# India ink vs spray paint



## Brobab (Jan 15, 2013)

I am completing an ambrosia maple kitchen table. The top is highly figured and will be a natural finish - probably shellac to pop the figure followed by a few coats of wipe on satin poly. I have decided that the apron and legs will be black, (thought of walnut, but wanted it just a bit more contemporary). I am using regular soft maple. I am really intrigued by the idea of india ink as a black dye. With the maple, there really is no grain to bother trying to highlight and any figure will be obscured by the black.

I have done a sample board sanded to 220 using two coats of india ink with a foam brush. In the picture, the ink is on the left and the paint on the right. The ink gave a pretty uneven and streaky finish. It looks like it would improve with additional coats of ink. I did another sample board with two coats of black satin spray paint, no primer, (just run of he mill generic enamel spray paint).

I will likely finish with one coat of shellac and two or three coats wipe on poly. At this point, i can't see the benefit to fooling with the india ink, other than that it seems "cooler" as a finish. The spray paint is a one afternoon and done option.

Can anyone offer any reasons why the ink is a better option? Seems to me that using the ink to ebonize might be best done on a small scale, and maybe when the goal is to highlight the grain. Spray paint just seems like cheating - I could always call it spray lacquer and feel better about it I guess….


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## kdc68 (Mar 2, 2012)

Never tried it myself…but here's a link from my archieve of finishing tips…..old school approach

http://www.wwgoa.com/articles/projects/ebonizing-wood/


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

Go w/ the paint.


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

I take that back

the right side wins


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## ClintSearl (Dec 8, 2011)

The answer is obvious.


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## woodman88 (Feb 24, 2011)

You aren't supposed to use idia ink by it self. I used it mixed with SOLAR LUX jet black dye worked great. do a search for ebonizing


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## Bobsboxes (Feb 8, 2011)

I used black laquer in the rattle can, my table legs came out great. Good luck.


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## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

I had some trouble in the past week with spraypaint on soft maple.

I made two large picture frames (27 by 49 for a 24X46 glass panel) and painted them with Rustoleum "Universal" Satin Black, and I had no trouble in the first frame, but the second one, had a real struggle with crackling/alligator skin on one corner ~3 inches on both faces.
Sanded wrinkles out with 320. Resprayed, and had a *6 inch problem*.

sanded to bare wood, light coat of shellac, repainted- waited 48 hours, recoated and still a few bad flecks.

I really don't know what contaminant was driving this at just that spot, there wasn't any glue I could see.

For the spray can instructions, you have to do your second coat either within 1 hour or after 48 hours.

I like the simplicity of the paint, and ultimately it looks good - - but it was a rough experience.

Maybe as bugz says the Lacquer will be better behaved than the enamel I used.
http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=183


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## looneydude (Mar 7, 2016)

I use india ink for like 75 % of the things I make and have found several different benefits, drawbacks and techniques to using. I have found it as a viable option for an antiqued, satin kinda look, almost like milk paint, admittedly it is a bit more labor intensive than spraypaint, but being stationed in Germany aerosols are more expensive here. Sometimes I will do a base coat of black spray paint and sand with a extremely fine metal sand paper ( 1200 grit) as soon as it is touch dry, but before full dry, this will remove the outer layer, then I will use a disposable sponge brush and coat the entire surface with India ink, which I will then rub vigorously with a paper towel after about 5 mins of drying, this gives a nice, even, marred antique look to the whole thing, depending on the project I will sometimes skip the initial sprayed base coat and use only the ink. Most of my work however is small jewelery box type stuff. Example on the black box pictured, Sorry I don't have a better pic at the moment.


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## Iguana (Jun 22, 2011)

I have done both black paint and India ink. Both work well, but black paint is probably easier to use.

India ink is not a dye, BTW - it is like a thin paint that dries quickly. The streakiness you observe is because the ink dries too quickly for flow out to level, so the surface is uneven. The key to getting a flat surface is to lightly sand it with a high grit paper (600 or higher) using a flat sanding block. Apply several coats of ink to build up a thick enough coat to withstand the sanding. And once the surface looks even, you need to seal it with some kind of top coat, the ink does not stand up well as a finish on its own.


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## cetanorak (Jul 6, 2020)

> I have done both black paint and India ink. Both work well, but black paint is probably easier to use.
> 
> India ink is not a dye, BTW - it is like a thin paint that dries quickly. The streakiness you observe is because the ink dries too quickly for flow out to level, so the surface is uneven. The key to getting a flat surface is to lightly sand it with a high grit paper (600 or higher) using a flat sanding block. Apply several coats of ink to build up a thick enough coat to withstand the sanding. And once the surface looks even, you need to seal it with some kind of top coat, the ink does not stand up well as a finish on its own.
> 
> - Mark Kornell


I'm dying an ash tabletop with india ink and am experiencing this "streakiness" from the india ink drying faster than I can spread it across this 6'x3' tabletop.

I have some of the 3M ultra fine synthetic steel wool pads as well as high-grit sand paper. I wasn't sure if burnishing/sanding between coats of ink would be ok. I know that sanding open-grained woods like ash and oak with grits above 220 can actually close the pores off from receiving dye/stain.

Thanks for any experienced folks who might care to comment.

I've debated whether to flood it on with a foam brush and let it soak in and or wipe it on with a rag….never sure which approach would ultimately be better to avoid the "streakiness"


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## typing (Jul 15, 2019)

> With the maple, there really is no grain to bother trying to highlight and any figure will be obscured by the black.
> 
> - Brobab


There is something much worse. Maple is so tightly grained that rejects almost anything you put on it. It is like dyeing plastic swirling around but not going in. But paint is paint it just sits on top of whatever you put it on so almost fool proof.


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## wildwoodbybrianjohns (Aug 22, 2019)

Inia ink usually has some shellac in it, thus why it dries so fast. So if you go over it enough times with more shellac, that streakiness stuff will blend in and wont be seen eventually.

The base for this piece is ebonized using HIGH Quality India Ink. Speedball superblack is the best IMO.

My process: 2 coats india ink using high quality artists brushes., Then 2 coats shellac. Then I sand with 220 grit lightly just to get the rough stuff down. Very easy to do touchups if you burn through in a spot or on an edge. 2 more coats of shellac. Sand with 320/400 grit. Then I do however many coats of shellac it takes until I am satisfied the finish is even everywhere, but pay particular attention to the end grain, when that is sealed and shining, it is done. If you still have some rough bits here and there, can go over the whole piece lightly with a soft cloth and whatever pastewax you prefer. I make my own. Thatll take out most of the nibs and such.










Another example, all black is ebonized with India Ink.


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## cetanorak (Jul 6, 2020)

> Inia ink usually has some shellac in it, thus why it dries so fast. So if you go over it enough times with more shellac, that streakiness stuff will blend in and wont be seen eventually.


Based on your knowledge, I'm wondering if you could comment further on the drying time of india ink and preventing streakiness. I applied one coat to a large white ash tabletop and it took the ink beautifully. I let it dry for a couple of days and then applied a second coat. I noticed that as I was attempting to cover the entire surface, the initial areas of application were drying and looking spotty. When the ink dries, these spots and streaks remain in the ink.

Do I need to flood on the second coat and wipe off before it starts to dry on the surface? It seems as if the second coat always dries inconsistently whether I wipe the excess ink off soon after applying or let it sit on the surface for five minutes.

Also, the spots may have originated from bubbles. I was using a foam brush to apply the second coat and plenty of bubbles remained in all areas after applying and it seems that upon drying those areas with bubbles showed as small circular dots.

I didn't have any issues like this on my test pieces of ash, which were end cuts from the same table, but they were dramatically smaller and cover quickly. I've started this process twice from raw wood, but just can't seem to get a blotch-free application of india ink. Mystified!

I really appreciate your help.


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