easy rustic finish

[Billy in Va]

After another day or two I will run the batch through a filter and have it when I need it.  Oh and even the cats would not stay in the shop when I was testing it. All doors and windows were open too!

[Al W]

I started a batch of "Wooden Pickles" the same day as the first post.  When  Keffie posted about the stink, another use came to mind.  I do love all the people that come to my shop. Some when the come, other when they leave. Seems a good way to get rid of unwanted guests!

Guests or Pests? 

Sounds like a good tip.  About how much vinegar are you using, is it a sufficient amount to immerse the steel wool, or just some in the bottom of the jar?  Thanks for the info.....

[daliclimbs]

I fill the jar with vinegar. It only takes a few small hunks of steel wool. Then just top off the jar with the vinegar.

[Billy in Va]

I filtered my batch yesterday and it is ready to go.  I have tried it on several types of wood.  Oak turns almost black. Baltic Birch turned a deep brown, pine about the same. I ever put a couple swipes on a piece of treated 1X6 and the results wo darker but not a dark as the plain pine. Does anyone know if that is a way to stop the reaction when you get a color you like, or is it all it nothing?  OH, if your work bench is wood, and some gets spilled It will turn darke too!

[daliclimbs]

Its pretty much all or nothing. You can cut it a bit with water and bring the overall darkening down. But its pretty much a get what you get type finish.

[Scroll Down]

I had heard of this trick for ebonizing wood.

I was told to use a jar with a non metal lid to avoid rust. I also read that with time unused solution will turn more red due to rusting of the steel wool. Have any of you experienced this change of color with time?

[GrayBeard]

Here is a location that give info on the use of TEA, steel wool & vinegar & "pennies" with vinegar for a bluish color.

http://www.toolgirl.com/toolgirl/2010/03/staining-wood-with-cheap-natural-and-nontoxic-tea.html

~~~GB~~~

[pictureman]

Has anyone tried this on baltic birtch plywood yet?

[Al W]

I happened upon this post about three weeks ago.  Went to the garage with a glass jar and 1/2 pint of white vinegar and placed a chunk of 0000 steel wool in the bottle (yes, with the vinegar).  About one third of a roll.

Went out today, saw it sitting in the back corner, right where I left it.  Thought to myself I would give it a go. 

I stirred the mixture, (now almost nothing but filings in the liquid), then stirred the mixture with three different stir sticks, one pine, one oak and one walnut.  All I got was three wet stir sticks - NO color change whatsoever.



Al

[Keefie]

sorry Al, we should have said, it doesn't work with white vinegar,I don't know why. ordinary malt vinegar works (the brown malt vinegar)

[Rapid Roger]

I have found that to be true also. White vinegar does not work. However I recently read that if you use water and steel wool and add a little vinegar to the water, it speeds up the rusting which is really what is happening. My first batch, I used apple cider vinegar and after a week I stirred it with a scrap of red oak and the wood turned black almost instantly!
I am currently experimenting with coffee and black tea. The coffee did stain poplar but, not very dark and the black tea is kind of like putting water on the wood. I tried the tea first (trying to add tannins to the wood) and then the cider/steel wool on top of that and it darkened quite a bit but I didn't get any grain out of the wood at all. I was using poplar and it didn't really have much grain anyway. I was making a picture frame and it turned out looking like I had just painted it brown. 

Rog 

[Billy in Va]

About a week and a half ago I put 20 pennies in a jar and added white vinegar. so far just like Al I have a jar of  white vinegar and pennies. also found out that since 1982, pennies are made with zinc clad with copper. My wife says I need older pennies but now I wonder if I need older pennies and brown vinegar.  Anyone tried this?

PS  I used white vinegar and steel wool and it works fine. I will have some picts later

[chelcass]

Just watched a video by P. Allen Smith on ehow.com/home  he was showing how to make homemade stain.  It is almost the same as stated here.  He used 1/2 cup used coffee grounds, steel wool cut into small pieces and White vinegar in a quart jar.  The only difference being is he lets this mixture sit for ONE day.  His stain applied to pine came out a silvery gray.  It took about 30 minutes for the chemical reaction.  Each day you let the mixture sit the darker the stain becomes.  So if you started with the orginal mixture and then each day pour (strained) a small portion into say a baby food jar I wonder if this would get the best results.

[Al W]

WOW.  I left the stuff alone for a couple more days, let it warm up a spell ere I filtered, and what a difference.

Turned a piece of walnut darn near black.  So I took the wood to the bench and sanded it to 320.  Looking forward to what some BLO/MS will do with 1/3, Danish oil with a 1/3, and leaving the last part for comparing.

Never stop trying or learning.

Al

[trancer61]

Excellent tip thank you very much