Replies

1. 
   camel | Jun 09, 2003 01:35pm | #1

   Black Walnut is dark finished, different kinds of ebony. There's many other "dark" woods, but they have shades of red and other colors mixed in(Zebrano). I don't know right now, I'm tired as hell. Not much sleep last nite. Why the trivia first thing this morning?

   John E. Nanasy

2. 
   lostarrow | Jun 09, 2003 01:51pm | #2

   Wenge is a very dark, almost black, wood and not nearly as expensive as ebony.

   Be not afraid of going slowly.  Be afraid only of standing still.   chinese proverb
1. 
   macalex | Jun 09, 2003 03:06pm | #3

   Check out one of the veneer sites. Try http://www.wood-veneers.com. They often have a good selection of wood veneer images and you'll get a few ideas about which species are dark enough for your use. Whether you can buy them as solid wood will be another story, but it'll answer your question.

3. 
   jonsherryl | Jun 09, 2003 05:10pm | #4

   Mark, it depends a little on what other characteristics the project requires (density, texture, durability, cost, etc.) Wenge is very dark, but it's also very coarse textured. Some of the rosewoods are also very dark brown or almost black in color; especially African blackwood. Another African timber; mansonia (sometimes called "African walnut", unfortunately) tends to be a little darker than black walnut, once finished.

   Also, South American walnut (nogal) tends to be a shade darker than our native black walnut....And, although it takes some special selection, ordinary yellow poplar sometimes develops an almost black heartwood pigmentation.

   Another cheap and easy solution would be to simply dye the wood...in which case, you could use any species you want to that happens to have the other characteristics you need. Pearwood is often used in this way, because it is very fine textured, as is ebony...so once dyed, it's a reasonable counterfeit.

1. 
   MHargrove | Jun 10, 2003 01:56am | #5

   Excellent suggestions, thank you!

   I've never tried dyeing wood before, though I've certainly read about it.  My need for the dark wood is for a box lid that will have some light-colored inlay.  Specifically, the box carcase is made from some beautiful bocote that's a creamy yellow and very dark brown.  It's got elaborate figure, and I want the lid to be complementary in color, but pretty simple in pattern so as not to compete with the complexity of the bocote grain.  I was thinking of using ebony with some yellowheart or canarywood inlay.  Using dye over a less expensive wood might allow me to match the color of the dark grain in the bocote very closely -- I like that idea a lot.

   Since I've never used dye, a question comes to mind right away.  Would it be better to mill the lid (including the grooves for the inlay) then dye it, then apply the inlay?  Will dyed wood take glue?

   Thanks Jon!

1. 
   jonsherryl | Jun 10, 2003 02:51am | #6

   Once dry, the dye shouldn't interfere with glue.  I've had some success using India ink. I haven't done much inlay work, but on banding and other accent applications in dulcimer making I've found that cutting the pieces close to the required size before dying makes it easier to touch up the color once the piece has been cut to final dimensions. In other words, I use the dye twice. The second application doesn't swell the wood as much as the first.

4. 
   10fingers | Jun 10, 2003 07:36am | #7

   Hello,

   I believe african blackwood ( the wood used on clarinets) is very black.  Gilmer Wood and Woodworker's Source have listed it lately.   The rejects for the bell part of the instrument may have cracks or voids but would be good for other uses.

   hope this helps,

   Chuck

5. 
   SparrowHawk | Jun 11, 2003 12:33am | #8

   Hi Mark,

   I just finished a box that sounds somewhat similar to what you describe. I used black walnut on the lid but darkened it quite a bit using Behlen's Pore-O-Pac walnut which helped make it glassy smooth and deepened the color. It was offset with some yellowheart strip molding and some figured mahogany. The combination made the yellowheart stand out nicely ... it would be more stunning had I used something even lighter. Cocobolo is another rather dark wood ... but pricey ...

   Ken