Black starbond as finish/pore filler?

[Mike Novak]

Has anyone tried using black star bond as first step for a CA finish? I’m thinking red oak might look pretty good with black pores. This is for a yarn bowl. It has some cracks I filled with black star bond, which got me thinking about using it to darken pores.

I couldn’t find anything on google about using black as a pore filler or finish

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

I use it on cracks and small voids. I do not think it would be effective as a pore filler which usually requires a paste.There are a number of options for that but I am not sure if you could add black dye to them. Crystalac is one brand of grain filler.

 

[Dean Center]

Try it and let us know how it turns out. With photos, of course. A yarn bowl is gonna take a whole lot of CA, though.

 

[Richard Coers]

CA on a bowl? You must be extremely fast. I've had it start to kick on a pen barrel, I can't imagine how it would go on a bowl with a slot in the side and not be a mess.

 

[William Rogers]

I’m guessing you could do a yarn bowl. I have done a small 10” hollow form with stickfast thin CA. The slot could be a problem. However my thinking is to use some black dye and sand it back. I have done it to ash, but not red oak.

 

[Mike Novak]

For CA on the yarn bowl, I put it on before cutting the slot. I’m trying to get dark black pores while keeping the surrounding wood as light as possible. That’s who I’m thinking CA, since it doesn’t darken the wood much.

I tried using black starbond as pore filler today. It’s not wicking into the pores enough. By the time I sand it back, I lose the black in the pores.

I also tried shellac sanding sealer with India ink. Same problem.

Next I tried India ink to stain the pores, followed by thin CA to fill them. This might work if I improve my technique.

@William Rogers, dye would probably work better than India ink as it would be drawn deeper into pores. I don’t have any to try so not happening for this bowl

 

[Richard Coers]

The trouble of the material not getting into the pores is the liquid used as a carrier. If the surface tension is too high, the carrier will not displace the oxygen that is in the pores. That happens to me when I use an iron oxide finish on oak. You might try thinning down the dye for the first coat to go into the pores and then add a second full strength coat for the darker color. I've had good luck using General Finishes dye stain. Stain uses pigments that fills the pores and dye colors the surface wood.

 

[Dave Landers]

Another option, if you want to blacken the open pores is fire.
I do this on ash, and it should work about the same on oak. The open pores burn faster than the closed/tight grain portions.
A regular propane torch will work, but a brûlée torch (small butane kitchen torch) gives you more control. I just focus the flame around the growth rings - not trying to set anything on fire, but just enough to turn the rings black.

Here's an ash piece that I burned like that and then dyed, probably then got lacquer. I have one that I didn't dye, but can't find a pic of it right now.

 

[Dean Center]

What you what to have for a result is sort of the reverse of liming with liming wax. With that in mind, there must be a black wax that would do the trick. Check out "liming wax" online and see the effect. Maybe it's what you want.