Replies

1. 
   WayneL5 | Jan 31, 2004 02:00am | #1

   Walnut finishes quite dark, but not quite black, and it's easy to work with.  Some of the truly black woods, like ebony, are very expensive.

2. 
   gweisenburge | Jan 31, 2004 02:03am | #2

   Walnut's good, so is Wenge, which is very dark, almost black.

   Namaste,

   Gary

   http://gwwoodworking.com/

1. 
   dwexhler | Jan 31, 2004 02:07am | #3

   Wenge.... Thank you

   Dave

2. 
   PaulReuter | Jan 31, 2004 02:09am | #4

   Not sure of the proper name, but the tropical hardwood I've seen sold as tropical walnut or peruvian walnut finishes much darker then juglens nigra.

   Paul

1. 
   gweisenburge | Jan 31, 2004 02:56am | #7

   I've never worked with Peruvian walnut, so I don't know the color. However, here's a cherry countertop with a black walnut feature strip in a Swiss chalet in Kirkwood, CA.

   http://gwwoodworking.com/rook/images/rook1_jpg.jpg

   The photo isn't that good, but the walnut stands out against the cherry. There're a number of species in this project, including VG Fir doors and walnut, both of which were resawn from hundred year old timbers, the walnut from 2 1/2-in-thick Taylor Winery,  bergundy vat staves. Namaste,

   Gary

   http://gwwoodworking.com/

3. 
   Sphere | Jan 31, 2004 02:37am | #5

   ebonized maple..is good.

   Go Stab yourself Ya Putz! Ya think I Parked here?
1. 
   dwexhler | Jan 31, 2004 02:49am | #6

   What is that? Is it blacker than Wenge?

   Dave

1. 
   forestgirl | Jan 31, 2004 03:02am | #9

   Ebonizing is a finishing technique, and maple is a common wood to use it with.  If you Google on "ebonizing finish" you'll get lots of hits.

   Fuhr makes an ebony stain.  You could probably get some input on technique at Jeff's forum (at the site in the "ebony stain" link).forestgirl Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)  you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)

1. 
   Sphere | Jan 31, 2004 03:12am | #11

   Thanx for takin the time to post those links..way cool.

   Go Stab yourself Ya Putz! Ya think I Parked here?

2. 
   dwexhler | Jan 31, 2004 05:07pm | #14

   Thank you girl of forest.

   Dave

2. 
   Sphere | Jan 31, 2004 03:09am | #10

   as black as you want and a helluva lot cheaper than any exotic. DYE maple with black dye or ink, or lampblack, or a sharpie marker..you can ebonize cherry for that matter.

   Go Stab yourself Ya Putz! Ya think I Parked here?

1. 
   dwexhler | Jan 31, 2004 05:05pm | #13

   So that is what ebonizing us. Is it difficult using lampblack? What is a good source?

   Dave

1. 
   Sphere | Jan 31, 2004 05:21pm | #15

   A good source..I use a base concentrate that is not available for retail sales, it is a waterbased formulation from my days making stains, with Michael Dresdner.

   Artist oil paint would be a good start..search the archives here..it works sometimes.

   India ink, carbon black, and sharpie markers DO work.

   some one will be along with THE answer.

   Go Stab yourself Ya Putz! Ya think I Parked here?

4. 
   robkelly1 | Jan 31, 2004 03:00am | #8

   Over time, walnut will lighten considerably and cherry will darken, minimising the contrast. Have you considered purpleheart?

1. 
   dwexhler | Jan 31, 2004 05:03pm | #12

   Hi Rob,

   I've used purple heart as a contrast with maple, have you used it w/ cherry or walnut?

1. 
   robkelly1 | Feb 03, 2004 02:57am | #19

   I've used it with walnut and honduras mahogany, but not in massive amounts. The table tops I make have a large center field of solid wood, which is then banded with 5/16" of purpleheart and 1/2" of the center wood on the outside. I made a wild cuttingboard from p'heart and yellowheart a few yrs. back. Waxed and buffed to a high shine, it hurt to look at it.

1. 
   Arby | Feb 03, 2004 06:24am | #20

   The arguement against  ebonizing maple ( or poplar) and for walnut is that a ding in ebonized maple will show light wood!

5. 
   user-60388 | Feb 01, 2004 05:56pm | #16

   If you want a true black, ebonizing walnut is the best that I've ever done. You can use pretty much any wood, but using a wood that is already dark will make for less coats before the wood is truly black...

   I use a water-based dye (transtint) from Jeff Jewitt.

   http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/TransTint.htm

1. 
   dwexhler | Feb 01, 2004 09:49pm | #17

   Thank you Brian. I like the samples they have on their website.

   Dave

2. 
   Telemike | Feb 02, 2004 08:10am | #18

   I also like to ebonize walnut. I use an iron acetate solution made by soaking steel wool in vinegar. It reacts with the tannins in walnut to produce a really ugly gray that turns beautiful jet black when finished. If you search the archieves, I and others have posted about ebonizing wood.

6. 
   smsfurnituremaker | Feb 03, 2004 06:48am | #21

   hi Dave Im a proffesional furnituremaker in Ma ...I use Walnut a lot with cherry..if its a top sometimes its noice to leave the sapwood in for an interesting texture

1. 
   dwexhler | Feb 03, 2004 08:11am | #22

   Thanks for the comments of the use of walnut w/ cherry. Do you stain differently so as to get a greater contrast?

   Dave

7. 
   Roger1 | Feb 03, 2004 05:24pm | #23

   Hi Dave; I built a display case for my wooden toys out of carob wood, cream colored with lots of reds, and wanted a dark contrasting wood too. I tried walnut, because it works great, and after it was all sanded I applied a couple coats of black water based dye. It looks like ebony and worded even better, and a lot cheaper. It is had to find a 5' long piece of ebony, but easy to find walnut. Roger

1. 
   dwexhler | Feb 03, 2004 07:39pm | #24

   Is that an ink dye, or what?

   Dave