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ebonizing ... (post #90839)

Danford_C._Jennings on Wed, 01/17/2001 - 15:12

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David,

"Ebonized" is a euphemism for stained. Is this for your table project? Hope you are not using a router in place of a saw.:)

Dano

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by Dave_Arbuckle in reply to Danford_C._Jennings [original] on Wed, 01/17/2001 - 17:38

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You ever see that book on ebonizing with a router? ;-)

You can chemically ebonize certain woods, I seem to recall iron decomposed in vinegar works on Walnut or Oak, or both. Dunno about Cherry, black stain probably works about as good as anything.

Dave

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by Danford_C._Jennings in reply to Anonymous [original] on Wed, 01/17/2001 - 18:00

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Dave,

Is that the book by Kernov?;)

Dano

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by thanksall in reply to Danford_C._Jennings [original] on Sun, 08/06/2006 - 19:12

I have a bed to make, the customer asked for an ebonized cherry finish. If this is simply a black stain, does anyone have any reccomendations on any particular stain---color or brand?

Thanks all

Dave

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by Rooms in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sun, 08/06/2006 - 23:40

You may have a problem getting the wood to "take" enough stain to get the dark color you wish. Most stains also have a sealer which prevents much additional staining from recoating.

I've just completed an ebonized Maple project. I used Transfast black water based dye. You'll have to raise the grain first, but you can mix the dye as strong as you wish and can add as many coats of dye as you wish. Obvioulsy, you should make some test samples first.

One final note on the black Transfast dye when you use heavy consentrations, it has a bit of blueish/purple tint when just dyed. A coat of polyurathane (not polycrylic) will take cate of the blueish/purple blush per Transfast recommendations.

Good luck.

Bob

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by bigfootnampa in reply to Anonymous [original] on Mon, 08/07/2006 - 00:02

I recently had to match a very dark stain on some cherry columns... I used a Tri-Clad stain which was a nicer stain than any I'd ever used before. I didn't quite go as dark as ebonizing, but pretty close. Try a dark water stain followed by an oil stain to get the closest to full black. You'll find it more attractive if you have some deep undertones which are browns than if you get it completely black... the most attractive real ebonies are like this. My stain was custom mixed to a sample but not as dark as the system is capable of.

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by BossCrunk in reply to Anonymous [original] on Tue, 08/08/2006 - 23:24

I'm not quite sure what your customer wants but I can tell you that you must do a test run on an actual piece of project stock and have the customer sign and date the back of the piece with a Sharpie or something along those lines evdencing approval of the color and finish. Most common way a custom woodworker gets burned by a customer who lets their big mouth overload their hummingbird a$$ and order a piece of custom woodworking - buyer's remorse sets in (and lack of funds) and they refuse delivery and payment of balance because of the stain and or finish combination.

Most often happens with customers who otherwise look like they can't afford custom work but act like they can.

Always get a deposit that covers your raw materials cost and a bit of your time - at a minimum.

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by Grey Glove in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 08/26/2006 - 00:06

Hi All,

I have tried quite a few stains, the only company I use now is Innovative, formerly Insulmastic, for stain, pre and post cat lacquer and post cat paint. Some one at their plant suggested I try what he refered to as "fogging". To achive a really dark finish on any wood stain it first, then put the stain in your gun, I have an HVLP pressure pot, turn the pressure down, way down to about four psi, fluid way down and a wide fan. Spray the stain onto the project, move quickly with a half overlap. The intention is not to saturate and wipe after but to mist the surface and leave to dry. It looks a bit blotchy at first but within a miniute it evens out, and then as they say "repeat as necessary". At about six foggs it doesn't make much of a difference anymore as you won't be able to see the grain anymore. As it turns out it also solved the problem of blotchy stain jobs on woods like birch and hemlock, don't stain and wipe it first just apply the fog in as many coats as necessary to achive the depth of color.

Grey Glove

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by Kevin in reply to Anonymous [original] on Mon, 08/28/2006 - 03:13

I would recommend doing adhesion tests on the finished before relying upon a fogging color system. My guess is that it'll fail the most rudimentary tests. I've seen it happen on staining projects which require a lot of the stain to sit on the surface because that means that the finish on top of it is only adhereing to the stain. So the finished product will only be a strong as the bond between the stain and the wood. And stains aren't typically known for strong adhesion to wood.

I've never used Innovative products and it may be that their formulations are such that satisfactory adhesion has already been established using this fogging technique. But I would caution anyone using alternate products to test first. Nothing makes the finish coat less durable than lack of adhesion to the substrait.

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by bufun in reply to Danford_C._Jennings [original] on Sat, 08/26/2006 - 17:20

Guest, here goes I ebonized a polar box for a client utilizing India Ink which in actuality is a water based powder. It made the polar really black without any of the geen tint you get with other set-ups.hope this helps-good luck
Bufun

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by biker in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sun, 08/27/2006 - 14:54

I've also used India Ink on beech and maple with good results. If you do a search of this site with "ebonizing" as your key word, you'll find several years of discussions of various techniques and the results you can expect.

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by bufun in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sun, 08/27/2006 - 16:26

Biker, I got to thinking about ebonizing pulls and handles and wear from use. When I used India Ink, I found it to be soft and about 2 coats was all I'd attempt on a small box. I ended up utilizing brushing lacquer as a top coat and applied 7 coats. Along the way, say the 4th treatment I changed stroke direction 90 degrees and returned with following courses to sympathectic brushing with the grain . I don't know if this contributed to the end result which was adjoining faces of the carcase would relate to light differntly, one would reflect, the other absorb. It added a lot of activity to ####small carcase and was kind of cool.
Good Workings, Bufun

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by VtwoodchIP in reply to Danford_C._Jennings [original] on Thu, 02/15/2007 - 05:36

Wm Brockway in his book "Recreating the Double Barrel Muzzleloading Shotgum" suggests using black leather dye for ebonizing ramrods. I have not tried this yet but will be making some loading rods for a couple pieces and will give it a try. Per the book, the dye penetrates deep enough to prevent scraping thru the color when the rod is slid in and out of the thimbles under the barrels. Do not know how it will work on cherry. Chromium trioxide might get you close to black. That is used primarily in the muzzleloading gun building trade to darken maple. Left long enough it will get dark. Again I have not used in on cherry. Don't get it on your hands - it wears for a long time.