blackening oak

[jlawrence]

Hi all,
I've a project coming up for swmbo for some dvd storage.
I'm intending to make it out of oak as I've plenty in the workshop. The finish is going to need to be jet black in order to match the hifi rack.
What's the best way to colour oak black - using iron or an ebony dye ?

 

[Aled Dafis]

I'd go for an ebonising solution.

Just dissolve a wad of steel wool in a pot of vinegar. You'll need to leave the pot open, as the chemical reaction taking place releases a gas.

Once the steel wool has disolved (you might want to add some more steel wool after a couple of days just to make sure that the solution is fully saturated), strain the solution through a fine filter (coffee filter papers work well) and apply to the wood with a rag. You might need two coats to achieve a deep black colour.

Try it out on scrap first, just to see how it turns out.

Cheers

Aled

 

[Sgian Dubh]

One of the easiest ways is to use a black dye. Because it's an open pored wood (oak) you will find a spirit based or oil based dye will work best. The problem with water based dyes is that the surface tension of the solvent, ie, the water will cause it to bridge the pores and you won't get penetration down into the bottom of the open pores. There are tricks for reducing the surface tension, eg, adding a drop or two of dishwashing liquid to the mix.

If you use a spirit dye and get the colour you want, you can then add small amounts of the dye to the polish to make black polish. Apply this over the dyed wood and it deepens the blackness developed in the wood from the original dying job.

However, you can't add spirit dye to water based polish, but you can add it to shellac, oil varnish and the nitrocellulose family of finishes. My preferred methodolgy for the polishing after dying the wood is a spray gun, but I don't know if you have one of these. Slainte.

 

[Derek Willis.]

Google Van Dyke Crystals, second item down, finishing will show you how to Ebonise, giving you a black stained finish.
Derek.

 

[jlawrence]

cheers Derek.
That's perfect. Simply add more coats until the desired 'blackness' is achieved.
SWMBO has just about decided on the design she wants.
I'll have to adjust the height somewhat so that it's the same as the hifi stand on the other side of the fireplace. By my reckoning it should hold about 150 DVDs and 200 CDs by the time I'm finished. swmbo is off to have a look at it today to see how the front bit slides - it's surprising how heavy 200 cd's are so I don't think I want wood->wood sliding.