Thread: Making wood black

Originally Posted by ElizaLeahy

Other then painting - what are my options?

Use a natural fiber dye. A non salt one .

I've had good luck with India Ink on flat woodwork (popular and beech). Readily available at art supply stores.

Eliza, Search on the forum for ebonizing wood or timber this will bring up various recipes.Use the search button on the left hand side, failing that Google is your friend.

Burn it.
What are you making?
If its only a tiny area you can use a black texta, I have used black texta ink for dying wood.

The papermate brand 'Sharpie' permanent marker works well as the oil finish I use does not cause the ink to run. Other brands I tried will run when the oil is applied.

I've got someone who wants me to make lots of hairsticks, that she will then decorate and resell. We settled on size, shape and price, but she wants most of them to be black. She doesn't mind if it's black artificially.

Has to be non toxic, so I'm not sure about indian ink?

I tried ebonising with vinigar and rusty nails, I've had the solution sitting for months. Worked pretty well on red cedar - but didn't go as far as making it black, just very dark. Tried it on some gum with mixed results - parts went VERY black, parts hardly darkened.

I'll go search for "ebonizing wood"

Thanks

Eliza, ebonizing does not work with all woods, as you've already found out. The technique works best with woods, like oak, that have a high tannin content.

The best way is to set up a plastic "tent" that will contain the wood and a dish of 28% ammonia.
Make sure the tent is sealed completely. After about 3 days you should see a dramatic difference in the color. Sometimes leaving it for 5 to 7 days produces a nice black patina.

Good luck.

Hi Eliza,

You might find Feast Watson's Black Proof Tint, applied directly i.e. no mixing with anything, to be helpful.

cheers
Wendy

Ebony?

i've never tried it but what about van dyck crystals -they may not make the wood dark enough though - probably more a dark brown - it's a natural water based dye made from walnut husks

You cant get it any blacker than this
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f69/black-pen-97442

Cheers
Shorty

Right, black timber stain. I'll get some next time I'm at Bunnies

Thank you!

Originally Posted by ElizaLeahy

I tried ebonising with vinigar and rusty nails, I've had the solution sitting for months. Worked pretty well on red cedar - but didn't go as far as making it black, just very dark. Tried it on some gum with mixed results...

It depends on the amount of tannins in the timber. I put old gum leaves in the vinegar/steel wool mix which helps the reaction along. Use an old stocking to filter the final mix after a week. It may take a few coats, but it does make it a lot blacker.

anyone ever tried boot polish on timber . ? just wonder if it would shine up

Yep. That's an old trick.

It does add a nice lustre... our old bookcase was just pine planks stacked on concrete blocks in the living room. Oxblood boot-polish gave it a beautiful colour & shine, almost like mahogany.

If only it wasn't obviously radiata grain...