On 25 Nov 2005 13:34:34 -0800, wrote:

Dear woodturners,

I am desperatly looking for a 17th century method for the dyeing of
pearwood for a restauration project.

I can find descriptions saying: boil the pearwood to imitate ebony.
However regular cooking does not help. Probably there needs to be
something in the water, but who knows what?

Can anybody here help me?

My guess would be the standard ebonizing solution, which is vinegar
which has had steel wool soaking in it until it dissolves. (Note: this
will take probably a week or two.) No doubt shavings from a metal
lathe would also work...point is to get the iron dissolved into the
acidic vinegar. In my experimentation, I have found that cider
vinegar worked significantly better than white vinegar. I don't know
as "cooking" would be necessary, except maybe to accelerate the
chemical reaction.

This solution will also work, to varying degrees, with most other
woods, depending on the amount of tannin found in the wood. Put it on
a piece of oak, for instance.


--
Chuck *#:^)
chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
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September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

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