Barry Lennox wrote in
:

On 16 Oct 2004 07:54:11 -0700, (Nate Perkins)
wrote:

Hi,

I recently built a small box of birdseye maple, with Jewitt's early
American finish on it. The pulls are carved from ebony. I'd like to
make a base for the box, but a base of ebony would be impractical for
me due to the cost and availability of the wood.

So I'm trying to figure out the best methods for ebonizing wood. Both
Flexner and Jewitt's books recommend black dye stain. I tried that
method on a piece of scrap holly veneer (using Behlen's jet black

All my books on finishing (very old and new ones) suggest india ink,
as do the other posters, Never tried it, but soon plan on it. Lets
know how it turns out, and the best technique.


The Woodworks episode I saw today (on Tivo) had David Marks using what he
called metal acid dyes to ebonize maple. He indicated that these were more
lightfast than aniline dyes. It looked good on television. :-)

Patriarch