Ebonizing anyone?
- Thread starter RayGia
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Hodgo
Senior Member
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- 690
What method did you use previously?
Haven’t tried it, but I’ve kept this article bookmarked for some time because it looks very promising: https://www.popularwoodworking.com/finishing/ebonizing_wood/
Haven’t tried it, but I’ve kept this article bookmarked for some time because it looks very promising: https://www.popularwoodworking.com/finishing/ebonizing_wood/
Tretgeraet
Newbie
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- 24
I used the vinegar and steel wool method before, not exactly for ebonizing, but to make light woods darker. So, I can confirm that it works.
Hodgo
Senior Member
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- 690
Yeah, I’ve done that and have been happy with the results, but never tried the bark tan soak they described.
StewMac also sells India ink for ebonizing fretboards, and while the product examples look good I worry it would be unnaturally cool in tone in person.
u.9
Junior Member
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- 124
I haven't tried the vinegaroon method with wood (I don't think), but used it almost exclusively with veg tan leather when I was making straps and belts. Even though the black doesn't get quite as deep as with dyes, it definitely produced a more natural black that didn't have the characteristic blue, purple, or weird green cast that some inks/dyes do when they fade. Also, vinegarooned black never faded on my works because it was a chemical reaction not a pigment. The level of tannins in a piece is also influenced by natural processes, so it is not guaranteed to be even throughout the piece. I had some leathers that would be harder if not impossible to get as dark as others, and sometimes there would be unevenly dark areas (I'd hesitate to call them splotchy though). Would anticipate the same in wood.
