Hello Everyone,
I’m new to the forum, and I really like it a lot. I would like to ebonize a cabinet made out of maple plywood. I have been reading a lot of post about using the vinegar and steel wool solution. Has anyone tried it with maple plywood? If so, what finish did you use to turn the wood jet black. I’ve put the solution on some test pieces, but I haven’t put any finish on as of yet. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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I recently ebonized the maple legs of a Nelson slat bench, using Black Trans tint analine dye. The result was a very deep charcoal with just a hint of the wood grain showing through. I topcoated with lacquer and was very happy. Much better than any paint or stain would have been. I have been told that India ink works well, too. I would do the dye since it is made for the purpose. I assume that the ply would react similarly. Raise the grain with distilled water first and than lightly sand when dry. You don't want to sand the dyed surface. You can sand after the lacquer has dried for an hour and then recoat.
I've usually taken a similar route to what quartersawn suggested. True "ebonizing" doesn't have to be stain, though. I've seen examples of European antiques with "ebonized" trim and it was done with paint.
To get something more than a dark grey with dye you're either going to have to either apply multiple coats or come up with a dye/pigment mixture (I've found this to be easily the fastest), especially if it's water-based.
That said... restricting yourself to stain is a slower, more laborious approach. Just painting it with black lacquer will give basically comparable results with a lot less effort. Although I will add that the large majority of clients that I've had to ebonize for have insisted on stain even though black lacquer would have been cheaper.
Vinegar & steel wool gets you iron acetate in water solution. This works to darken wood with tannic acid in it; the iron and tannic acid do the job. Maple hasn't the tannic component-you get sour smelling wood for a while is all; color change no.
India Ink works.. Try it on some scrap.. and buff it out.. Works for me..
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