Ebonizing

[Henk Marais]

Dear Fellow Creekers

I apologise up front because I am sure this topic has been discussed before but I could not find it in my searches.

I have a vague idea about ebonizing but want to try it on a pieace I am bussy with. I have a limited budget and rather over-reasearch before I try it and fail.

Could someone please point me to a tutorial on ebonizing that will teach me how to do it properly.

Regards,

Henk Marais - South Africa

[Michael Sobik]

I think there are a couple ways to go. You can try and chemically ebonize it, with a mixture of vinegar and steel wool. Although, I've had great success using a two step dye/staining process. I use a strong solution of Transtint black dye, followed by an oil based ebony or black stain. This blackens the wood quite well, but preserves the look of the wood as opposed to using paint. The topcoat really turns the color into a deep rich black. As always, test on scrap first.