# Vinegar and Steel Wool Ebonizing



## JADobson (Aug 14, 2012)

I'm trying a steel wool and vinegar finish on spf and I'm not getting the dark finish that I'm seeing other people get. Instead I'm getting a red-brown that does not look nice at all.

I'm using regular white vinegar and extra fine steel wool from Lee Valley. One thing I've noticed is that the wool doesn't seem to be dissolving like I thought it was supposed to. Is that my problem? Any suggestions? Thanks to anyone who can help.


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## Alster (Aug 7, 2009)

I tried this a few years ago on some hard maple, after giving the maple a washcoat of bark tan (promotes the chemical reaction that turns things black). I wasn't thrilled with the evenness and ended up touching things up with minwax ebony or black stain. Next time, I'll skip the vinegar and steel wool and just go straight to the stain.


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

I was just looking into this method and the site I saw was putting a strong tea mixture on the wood first and then putting the steel wool/vinegar solution over top. Maybe that would make a difference? I think they also recommended apple cider vinegar but said white would work in a pinch.


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## JADobson (Aug 14, 2012)

I've tried tea on a few sample boards and it doesn't seem to make a difference. It was just left overs from my morning cup though. I could try a very strong brew.


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## PeteMoss (Nov 24, 2008)

I've done this on walnut with great success. I've also tried on lighter woods with poor results. I left the steel wool in the vinegar for several weeks. It doesn't dissolve. Oddly, it stayed crystal clear until I removed the steel wool and then vinegar turned very dark.

An example of it on walnut can be seen on this picture frame that I did. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/39036


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## bowedcurly (Aug 31, 2013)

there is a ink that works much better it's on youtube, only cost 12 bucks and it's much easier to use, I guess just punch in ebonizing on youtube and there should be a guy giving a class showing many different types of ebonizing during the middle of the show he pulls out his secret ebonizing ink kinda funny, but very good. Woodturners of Southeast Missouri on Youtube ther is a certain kind of steelwool that works mucho better than others the guy also talks about this. good luck


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

You've got to use woods w/ high tannin content, like oak and walnut.


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## Gilgaron (Jan 22, 2014)

If your steel wool didn't dissolve then it is probably oil coated. You'll need to wash the oil off first. The iron come from the steel is what makes the iron tannin salt pigment in the wood.


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## JuanVergara (Jun 8, 2014)

Gilgaron is right: Four-0 steel wool comes with oil on it, and you need to get it off with detergent and water. You also need to control the tannin content of the wood, and this is best done with quebracho extract bark tan available from http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com and elsewhere. For a thorough explanation of the process, see this article in Popular Woodworking:

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/ebonizing_wood

I've ebonized high-tannin woods such as black walnut and black acacia and woods with no tannin at all, including hard maple. The key is how you use the quebracho tea.


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## JuanVergara (Jun 8, 2014)

James, et al: Oops. It wasn't black walnut that I ebonized. It was the English walnut for the infill on this plane:









English walnut has a grayish tint to it and ebonizes well, though as I noted in my earlier post, you must control the tannin content with quebracho tea.

I have a chunk of California black walnut that I'm getting ready to shape for the infill on a No. 3 plane, and I may ebonize it. I'll test the idea on scrap tomorrow, and if it works, I'll post a photo.


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## rustynails (Jun 23, 2011)

Any one try to ebonize some of the ebony look alike woods(already dark) to look even more like ebony ?


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## JuanVergara (Jun 8, 2014)

It helps to start out with darkish woods, but my experiment with black walnut tells me to leave reddish woods alone.

Here's what I started out with:










I sanded each block to 220 grit, then applied wood grain filler to the block on the right, to see whether it would make a difference.

Here's what I ended up with:










The photo doesn't show it, but there's some splotchiness in the block on the left, and the surface isn't buttery like that of the block on the right.

Even so, my eye tells me there's red underneath the black on both blocks. This might be a plus if that's what you want, but my thinking is that when I want black, I want black, and I didn't get it with black walnut, the name notwithstanding.


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