Ebonization

[jcooper]

There are many turners out there now adays that will make tops and finials to tops using "ebonized" black walnut or outher dark woods. I am curious of what the staining process entails in doing this. I love the look of ebony over maple, but i am personaly against using it (as well as many other exotic woods) for many environmental reasons. Any advice of how to ebonize a wood such as black walnut? i'm not sure if i should use an oil or gel stain. and in terms of a collar on a hollow vessel, do you turn it stain it, and then glue it in to your vessel and then finish it?

- Jon

 

[Dario]

Easiest I can think of is buy some steel wool (NOT the stainless kind) and soak it in vinegar for a few days.

In lieu of steel wool, you can use iron/steel filings or nails, etc but the bigger the items, the slower the process before you get your solution.

The ebonizing solution will then be applied (rubbed, brushed, etc) on the finish turned and sanded wood. The ebonized look is only skin deep so if you sand it, it will go away and you will have to repeat. After it dries, you can apply your usual finish over it.

Hope this helps.

 

[S. Clark]

You have opened the door to a broad topic my friend. Basically the term ebonized is an artsy way of saying “blackenedâ€Â. It seems that any technique that makes the wood black is acceptable. In general, ebonizing is done after the piece is turned because it is basically a surface treatment. Different woods respond best to different processes and many woods respond well to every process. You need to develop your process through experimentation. My suggestion is to use scraps as samples to test treatments, or use your discarded works. Staining, dying, fumigating, and torching are all techniques I’ve played with a little. You can try both commercially prepared stains and home made mixes. The trick is to work through the experimentation process in a logical manner so that you can identify clearly what actions produce what results. That’s the only way to insure it is repeatable.

My experimenting with Walnut has proved to respond well to iron staining. Sycamore responds well to torching (of course there is a textural issue here too). Redwood responds to fumigating. Mahogany responded well to dying. But none of these have I worked through enough to offer you a particular recipe for success.

- Scott

 

[Hugh]

If you want a totally black item, there are a couple of ways to get there. The steelwool/vinegar works to a certain extent - seems to be a lighter color than I was after. Heart wood reacts differently than sap wood - it depends on the amount of tanic acid in the wood. Black paint works. India ink works. Acrylic paints and inks. The best I like is shoe dye. Comes in a 4 - 6 oz. bottle with it's own applicator. Wear rubber gloves as it seems to get everywhere (maybe just with me doing it). Put a finish over the top. There are other methods, but try the shoe dye - it is not too expensive to try and you may like the results.
Hugh

 

[Frank Kobilsek]

Jon,
Dario and Hugh hit on the vinegar and steelwools notes but here the recipe

2 Cups vinegar & one steel wool pad in a fruit jar. It will bubble rust and generally look nasty for about 3 weeks. Strain it a couple times and store it in a well sealed jar. More sediments will far to the bottom, don't shake it up let that stuff lie in the bottom of the jar.

Reach in the jar with a paper towel and wipe it on the wood to ebonize. Like Hugh said if tannins are present it will blacken. Do not reach the same paper towel back in to the jar as you will transfer dust and tannins into the solution and eventually kill it.

It will raise the grain a bit so I ussualy sand with 400 or 600 grit and reapply. Results depend on the wood, walnut works great but the sap wood will not ebonize. Maple is OK, sometimes I will ebonize and then dye black.

Its a fun easy surface decoration and cheap too.

Frank

 

[john lucas]

I don't actually ebonize, I color the wood. I feel that using dye's I have more control over the actual color. The simple and easy way is to use Leather dye. The black leather dye works very fast and is extremely black. Of course you can get other colors and even mix them.
I also use Analine dye. I have black, red, green, yellow, and blue. With these colors I can mix anything I want. I like to add some blue to the black to do what you think of as ebonizing. It adds just a touch of color to alter the appearance of the black, Think Locomotive steel and you'll sort of get the idea.
If you thin the dye you can get less color and less intensity.
The ebony that I've used was so black it looks like black Acrylic when I'm done polishing it. I prefer ebony with some color if I use it but the acrylic look is why I switched to dyes. I can pick a wood that has a more pronounced grain and then thin the dye a little so you can see that it's actually wood, not plastic

 

[Bob Chapman]

Ebonising

I keep hearing about steel wool or iron filings and vinegar mixtures to blacken timber. A much cleaner alternative is to use Iron II Sulphate (aka 'Ferrous sulphate). Sorry, just remembered you guys spell it 'sulfate'.

Here in the UK it is the main constituent of moss killers and can be purchased at garden stores. I don't know about the USA, or if there are restrictions on it there. Anyway, it is a pale green crystalline solid, looking a bit like green sugar. Dissolve a couple of teaspoons in an eggcup full of water and paint over the wood. The colour develops slowly so leave it overnight. The effect varies with the timber but is the same as the steel wool/vinegar mixture, and a lot more pleasant. Take normal commonsense precautions with the solution - its not corrosive, nor especially poisonous but you wouldn't want to drink it. At best it would make you very very very constipated!

if you want to see the effect on tannin, add a few drops to some cold tea.

Bob