ebonizing

[tinyminds]

i've been having lots of fun ebonizing wood so i thought i'd share a few pics.

i like black to contrast the other wood but only have a few piano sharps of ebony so to make some bigger black bits of wood i tried ebonizing.

first i turned the pieces and sanded to 320ish, then i dropped them in a very strong cup of tea and soaked over night. then i dried them out completely and covered them with a soaking of steel wool soaked in vinegar (kept in a jam jar with holes in the lid).

after that dried i gave it a swipe with a teabag all over and let dry again.

then i polished waxed.

and you should see the colour of my fingers cos i forgot to wear gloves!

anyway these are a couple of the results:

very silly pots but fun to make.

 

[tinyminds]

oh should have said, the top finials are actually ebony, the rest is ebonized.

 

[Mike.S]

Interesting, thanks for posting.

I've read that using Indian Ink is popular for ebonising. Have you tried anything else besides the tea/steel wool+vinegar or was it success first time?

 

[tinyminds]

i haven't tried anything else yet as i really liked the result from this. if the tea has soaked into the wood then the reaction with the iron takes place within the wood and not just on the surface so it's pretty cool.

i would image indian ink would be pretty similar as what the tannin iron produces is basically ink.

i've got to say mostly i just really liked the magical chemical reaction

 

[JimB]

What is the wood? I suppose woods with high tannin content wouldn't need the tea bag treatment.

 

[tinyminds]

i think those are mostly pear apart from the base of the second which was some random wood, maybe sycamore? that piece went more brown than black.

best i have found in general is pear, apple or cherry, nice tight grain and easily absorb the tea/iron.

i tried oak which has quite a high tannin level, it does turn back nicely but i'm not keen of the look of the grain.

 

[JimB]

Thanks Tiny.