pipemakersforum.com

Since I haven't been on the site for a number of years, I'm not sure if this problem was ever resolved. The problem and discussion was that commercial black stains end up having a bluish tinge to the finish rather than the desired jet black finish. I was just watching a short TV documentary on cabinet making, and this is the method the guy used to ebonise wood to a jet black finish. My assumption is that it should work on briar.

Firstly, take a mason jar and almost fill it with regular vinegar. It probably doesn't matter whether it's white or brown vinegar. Drop a plain steel wool pad in the vinegar jar. Place the lid on, but do not tighten the lid. Leave it for 3 days for the steel wool to dissolve in the vinegar.

Here's where you're going to gave to do your own research and experimenting. You need to obtain a solution of tannic acid.

Wear rubber gloves: Dip a small rag in the tannic acid solution and completely wet the briar. While the briar is still wet, dip another small rag in the dissolved iron/vinegar solution and completely cover the already wetted briar. If my theory is correct, the briar should immediately start turning black. As the solutions dry, the briar will darken even more.

This will probably have raised the grain, so lightly sand with a coarsish grit. If not dark enough, repeat the above 2 steps.

Since I haven't tried this myself, you will need to experiment for yourself, preferably on some scrap briar.

Good to see you posting, Frank. We discussed this three or four years ago when Kurt was posting regularly. Several of us tried this and it does work. We mostly experimented to see what kind of contrast stain we could get rather than using it to ebonize but it works for both. As far as the contrast staining, I think most felt it was a lot more work for results that weren't that much different than the usual aniline contrast stains. For the tannic acid, I bought powdered wine tannin and reconstituted it in water. I found the more tannin I got to soak into the briar, the better the results. For the iron oxide solution, I used white vinegar and some bolts and nails lying around in the garage.

I'm curious. Are you still making pipes? I always enjoyed your work.

Yes it does work. The problem though with any colouring of a pipe is that after sanding and colouring we then buff and wax for a shine, this removes colour. When working on furniture it is sanded, coloured and then the process of finishing involves building up layers of some kind of varnish. When they sand or polish they are not doing it to the wood, they are doing it to the varnish so the colour is not lost. Also furniture woods are far more open-pored than briar and so hold colour better.

No need to add tannic acid. Try as they might, briar cutters just can't boil it all out of there. Just glop your rusty juices all over a chunk of briar and watch it turn black right before your eyes.

Your home brewed rust and vinegar will work faster if you first take the steel wool and soak it in acetone to remove the manufactures oils that are on the steel wool.

Ratimus wrote:No need to add tannic acid. Try as they might, briar cutters just can't boil it all out of there. Just glop your rusty juices all over a chunk of briar and watch it turn black right before your eyes.

This is true for a contrast stain, but I think that the tannic acid may give a more uniform black for a totally black finish if that is desired.
DocAitch

Ratimus wrote:

Was that applied before you cut it up? Because if so, holy shit did that penetrate more than anything I've ever seen.

RickB wrote:Was that applied before you cut it up? Because if so, holy shit did that penetrate more than anything I've ever seen.

That WOOD be amazing! No, I just found some scraps of dead pipes lying around and applied some year old steel wool vinaigrette to them. The results could be more uniform, but this was after one thin coat, hastily applied. I wanted to encourage anyone who was curious about this stuff to TIAFO.

Good to see you again, Frank!
And looking forward to more posts from you.

wdteipen wrote:Good to see you posting, Frank.
I'm curious. Are you still making pipes? I always enjoyed your work.

Charl wrote:Good to see you again, Frank!
And looking forward to more posts from you.

Sorry for the delayed reply. I don't seem to be getting email notifications to the post even though I have the "Notify" box checked..

Sad to say, I've got COPD. I tell myself that I might get back to doing a little work on that stuff again, but I just don't have the energy (or breath) these days.

Oi Frank! That is a bad one!
All the best.