Ebonizing woods - some test sample results

[jim_mex]

Hi folks - following the great advice as usual from board members - in this case Dale (lucky788scroller) and Bruce (Bruce P), egged on by various members of the Intarsia crowd - I've successfully completed a serious of tests on ebonizing various woods and thought it worthwhile to post the results so folks unfamiliar with this technique can see them and maybe have a go themselves

Here is the method I used pretty much word for word as Dale and Bruce suggested:

1. Take a handful of fine steel wool - washed in soapy water to remove any oil and then rinsed in clean water.
2. Place in a glass jar (a large coffee jar is ideal) and cover with clear white vinegar.
3. Place the cap on the jar loosely so any gas generated by the acetic acid in the vinegar attacking the wire wool can escape. As this brew smells a little best best place the jar in an outdoor shed or similar and away from direct sunlight.
4. Leave the brew for 3 or 4 days until the acetic acid is spent - ie no more bubbling appears to be taking place. Stir the brew at least once each day with a plastic spoon
5. Once the fermenting is past remove the excess wire wool - this can be used to produce a further batch of ebonizing solution by adding fresh vinegar
6. Filter the solution through a coffee filter and store in a sealed plastic or glass jar prior to use


For my test pieces: I took samples of various woods I had at my disposal, namely:
1) pine
2) Mexican oak
3) ash
4) mahoghany
5) aromatic oak (some doubt here *)
6) alder (also some doubt here *)

and produced a 4 1/2" x 2 2 1/4" rectangular sample of each (approx. 3/4" thick) with one good planed and sanded face which I divided into 2 area with a shallow saw cut

(* Sorry for the doubters but i don't always believe the guys in Mexican lumbers yards!)

2. I brush applied the ebonizing solution lightly across the face of one of the areas on each sample leaving a light moist film on the surface. After allowing this film to soak into the wood for a couple of minutes I then applied a second light application

3. I left the samples to stand for about 1 hour in a cool shady area and afterwards placed them outside to dry in the warm Mexican sun (northern readers and folks back home in the UK might wish to skip this step - hehehe!)

4. Once completely dry I applied a coat of tung oil over the treated and untreated areas of each sample

5. 24 hours later I gave all samples a very light sanding with #400 paper and then applied a couple of coats of semi glossy polyurethane top coat to simulate the finish, - which could be better since I rushed to get the post on the board today - LOL!

The results are:





Photography Note. To make sure my images give a good representation of the colours I shot a small reference colour strip with each photo. This strip includes the colours postbox red, cobalt blue, cadmium yellow and intense black. If these colours don't look correct on your monitor you can colour adjust the images in a photo editing program such as Photoshop or Paint shop Pro and see exactly the wood tones I produced


In summary: Ebonizing is cool!
Woods higher in tannic acid content give the blackest results and although most suggestions from board members were to use oak i got the most intense results from mahogany - that's not to say that the oak didn't give a good result. In actual fact the samples showed a wide range of colours according to the woods used and there are a couple of very interesting tones which I'd have trouble finding otherwise. I'll certainly be giving this technique a try in my next intarsia projects.

And if you don't like the results you can wipe the treated areas with a lime and the juice will magically make the 'ebonizing effect' vanish. This trick came from Henriette (Bluebird) but personally I think she's misguided. Here in Mexico we have better uses for limes - now where did I put that tequila !!! Sorry Henriette - only kidding - Kev thought that was a great trick after I told him he could use this like invisble ink!

Oh and final note. I tried pretreating some wood samples with cold stewed black tea to increase the tannic acid content- This did appear to slightly darken the final results but to be honest the results proved marginal. I think I need to wait for my next trip to Asian climes to bring back some of their really strong bitter brews!

The end: and thanks to all concerned for opening my eyes yet again!

[Jim McDonald]

Excellent work showing the samples. Looks like it came from one of the stain sample boards at the lumberyard!

I had read the instructions some time back and made a (weak) mental note of the process, but seeing the results is astounding. Thanks for sharing.

[Ramjet]

That's amazing . Enjoyed the read , the results are tantalizing . Must be something in the mexican sun . Or did the eartquake affect the results .Ha .
Roger

[wood-n-things]

That is so kewl...Nice job and an excellent job explaining how it all went.

[Andy]

Excellent job in creating a thread to edumicate us! Thanks for all the effort. I can see a lot of uses for this process and to have the experimentation stage done for me ... priceless. Thanks Jim!!

Andy

[miniwoodworker]

Thanks, Jim. Although I've read about the technique a few times, there's nothing like seeing it up close and personal.

For one thing, this looks like a great alternative to painting plain ply backgrounds black. The oak has so much more character. Not to mention all the other uses this has.

Thanks again for taking the time to experiment and to show the results. Much appreciated here.

Edit: I've bookmarked this thread.

[dankc908]

Excellent post -- Many thanks. I like the character of the oak best although I do agree that the more intense black is the mahogany!

[Wood Dog]

You are one cool guy.....thanks for taking time to post the pics. I've read about this, but pictures are worth a thousand words as they say. Fantastic results.

[tony coleman]

hi jim,
great piece on ebonizing,and the pictures mean so much.love the results you got from the mahogany piece.only problem though,will your piece of wood not smell like a chip shop....lol

[Fran1942]

Jim,
Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to do this and show us. It is true a picture is worth a thousand words.
Fran