude attempt, crude imitation of Neal Addy finial, and crude imitation of Mike Fusion finial. All about 3-1/2" tall plus the base block. Thank you guys. Plan is to do a segmented hollow form for one or more of these. Or maybe practice some more.

But intent of post is to show the ebonized mimosa (steel wool in vinegar and filtered w/ coffee filter). The mimosa turned easily, sanded to smooth surface, but the end grain is rather "open" and slurps up a lot of finish material.

[Allen Neighbors]

Richard, good job! I like #2 the most, then #3 .
How long for the steel wool to stay in the vinegar?

[Ben Gastfriend]

I also like #2, but they all look great. Could you elaborate (or point me to a source) about ebonizing. Looks like something I'd want to try.

[Richard Madison]

Thanks guys. It was just a pad of steel wool (not the oily kind) in about 1/2 cup of white vinegar in plastic bottle. It probably sat for 2 or 3 weeks before I remembered it and filtered. My sweetie (the chemist) says that if agitated frequently, an hour or two might be enough time to react all the acetic acid in the vinegar with iron in the steel wool. Most of the steel wool pad seems to still be there (in bottle #1), and it took very little of the filtered stuff (bottle #2) to do the finials, so a little bit goes a long way.

So you get iron acetate in the filtrate, which reacts with tannin or tannic acid in the wood, and turns black. Or something like that. She is still doing chemical reactions in her head and I'm trying to get this written.

Depends upon the amount of tannin in the wood, but have read that oak ebonizes well, and probably many others.

Thanks for the kind words, and hope this is helpful. Neal and Mike, they like your finials better than mine, and thanks again.

[Dennis Peacock]

Yup...#2 and #3 are my favorites as well.

[Richard Madison]

Dennis,
Thanks for your reply. Tried some finials last year and they all turned into little Christmas trees.

I thought the first one sucked also, so looked up some pictures of Neal's and Mike's work, emulation being a form of flattery. Have actually seen one of Cindi Drozda's finials, but could not find a picture. Even more inept at "computering" than turning.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great job Richard. I agree #2 then #3.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Richard....I'm like the rest of the crowd.....#3 and #2 are my favorites.

[Alex Elias]

nice looking forms. Personaly the last two are the one I care for the most.
Good luck with the segmented work

[Richard Madison]

Thanks for the nice comments guys. Anyone know where to find some online pictures of Cindi Drozda's finials?

[Arlan Ten Kley]

Richard, try this: http://www.cindydrozda.com/index.htm

It is a nice site.

[Mark Stutz]

As far as ebonizing goes, any iron material left sitting in vinegar long enough will do the job. The rustier the better, according to what I've read. Steel wool is easy because it presents much more surface area than a few rusty 16d nails.

Mark

[Richard Madison]

Thanks Arlan! Great site & beautiful work by Cindy. Taller and thinner, or at least thinner to get a more elegant look.

[Bobby Perry]

Do you wipe the mixture on the wood after you turn it or do you soak the wood in it before you turn it???

[Richard Madison]

Bobby,
Others have more experience at this, but I did all turning and finish sanding through 400 or so. Then just painted on ebonizing soln. with small brush. Be sure not to spill it on lathe ways. Not sure if it would hurt, but I tend to be very protective of all bare metal surfaces. On the mimosa, the surface turned kind of fuzzy. When completely dry, maybe a couple hours, sanded again w/ 320, cleaned w/ paint thinner (mineral spirits), let dry and ready to finish. Am mostly using spray lacquer now, but others could probably suggest other good finishes.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Richard - all three finials have aspects of them that I like. As you stated - these were your first practice finials and as such I think you did well. Big thing is - what do you like/dislike about each of them and how can you incorporate those positve aspects into a unique finial that you can call your own. Have fun with it - I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[Skip Spaulding]

Wow!! Looks like the start of some great chess pieces. Thanks for the chemistry imfo.

[Richard Madison]

Skip,
They do look a bit like chess pieces. Guess you would need to get some holly for the white pieces.

Steve,
Thanks for your response. On the (+) side I like the ebonizing. From Cindy's site (Wow!) and Neal's latest picture I see that more slender is also more elegant.