Playing around with Ebonising.

Don Baer

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I wanted to see how differant wood reacted to the ebonising solution. Sat I put some schredded steel wool in a containier of vinager and let it sit for a couple a days. Today I took some wood and put it in the solution to see how each one would react.

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ther wood is from left to right, Mahogany, red Oak and maple. the oak and maple I just dunked in for a few minutes and the mahogany I let soak for an hour or so. I cut the mahogany in half to see how far it penetrated.

I'll play around with these and other species of wood and vary the soak times and let you know the results. I want to let the solution age a little longer , they say it won't reach full potency till it's a week old.
 

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Don I think you will find that cherry has a better look and the garin lens it's self to the finishing process better. Not as much sanding is needed therefore no sand through. Another thing nice with cherry you can get a very nice rub through look with the cherry by sanding with 600 wet sand to bring out the suttle color changes from the ebony to the dark cherry.
 
I have 'kinda' experimented with the ole vinegar and steel wool thing too. Mine was not a happy experience. :( I had it in a glass mason jar and put on the steel shelves where I keep a lot of my turning supplies. The solution sorta creeped out and corroded the shelves and rusted some tools and things. Sorta reminiscent of what Vaughn recently experienced, albeit to a much lesser extent. My limited experience is that it works very well on oak.
 
So Don the maple really did not take it too well did it?. I ask because a while back i made a friend of mine a hi fi stand. He wanted to ebonize it and we were advised to use indian ink. He decided in his wisdom to use black paint. The wood we used was maple veneer plywood.
 
So Don the maple really did not take it too well did it?. I ask because a while back i made a friend of mine a hi fi stand. He wanted to ebonize it and we were advised to use indian ink. He decided in his wisdom to use black paint. The wood we used was maple veneer plywood.

Maple responds differently with different acids. Weak muriatic acid is like by gun builders for darkening and bringing out figure with maple. Applied a little at a time the process can be halted with a neutralizer when it reaches the desired point of darkness. However the color remains more brown than black. I wouldn't call it an ebonizer.
 
Here's a shot of some walnut I ebonized to use for the plugs in this table. I found that you really had to saturate the wood to get down into the pores. If you didn't the lighter wood would show.
 

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Some of you have seen this but I figured it is one of my best examples of Darken cherry with the solution. After I finished the gun 50 cal. I took it to a dealer and asked him if I can put it on consignment and he said no your not a noted gun maker and or the gun is not original. But he 1st asked me said: Wow is that an original ? I told him I just finished building it to the F&I war Spec's. I could have said ya but then when parts were removed you could tell it was new. The other rifle is a 54 cal with die stains Walnut and maple. both finished with a hand rubbed 100% Tung oil
 

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I stumbled on these guns reading through the post, talk about awesome, my hats off to your talent, I don't wear a hat but you know what I mean, great work indeed. I have hidden talent, so hidden I haven't found it yet.

I'm going to give this blacking a try. I wonder if black cloth dye would do anything I have some, what the hec, what have I got to loose. :dunno:
 
Bill give it a shot as Don did. Test the different woods. One thing you will need to remember with this. All wood has to be sanded the dampened with water and sanded again. Because once you add the vinegar acid to the wood you can not sand the wood till you get at least 3 coats of finish and then you need to be very careful on all edges.
Good Luck , ask questions myself and Don and their are a few others who are very knowledgeable to help you out.
 
So Don the maple really did not take it too well did it?. I ask because a while back i made a friend of mine a hi fi stand. He wanted to ebonize it and we were advised to use indian ink. He decided in his wisdom to use black paint. The wood we used was maple veneer plywood.

I've used India ink on maple with good results. I've also used black liquid Rit fabric dye. My favorite, though, is Transtint dye with DNA as a base. Using the DNA lessens the amount of grain that gets raised, especially if you dampen the wood with water first, let it dry, and sand the raised grain smooth before applying the dye. I'll usually to the "dampen and sand" routine a few times before I apply the dye.
 
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