Thread: Vinegar & steel filings

Haven't used this myself, but have read several associated warnings about the gas pressure generated as the chemical reaction proceeds.

Don't use a tight-fitting lid on the container!!

Cheers,
Andrew

Just try it out. Make sure there is an excess of filings so you eat up the acetic acid. And give it time to react. It will be quite slow.

You end up with Ferrous/Ferric Acetate, an innocuous salt which is quite harmless in all but massive quantities.

Ed T

Originally Posted by ED T

Just try it out. Make sure there is an excess of filings so you eat up the acetic acid. And give it time to react. It will be quite slow.

You end up with Ferrous/Ferric Acetate, an innocuous salt which is quite harmless in all but massive quantities.

Ed T

OK do you brush the mixture onto the wood or do yuo soak the wood in the mixture?

From memory Niel has a recipe for something like this in the "Book", don't have it near at the moment its down the workshop.

I used steel wool as it is rather fine and goes into solution fairly (Days) quickly. Immerse for several days 9perhaps two weeks for a good faux ebony finish) . Timbers with a high tannin content appaerntly go well. My experiments
Worst; vic Ash
then walnut
Tassie Myrtle
tassie blackwood
Jarrah
easily best Woolybut ( to a depth of around 0.5 mm in five days)
As the depth is rather small, pre-finish wherever possible.
However to be fair, the woolybur was air dried so this may have a bearing
all the above subject to experimental error and small samples without good controls (but they were all done together for the same time, so some discipline)
Jacko

I do believe it works best on Oak.

It only works on tannin rich timber.

Originally Posted by jacko

I used steel wool as it is rather fine and goes into solution fairly (Days) quickly. Immerse for several days 9perhaps two weeks for a good faux ebony finish) . Timbers with a high tannin content appaerntly go well. My experiments
Worst; vic Ash
then walnut
Tassie Myrtle
tassie blackwood
Jarrah
easily best Woolybut ( to a depth of around 0.5 mm in five days)
Jacko

Woolybutt is alpine or mountain ash. Most of the timber traded as VIC ASH is woolybut. Vic ash is a trade name for a range of species which can inlude alpine ash (E delegatensis), mountain ash E.regnans and messmate E.obliqua (I have an idea narrow leaf peppermint and blue gum can also be inluded under the trade name VIC ASH but not sure about that) so your experiment whilst still valid do not indicate a better result on a particular type/species of wood.
If the tannin theory hold up it would be interesting to try this process on Black wattle (A. mearnsii), which was a major source of tannins for early Australian tanning industry and is grown in plantations in South Africa today for this pupose.

Originally Posted by dadpad

If the tannin theory hold up it would be interesting to try this process on Black wattle (A. mearnsii), which was a major source of tannins for early Australian tanning industry and is grown in plantations in South Africa today for this pupose.

Have tanned a few skins in my time using bark from black wattle. Wonder if the wood is as tannin rich as the bark.

If you search the site you'll find posts about other ways of darkening or ebonising timber too.

Haven't tried the iron filings recipe, but this is specifically claimed to be an ebonizing product (completely obscures the grain).

They also carry Van Dyck crystals, which "Dissolve in hot water to achieve a brown colour, intensity of which is controlled by the strength of dilution. The traditional method of colouring oak and walnut."

I haven't tried either product, but what I have tried is Feast Watson black prooftint, which is more expensive than the liberon black polish, and lets some of the grain still show through.


Could also do a search:

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...earchid=542809

Originally Posted by wombat47

Have tanned a few skins in my time using bark from black wattle. Wonder if the wood is as tannin rich as the bark.

It is my understanding that the wood does not have as much tannin as the bark but is still higher than most woods. I have 700 black wattles in a plantation that will need to be thinned shortly none of the wood will be acceptable for woodwork (too knotty, not enough clearwood yet) however you could try the process on a piece if you are able to pick up from NE Victoria. pm me if interested.

Originally Posted by wombat47

Have tanned a few skins in my time ...

This technique of using iron filings or steel wool in weak acid as a dye is very commonly known by people who work with leather for medieval reproduction purposes - it is a very, very, very old technique for dying leather. Apparently it will dye your skin very well as well...

Probably way off topic but here is some black wattle i ripped down today