How to ebonize wood with steel wool and vinegar. How to turn wood black. Aging wood.
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- Ebonizing wood is really simple . Ebonizing wood is the effect of blackening a naturally lighter colored wood to apear more like black ebony wood.
Ebonized wood turns black, like ebony, while still allowing the wood grain to show through. #ebonizing #woodworking #ebonizingwood
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ITEMS USED IN THIS VIDEO
Homax 10120000 Steel Wool, 12 pad, Grade #0000, Rhodes American, Final Finish
Brand: Homax. amzn.to/3CnwpJk
AVO 1 Gallon (128 oz) Pure Natural Distilled White Vinegar - 5% Acidity (2 pack). amzn.to/42C3lZe
Speedball Super Black India Ink, 16-Ounce. amzn.to/3JbXbZ3
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Love your work. I subscribed.From sunny South Africa
Well they both looked fine from here. . .
I've used these methods a few times over the years. The Bark tea doesn't make a massive difference on red oak which already has high levels of tannins in it, but for woods which are lower in tannins it makes a huge difference - an example would be the maple from the chopping board. Another trick is to grab some plane shavings after your piece has dried and burnish the finish thoroughly, you will get a beautiful muted shine which you can highlight further with a wax finish.
I will have to try that
I was actually wondering if the tea would make a more noticeable difference on something like maple or poplar.
I also burnish the finish. I use a piece of steel plate, about 3" square with polised edges and rounded corners. This lays the wood fiber into the wood and leaves a nice polised surface and needs virtually no finish other than, say, a light wax.
Awesome video! 👍
@@lazio7495 thanks
Be strong gentlemen, stay focused.
It's really not that easy when you're not made of wood...
Yes
Amen
I'm trying but....I'm only human, I've watched it 4 times and I zone out the first time she said wood.....I'll give it one last play...😅
🤭🤣😂..... EXACTLY!
I love this channel. Absolutely amazing tips! Gotta go work my wood now, but I'll be back for sure! 😉😉👍👍
Yes, amazing tips!
GREEN! it was green wait what??
Men of culture....we join together again...I see, we all are interested in the type of microphone being used for the video.
You can use ordinary black tea as an activator on woods with no tannins in it. I used it on a walking stick, applying different coatings and finished it off with a few layers of a mat clear varnish and it looks stunning. Like some kind of Japanese lacker. A deep dark black-brownish colour. Very satisfying to work with these simple products and create such a nice effect.
was just coming to the comments wondering if the tea was adding tannins to the wood.
wondering if multiple treatments of tea would would enable soft woods to be ebonized in the same way ?
@@dismafuggerhere2753 she said she added extra tannins with the wood. But yes, different teas can give different colors. Instant coffee has a greenish hue to it. You can use anything with tannins in it, even red wine I believe
What is the sequence for this "activator"? Do you just steep black tea, put it on, wait for it to dry, then apply your stain as normal?
Wonderful Tips.
Thanks for showing us
My pleasure 😊
Woodworking just got more enjoyable to watch.
:)
Not sure why this popped on my feed... But I watched it anyways
Great video, thanks! Of these three, I definitely also do prefer the look of the iron acetate finish. The grain and texture still show through very nicely. Cheers!
Totally agree!
My wife caught me watching this, and told me to turn it off.
Shit man stand up to her 😂
This is fantastic and exactly what I was looking for for an upcoming project with red oak. Thanks!
I have used this method to stain red oak to make jewelry boxes and it works great. After the iron acetate dries (I use a heat gun) it is going to slightly raise the grain of the oak. Just lightly sand the wood with 220 or 320 grit sand paper before finishing. The stain won't sand off because it reacts with the tannins in the cell walls. Remember, lightly sand. I use spray lacquer for the finish and it leaves a beautiful sheen. Thanks again for your demo.
Thank you for watching. I never used spray lacquer. Can you recomand a good brand? I might try it
I had wondered if the solution would lift the grain. I guessed right. I became a big fanboy of 3M's finish scuffing pads some time back. The one I'd likely use here is #7447. In my area the easiest place to find them is at an auto body shop, which is also a wonderful place to wander looking for other finish related speciality products...go figure.
clicked on video and not disappointed, might as well start being fond of wood working
Thank you for watching
vinegar and steel wool has been used for centuries to dye wood its called vinegaroon, and it workes superbly well on veggie tanned leather, its a whole lot cleaner than leather dye and will not come off and stain your white clothes like some dye can. if it doesnt seem to get dark enough try soaking wood/leather in very strong cold tea to add more tannin.
The vinegar smell lingers, and the leather, if not treated afterwards in an alkaline bath, becomes MORE acidic and disintegrates faster.. One needs to find the pH of the leathe to start, and bring it back to that point in order to stabilize it after treatment.
@@mantaszminskis5619 made gun belts and vinegarooned leather over 40 years ago still looks as good as new and does not smell at all.
This is a great video for wood ebonizing and for wood hardening.
Hardening, not the facts.
This is one of the better videos I’ve seen on how to ebonize. If you do an in-depth video on each of the 3 processes you showed in this video, they would do well also!
Hey, any thoughts on how well this finish will hold up over time, especially with exposure to light?
By far my favorite of your videos so far. I learned a lot about ebonizing wood. I’d never thought of doing that before.
I’m curious what the bark tea alone would have done. I may have to whip some up to find out.
Thank you for this video!!
Awesome, thank you!
Bark tea alone will be a brownish color of the tannins
You need the iron acetate to get black.
Great tips thanks. I was happily distracted as well 😛
Would this work on a Guitar Finger board that has Indian Laurel Wood on it ? I want darken it to look something like Rose Wood..
I missed every thing she said,have to watch again,and again.
Those are some big, juicy uh... stains for woods and stuff.
Absolutely gorgeous. The wood final product is good-lookin as well!
You have such great information in this wood-ebonizing video! I think the ink method looks a lot messier (and more expensive) than the iron acetate. The bark tree is pronounced "kay-bra-cho" (with a slight rolling of the "r" sound) as it is Spanish.
It was difficult to focus :)
Because of the wood?
@@BeforeAndAfterScience Because neither they nor we are made of wood.
Even dead wood would force new shoots to grow...
What is the difference between adding a dye and the process of Lye-ing..?
Using a Dye adds a substance with collour.
Using a Lye changes the chemical composition of the wood.
2 totally different processes.
Lye is done with alkaline (a salt, on the pH scale)
Using an acid (vinegar) is quite the opposite...
What you do in this video is adding an oxidized dye.
So actually, you are just painting the wood.
FWIW if you Lye oak, it turns grey, not black. This process is used to make wood look antique.
could park my bike in there !
If you want it to actually be black with the wood texture the ink looks way better than the other two. If you’re actually going for black wood the other two look like your paint was too thin or you ran out of stain.
Great technique, I really like the simple homemade aspect of this solution and especially that there are no volatile chemicals involved.
Glad you like it!
Actually there is... the reaction releases hydrogen gas, so do this outdoors.
Also, I wouldn't simply pour in the vinegar and put a lid on it. At least not until the off gassing has finished (fizzing stops). Then it would be safe to set aside. (nuclear chemistry for almost 20 years).
I realize (near the end of the video) you stated to put some holes in the lid. The solution will continue to concentrate due to evaporation as time goes by.
Came to the comments to look for information regarding sealing off the solution too quickly.
Nice tips!
Glad you like them!
@@woodworkingwithSkyler - I like them too. They're great.
Wood.
I clicked this video for the plot.
Excellent tutorial! This is not the first I have seen on this technique, and this was the. First of your videos I have seen, but it is the best demonstration and presentation I have seen on this topic. Good pacing, good narration (clear language, easy to understand and follow). You answered all my questions and the comparison with the ink was interesting and your observations (and showing to the camera) was convincing and helpful. Subscribed to learn more. Keep up the good work.
Glad it was helpful!
I just realized I never saw what her face looked like. Thanks for the info.
You don't have to type what you are thinking.
@@Spiritof_76 Hey who gives a crap what you are thinking about my comment. Who are you her lover chick friend.
Rite Sawdust Girl, Great vid, I have been doing this for years, mostly for my bird houses but have never heard of the tea tip or as someone mentioned in the comments coffee will be trying these for sure! Little tip if I may! When you paint, stain or use the solution brush towards the edge and not from the edge in, hope that makes sense! Stay safe n well. TFS, GB :)
Great tip! Will do and that makes total sense. Thank you
Mesmerizing.
Thanks for watching
Wait there's wood in this video?!?!
when you whip up a solution of vinegaroon, you should always measure the pH to see how acidic that solution is and so you know what you're dealing with.
Whatever you treat with this solution will become MORE acidic, and it may need a quick wash with an alkaline solution of baking soda, dissolved in water, in order to bring the pH back up to where it was. What strength for the basic solution? I don't know. But highly acidic things are unstable and disintegrate faster. And don't use cider vinegar. Use white vinegar, and you're going to need to wait a long, Long, LONG time for the vinegar aroma to disappear, if it EVER dones. Good luck!
I am focused, strong, and pulsating.
My wood got instantly ebonized
ink rules thanks for video
Very interesting, I had never see this way to stain wood before.
I would like to have see a depth test to see which penetrated the best. Maybe a sandpaper test or something.
Great suggestion!
Nice! I will try that for sure! Nice camera angles btw 😁
Thanks! 😁
Never knew about that process
Is she related to Dolly Parton btw?
Nice rack gal
So u apply vinegar in it. Or above the ink once dry ?
Absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much! Also, I love the casual way you drop the "How to avoid explosions" tip at the end; hilarious (and very important!). I wish you every success with your channel xx
:) Thank you. I figure nobody would be watching by that point of the video. But yes, very important
Man, when she was holding that piece of wood, I lost it.
Nice tips, I did say tips lol
Glad you enjoyed
How to get views: show a "lovely set of coconuts"(benny hill)
I actually didint see that until I saw your comment!! 😂😂
I don't have easy access to oak. I can easily buy jarah, karri, yarri, tuart. And pinus pinaster and pinus radiata. We also have a range of plywood, but not those most available in the northern hemisphere/
I think the tea really makes a difference in woods that lack tannin, oak has a good level of tannin. I would like to see this redone with a wider range of timbers, and please include plywood and maybe LVL.
Never knew of this process before now and took 6 years of woodowking and shop in school! Wow I can see some nice speaker cabinets, or new entertainment center project. Love the simplicity/cost and ease of use with great looks. Just may try this ebonized finish on a Tele or Strat guitar blank over the winter! Thanks for sharing this S&S please keep the lessons coming,
Thank you so much. So glad you liked it
I'm going to use the Iron Acetate on my next Cigar Box Guitar Build. I'll then distress it with an actual piece of Charcoal, then seal it
Some of the earliest Rosewood slabs they put on Strat necks were really dark in colour compared to the anaemic stuff of today. Will this method darken up my Gibson 339 neck ?
I learned a little about ebonizing woods but it was a little difficult concentrating on the table area. Good information, thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
Nothing else, but busting open some tightly controlled 'colorations' that can trick eye(s) ......hahahaha
The India ink method works perfectly,and super simple. The other way is nice if you wanna take much longer to achieve the same results... eventually.
Hello, have you tried dry brushing a different color over this? I want to make it match my deck which is trex (black with lighter brown). Thanks
If you're a guitar builder trying to fake ebony, don't waste your time with this method. While no method really works well, this is definitely not the best for guitars. Mutiple coats of black aniline dye (technically indigo blue) seems to be the best option. Better yet, just get real ebony and do it right.
I have used ebonizing for years back when I made Native American “style “ flutes to great effect coloring wood. You can even do it decoratively by brushing small amounts on with a watercolor paintbrush. I’d do diamond shapes for example, wood burn the edges as a border to contain the solution, then you end up with a nice black diamond. 👍
That sounds really cool. I used watercolor on wood before for coloring some burned designs
My wife came up with a technique using the distilled vinegar, the 0000 steel wool, and coffee. She brews the coffee just like you would make a pot of coffee, and mixes the coffee with the vinegar and soaks the steel wool in it. It seems to enhance the pigments in the wood and gives an almost graying effect with a tinge of brown. We had no idea that anybody was doing this, great video, we will try your technique.
Great tip!
@@woodworkingwithSkyler Great video. I wonder, does iron acetate have good impregnating properties as in against wood rot, if the thing, let's say a bench outside needs treatment. Of course there would be some finish with oil or something but does iron acetate have such chemical properties on its own?
@@haliaeetus8221 If I understand your question correctly I believe she covered that @ 14:33 in the video.
@@Bigtwinman No, because you do not understand what impregnated wood means then, but thanks for the well meaning attempt.
Actually you are muting the effect. Coffee is also high in tannin so by mixing it all together you are diluting the iron acetate. If you like the color you got then I would call that a success. Try it putting the coffee on the wood first. You will get something much different.
That,s beautiful!!! I’m going to start playing with that this weekend. Thanks so much for sharing! Great video.
Got them heavies
The reason red oak is used in vinegar/steel wool videos is because it contains more tannin and will turn color more so than other species.
True ebonizing, as done throughout history, is more complex.
As to "aging".. wood, specifically oak, it does not age in that way from natural to black unless a mold or other agent enters the picture.
Other methods of dyeing, include alcohol, better results.
Be safe, wear gloves .
I wonder if I use the steel wool and vinegar on a rosewood do you think it would work ? I am doing this for my guitar frets 😁
Very informative, but I kind of felt bad watching. I actually enjoyed the content.
I'm a little late to the discussion here, but does the iron acetate leave a lingering vinegar odor? If so, for how long? I'm considering doing this on a bar I'm building and don't want the bar to smell like I'm dying Easter eggs. :-)
Surprising result, thank you! What I would like to learn is how to make translucent white for wood. Can I just mix white pigment and linseed varnish? What would you do?
Curious. Vinegar has a really strong smell. Am I going to crave french fries every time I get close to my project? Does the odor wear off quickly? Other than that this seams like a great way!
How do you prevent the iron acetate from turning red over time? I used this formula on som Alder, which initially turned a beautiful grey, but a couple days later turn very rust-colored.
perfect for that wood Tesla dash! I thought about trying to stain it but then I found alcontara covered caps that look even better
Does it make sense to use the acetate and also ink? I would like the finish to be durable and very black, so if there is an option that penetrates deep into the wood that would be great.
Damn, distracted..
Does this smell of vinegar for long periods of time after application? I wouldn't mind it, but it would really get to my wife. How about using it on furniture grade plywood?
Really enjoy your videos! Keep up the good work.
Glad you like them!
Thanks for this video. Its just what I was looking for. I'm building a soap curing rack out of red oak and the customer wants it dark. I was not sure how to get red oak to be dark but now I see.
Do you think its ok to spray lacquer on as a finish?
This video was so helpful, I used to thin black oil paint and apply it like a stain. But the results are no where near as nice as results with your methods. I know what colour my next project is going to be :)
I have never purchased special tea to do that. Always just used cheap regular black tea. Seams to work. Would be interested to see if the special tea is actually worth it.
I'll bet if you gave those a light sanding you'd end up with a really nice effect. I'm going to have to mess around with this.
If you want the ebonize wood that does not have the natural tannins, does the bark tea add enough tannins for this to work?
Well I learned something new today ty, I would love to see more of your face when your talking rather than watching the microphone and your hands.
Tank you and tice nits 😊
very nice, specially if you'd like to keep the wood grain. Can you put a sort of wax on it to make it more resistant?
I just watched this whole video and didn’t learn a thing about wood
I tried this but my solution turned my wood a chalky brown. I let my solution sit for three weeks. I did put some solution on oak and it turned a silver grey.
Is there an opposite process to make wood white? This makes me curious about a black / white contrast piece.
Cool, might be good for staining guitar fretboards!
Yes, that’s a great idea
Exactly why I'm here! I'm wondering if the color will come off on sweaty hands? Will it affect inlays?
@@rkgaustin9043 color doesn’t come off even when not sealed. But you should seal it. If no top coat is applied in time color changes to brown. Experiment first with scrap wood
@@rkgaustin9043 Apparently the vinegar/steel wool is a tried an true ancient way of staining wood. And no leaching of tannins. One thing I'd like to try for myself.
@@peterschmidt9942 I'd love to see your test results
Really cool effect. I was surprised at just how fast the reaction happens.
im in love
So I didn't need to order that expensive piece of ebony wood? Two days too late...
Can you mix the vinegar ebonizing mixer with Tung oil and apply it?
To give a distressed look I use black tea and apply that prior to the steel wool/vinagar..
Can you sand the wood after the treatment? What are the effects? Does it retain the dark color, or rub off right away?
I believe if you heat the steel wool solution it will go a different colour, I think it’s called aqua regia
Interesting. I will try that
Apply it to the wood then heat with a heat gun. @woodland escape has a video on it
Like your technique and your info tks for sharing
I could notice that the wood without the tea showed slightly red compared to the one with the tea.
When you ebonize the wood, is it permanent ? does it rub off at all ? thanks.
It’s permanent
@@woodworkingwithSkyler Thank you.
It's permanent but can be removed with an oxalic acid/water mixture.
i put wool into vinegar and 4 days left . vinegar still clear.. nor turn to broun rust
nice tips!
How long does it take the ink to dry? It might be the most messy, but I thought it looked the best.