Fake Ebony

[LANKFORD]

I,m looking to have some black accent pieces on small boxes like a narrow rim at the box opening, small finial, and maywe a small foot. I know I can use real ebony but it is expensive and hard to find in thin pieces big enough for those top rings. Anyone have any suggestions for a wood dyed black that still can be turned a bit without losing the stain.

 

[arbud]

Burn it

You could always burn a thin piece of wood w/a propane torch. It takes a bit of practice to get a good result. I toasted several pieces of scrap wood before I had a usable piece.

It's too bad that you're 3,000 miles East. There's a supplier in Bandon, OR who has a ton of ebony most of which is a 1/2" or less in thickness and at a reasonable price. I assume shipping would be rather expensive. If you want his name, etc. then send me a PM.

 

[Jonathon.C]

What I have done is take vinegar and soak a pad of steel wool in it for a couple of days. Strain it through a t-shirt into another bottle and than use this mixture. With light woods it would be harder to get it completly dark, but with walnut after about three coats you've got ebony!!! It doesn't look like much is happening at first when you wipe it on so give it a couple minutes to do its stuff. You can do this before you put the finish on and it is cool!!! If you look in the gallery at my newest wands... this is what I did on that walnut one! Good luck!!

Jonathon

 

[Andy Coates]

The technique detailed above - ebonizing - works very well with any wood with a high tannin content such as Oak. Yew turns purple and Ash shades of green.

African Blackwood, which is pretty dark to begin with, turns so black that you'd be hard put to tell the difference between it and Ebony.

I made a finial last week and ebonized it and only one person in my club guessed that it wasn't ebony!

You can also mix up a solution of garden fertilizer, variously named but it should be Ferrous Sulphate powder/crystals, with cold water until it saturates. This works just the same way as vinegar and wire wool solution.

Andy

 

[n7bsn]

There is (or was) Ebon-X, a dyed domestic hardwood. I just did a search ("Ebon-x") and did get a few hits (mostly people talking about the product)

 

[Bill Boehme]

I have used undiluted "Mission Oak" TransTint dye on white oak and the reults very closely resembled macassar ebony. I don't know about the price of Texas ebony, but it is jet black.

Bill

 

[Carole Valentine]

I have used black India Ink on holly. Works well.

 

[LANKFORD]

Boy, great ideas. Thanks. I like the one about using Walnut. I have a lot of walnut on hand.

 

[Steve Worcester]

Why not turn the walnut as a glue in insert first, then die it and glue it in?

 

[woodsmanplus]

ebonizing

When I wanted black accents on my boxes I cut the piece to size then finished sanding it an then I would throw it in a small pan that I kept my dye in an let it set over night.I never had any problem with the stain coming off.
Ken

 

[DWFII]

I haven't done this except in test pieces but I've a project I have in the works where I will...

Why not use persimmon? You can definitely dye it deep, deep black with leather dye, might be able to ebonize it, and it's also known as "American Ebony" because it is the same species (?) as ebony. I have read that many pool cue manufacturers use dyed persimmon in lieu of ebony and it is virtually indistinguishable.


DW
In the High Desert of Central Oregon

 

[Buzz Coren]

Ebon-X

I,m looking to have some black accent pieces on small boxes like a narrow rim at the box opening, small finial, and maywe a small foot. I know I can use real ebony but it is expensive and hard to find in thin pieces big enough for those top rings. Anyone have any suggestions for a wood dyed black that still can be turned a bit without losing the stain.

Hello.......I belonged to this forum a long time ago, rejoined and found your post. Years ago while they were still in business I bought a couple lots of Ebon-X shorts, some dyed black, some their "faux rosewood" that might be of interest if you're still looking for black accent wood. Holler back at me and maybe I can help.

Best regards,
Buzz Coren

 

[Thomas Stegall]

Ebony replacement

Walnut achieves the correct color but is too open grained to look like ebony up close. Ebonizing hard maple that has been sanded to a very fine grit, then applying a few coats of tung oil or boiled linseed oil after ebonzing produces a color and texture and sheen that will fool almost anyone.

Another easy approach to achieving the right color is to use black leather dye, but you will need to raise the grain and sand first because the dye will do this leaving a dull surface that is not as convincing as the above approach.

 

[john lucas]

I don't like perfectly black ebony. It looks like plastic when you polish it up. I prefer ebony that has some brown streaks in it. For that reason I use cherry, dye it with shoe dye, then steel wool it back a little bit so it has a brownish tinge either all over or sometimes just a sort of streak. It still looks black from a distance but when you get close you see the grain and some of the brown color and I think it's a lot more interesting.
Of course when I do want black I just put on 2 or 3 coats of the shoe dye and then several layers of lacquer and it's glossy black plastic again. I will often spray it lightly with a satin spray to tone the gloss back down.

 

[odie]

John, Thomas.....or whomever......

When you are using leather dye (I'm assuming shoe dye is the same thing), at what depth does the dye absorb to, and still produce a good finish? Is it safe to say you are dying a turned object, or can you dye a block of wood and then turn it?

I'm wondering if it's possible to soak a block of wood in dye, then turn.........?

ooc

 

[john lucas]

Extremely shallow, unless you don't want it to penetrate. It will of course wick into end grain but on side grain, especially hard woods, I'm not even sure it goes in .003"

 

[davidwalser]

It depends

When you are using leather dye (I'm assuming shoe dye is the same thing), at what depth does the dye absorb to, and still produce a good finish? Is it safe to say you are dying a turned object, or can you dye a block of wood and then turn it?

I'm wondering if it's possible to soak a block of wood in dye, then turn.........?

Leather dye/shoe dye is fairly thin, so it can penetrate fairly deep in open-pored wood. For example, the dye may penetrate several inches into the end grain of white oak or ash. But, even then, the penetration is apt to be inconsistent so you couldn't dye a rough blank before turning.

When I've used leather dye on some lamp bases I turned out of poplar, I put the dye on fairly heavily, trying to let it soak into the wood as deeply as possible. Still, I found that I could easily sand through the dye (in some places more than others) with a light application of 400 grit. So, on poplar, penetration would be measured in 1/1,000's of an inch.

 

[Dennis J Gooding]

I second Ken's approach, but do not soak the pieces--merely paint dye on two or three times and and let it dry. I use Kiwi black leather dye, available in grocery and drug stores. I usually use madrone or madrone burl, because it is readily available here and turns very nicely. I have used the classic vinegar and steel wool approach, but find that it usually does not give deep enough black color to mimic ebony.

Dennis

 

[Vernon Jenewein]

On woods with low tannin content you get a much better result if you make up a strong tea of "tea" leaves and I do mean strong. Then paint the wood with this tea solution before your iron acetate solution (Steel Wool and Vinegar) and then you can re-apply the tea solution after it all dries to give it even more dark color.

 

[John Jordan]

See the ebon-x post.

John

 

[Vincent Luciani]

I am using Cherry, Black Sharpie, black India ink, burnished with cloth or soft paper towel. Looks great. Lock with non gloss laq. if needed.