Ebonization/chemically changing colors of wood

[Bert2368]

This thread is an offshoot of an earlier thread regarding mechanical properties of ebonie(s) which got hijacked into a discussion of the substitution of other species when a black wooden handle material is desired.

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/does-ebony-crack-easily.46118/#post-686526

Fumed (ammonia gas treated) oak was brought up by another member. I've done this in the past myself when replacing oak trim to try and match older, age darkened material. It gets darker the longer you leave the oak exposed to the ammonia, you need to watch it and stop the process when at the desired shade. I've never taken the process as dark as it could go.

I had recently been shown some blackened effects on white oak and other woods with a high tannin content using an Iron acetate solution in water (made by dissolving steel wool in vinegar, acetic acid). This reacts to form insoluble Iron tanate complexes in the wood. I believe dyers call substances that fix a soluble color into permanence like this a mordant.

Anything worth doing is worth OVER doing so I got a small piece of red quebracho wood which has a very high tannin content and immersed it in a few ounces of home made Iron acetate solution to check how dark that might get?

https://www.wood-database.com/quebracho/

Answer: quite black from a couple minutes submersion, see before and after pictures:

 

[applepieforbreakfast]

This is super cool!

I'd guess that the color only extends as far inward as the iron acetate solution did?

 

[Bert2368]

Yes. I ran a corner on belt sander and this is what I found.

For some woods, I think you might try a vaccum/pressure cycle as people who do resin impregnated woods do, this wood is probably not a good candidate. It's very dense, sinks in water even fully dry, Janka hardness is listed at 4,570 which is crazy hard.

 

[jacko9]

View attachment 75439

Yes. I ran a corner on belt sander and this is what I found.

For some woods, I think you might try a vaccum/pressure cycle as people who do resin impregnated woods do, this wood is probably not a good candidate. It's very dense, sinks in water even fully dry, Janka hardness is listed at 4,570 which is crazy hard.

I made a 1000 sq ft deck out that wood and it is very hard and durable - I've had it for over 20 years now.

 

[Bert2368]

I made a 1000 sq ft deck out that wood and it is very hard and durable - I've had it for over 20 years now.

Do you live in South America?

If not, how did you obtain a deck worth of this material- I found a couple of blocks on sale at a hobbyist wood shop supply store, no one knew what it was or why they might want it.

Other than that, I see a few small pieces offered at high prices as material for knife handles, pistol grips (would HATE to hand cut checkering into this!) and bags of chipped heart wood or extracted tannins sold to craft dyers.

Never seen or heard of construction sized lumber in USA, although some claim to have found discarded shipping pallets of this wood laying around. I know it's a common enough species to be used for cooking charcoal, fence posts and railroad ties in its home range.

 

[jacko9]

Do you live in South America?

If not, how did you obtain a deck worth of this material- I found a couple of blocks on sale at a hobbyist wood shop supply store, no one knew what it was or why they might want it.

Other than that, I see a few small pieces offered at high prices as material for knife handles, pistol grips (would HATE to hand cut checkering into this!) and bags of chipped heart wood or extracted tannins sold to craft dyers.

Never seen or heard of construction sized lumber in USA, although some claim to have found discarded shipping pallets of this wood laying around. I know it's a common enough species to be used for cooking charcoal, fence posts and railroad ties in its home range.

I had a Hardwood furniture business in Northern California and one of my wholesale suppliers got a shipment of this type of wood in (the species I got was a mix of Red and Yellow Balau mahogany). That being said there area lot of trees around the world that have similar high density woods for example there are at least 30 species of mahogany and other trees with similar looking wood but the properties vary greatly. The wood I made that deck with was so hard that all screw holes were drilled oversized and all stainless steel screws were waxed to ease insertion without breaking. I used the last of it to build a raised bed garden.

 

[Bert2368]

Balau is one of those names which gets applied to a number of different tree species as far as I can discover. From what I have read, species sold as Balau are from Malaysia, I have no experience with any. Did find references to flooring and decking use, high durability outdoors, etc.


I have a small collection of "wood that sinks". Now that I've heard of balau, I would like to find a chunk. And a latin name to describe it.

 

[jacko9]

One of the issues with Balau is that it warps a lot as it drys and for that reason the wholesaler stopped importing it since it is not useful as cabinet grade hardwood. BTW I have a lot of wood that sinks in the sink and "smells". Some of it is quite beautiful like my Brazilian Rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) and East Indian Rosewood and Cocobolo. I did a desk top out of a large plank of Brazilian Boxwood that was heavy as hell but quite ordinary looking. That wood destroyed my 20" bandsaw blade re-sawing it into 1" slabs. The tree was a small diameter tree but very dense.

 

[Bensbites]

I enjoy ebonizing shapes stabilized oak handles.

here is an example from my personal collection. https://www.instagram.com/p/B6akW5sHspF/?igshid=dsemv1wd4uci