jet black wood

[KurtHuhn]

Be sure you're not sanding too high before applying your tannin and iron acetate. Also, the best contrast seems to come from buffing off the surface black, not sanding. Black emery compound can be helpful in this regard. Tripoli is kind of slow. Sanding is a bit too aggressive.

[JHowell]

I wasn't, and I agree. I would say the main virtue of the iron acetate lies not in its penetration, but in its insolubility.

[kkendall]

Be sure you're not sanding too high before applying your tannin and iron acetate. Also, the best contrast seems to come from buffing off the surface black, not sanding. Black emery compound can be helpful in this regard. Tripoli is kind of slow. Sanding is a bit too aggressive.

Is it going to trash my trip wheel (ie; will it then be a dedicated wheel for the tanin only)?

Also - if i don't sand "too high", apply the finish, then trip the pipe, I will STILL need to sand the pipe to a high grit, the wheel isn't a good substitute for high grit sanding.

But thanks - I'll give it a go on the next one.

[caskwith]

I had no problem using this method after sanding to a high grit, in fact i hit 1000 before i used the tannin/ferric acetate. Here is how mine turned out, with a yellow over stain to give an eltang style golden contrast. Sorry for the crappy photography, im still learning.

[KurtHuhn]

I wasn't, and I agree. I would say the main virtue of the iron acetate lies not in its penetration, but in its insolubility.

Yep, pretty much. The main benefit is that it won't float away when you topstain.

[KurtHuhn]

Is it going to trash my trip wheel (ie; will it then be a dedicated wheel for the tanin only)?

Also - if i don't sand "too high", apply the finish, then trip the pipe, I will STILL need to sand the pipe to a high grit, the wheel isn't a good substitute for high grit sanding.

But thanks - I'll give it a go on the next one.

Yes, you probably want to dedicate a buffing wheel for this.

And don't assume that you need to sand to a high grit after buffing the black off. I think you'll be surprised at the finish.

Another tip that you should keep in mind is that you really need to use good briar. If your briar has a reddish tone to it, that means it's still full of its natural tannins and won't show off the contrast. The whole thing will just go dark - which can be an interesting effect in itself.

[daniel]

hello,
does everybodys vinegar look like this?



i´ve achieved pretty good finishes but i´m still not happy.
is it normal that when the vinegarrust is applied and dried,
it forms black/blueish powderlike sh** on the pipe?
i tried sanding a little bit after applying the tannin, before applying the vinegar,
i found this worked a bit better/ made it easier.
i figured out that the mix forms somewhat sticky stuff, and i wouldn´t belive that it pentrates the briar well, when the sanding is done,
the vinegar can now affect better on the grains...

i must be doing something wrong.

how about mixing the tannin powder to alcohol instead of water?
anyone?

[daniel]

hello again,
as i am very happy for the answers i got for my questions before,
id like to give another question.
has anyone got his tannin solution molded? green mold?
would it be any kind of idea to pour alcohol in it?

...ofcourse when mixed with water the alko will loose it´s power but...

[KurtHuhn]

My tannin solution hasn't grown any mold. I'm not sure why it would either. Where do you store it? What was the source of your tannin?

[daniel]

the place i got it from was a "vinehouse", place selling all the stuff for making vines.. i don´t know, i have stored like my stains, in a glas jar,
under my table.
luckily i have more of it as powder though.
btw. i have seen redvine growing mold.

[KurtHuhn]

Ah, same stuff I use. Tannin powder meant for tweaking homemade wine. Which, I might add, it works a treat on. At any rate, I would dump it and mix up a new batch.

[Briarfox]

I've been doing some research on this process and I came up with this google book on natural dyes. Specifically pg 40-42. It talks about both copper and iron. Unfortunately the photos do not show up.
Google Book

[Briarfox]

I managed to get the same black effect with Tea. First attempt with strong brewed tea was so-so, it was mainly a grey. I then used a whole box of Black tea and boiled it down until it was gritty. This gave me enough tannin for the reaction with vinegar + iron. It turned black a few seconds after the application, black enough that no grain was visible. Buff and your good to go!

[bikedoctor]

Hey Chris,
If you get a chance I would love to see a pic.

[caskwith]

Just a question. Has anybody found there is a shlef life to either their tannin or their ferric acetate? I dont use it very often on pipes but i when i was doing some experiementing the other day i found that the reaction was not as good as usually, yielding just a pale grey rather than the jet black i was getting a few months back.

[Briarfox]

Hey Chris,
If you get a chance I would love to see a pic.

I'll get a photo up as soon as i remember to bring a camera to the shop! I just did a side by side test with tannin made for wine and my reduced black tea and I got the same result. The tannin seemed to dry faster then the tea. When I applied the iron vinegar the tannin turned jet black a few seconds before the vinegar on the tea. After it dried the tea actually seemed more black then the tannin before the buff. However, after buffing with brown trip they both looked identical. Black grain and tan briar. Both looked like Kurts photo on the first page. Both took stain the same.


I have no idea on the shelf life.