Ebonising liquid recipe!

[Brianp]

Well, it's more of a question about the ratio of vinegar to rustable for ebonising oak. I used it for the first time this weekend and while i was impressed, it took a couple of applications to get anything approaching ebonised - the oak was more of a navy colour the first coat I used. Did I have too little vinegar or too little steel/iron in the mix, does anyone know?

Also, will that mixture keep for a couple of weeks?

I used a skew to make a division between the part I wanted ebonised and the part I wanted to leave - and this helped reduce bleeding somewhat though I still had to sand some out. Is it fair to ask a third question about more effective ways to mask off the ebonising?

Thanks all,

Brian.

 

[chipmunk]

Hi Brian,
Unfortunately oak's ring porous and so it'll always be difficult to mask liquid stains.

As a suggestion, sanding sealer applied outside the area you wish to stain may help to clog the pores around the join so that the stain stays put. Alternatively I think that burning a line at the joint may help.

HTH
Jon

 

[Bodrighy]

Firstly an I suggest you use lemon juice rather than vinegar as it smells much nicer and the smell of the vinegar can take ages to go away. I have a lump of wire wool in a lidded jam jar of the juice that I put together over a year ago and it works fine still. Leave for about a week before expecting good results though. I pint it on with a brush, liberally as it then soaks well into the wood and stains quite deeply. You should find that it goes deep black almost instantaneously after that time.

Pete

 

[bugbear]

Here a large, historical, thread from OLDTOOLS.

For those of you who like "traditional" technique, you'll be please that
some of the information dates to 480 BC.

http://swingleydev.com/archive/get.php? ... =1#message

BugBear

 

[woodyturner]

All I ever do is use white vinegar and 000 wire wool and I just dip the wire wool in the vinegar and rub it on the wood Oak till it turns black in seconds I don't make up a mix as I don't do it that often not because it is a better way of doing it or that theirs anything wrong with the other method its just my chosen way of doing it.
Some times the wood will turn blue but when you finish it with oil or polish it usually turns black also I find using this method it dries much quicker within 30min good luck

 

[Brianp]

Thanks to you all for your feedback. Maybe the mix was just a little young, I'll leave it in the jar for a little while longer and see how it goes again. I hadn't thought about using the sanding sealer as a mask, so thanks for that one.

 

[Mark Hancock]

Brian

How black it goes depends on the tannin content of the oak. The drier the oak the less tannin and so less ebonising effect. It's said that you can increase the tannin content by soaking in tea but I've never had to do that as I use mainly green timber.

 

[dickm]

Hardly dare mention this after the comments about health and safety in the YABR thread , but be a bit careful with acid plus iron. The reaction liberates hydrogen, so it's best to do it in a well ventilated place. And if the mixture is in a screw top jar or similar, don't screw the top on until you are sure the reaction has gone to completion.

 

[Sheptonphil]

Hardly dare mention this after the comments about health and safety in the YABR thread , but be a bit careful with acid plus iron. The reaction liberates hydrogen, so it's best to do it in a well ventilated place. And if the mixture is in a screw top jar or similar, don't screw the top on until you are sure the reaction has gone to completion.

I don't think the perfectly reasonable chemical mixing advice can be compared to the H&S gone mad comments. I am sure many will not realise the lovely fizzy reaction actually gives off a highly explosive gas and is an excellent comment.

The H&S gurus them want to tell us all to make sure we wear level 3 Bio hazard suits in a super ventilated special room (preferably purpose built separate building) with twin extractors with redundant backup in case we happen to light a ciggie when watching from two feet, after being warned of the danger and not allowing individuals to assess the way to treat the hazard.

Phil