Black Wood finish?

[sanadsaad]

I know next to nothing about wood finishing so I thought i'd ask. I finished building the crack recently and the wood base is held together with electrical tape since I havent installed speedball yet. I wanted to give the base a black finish. Any way I can stain it black? What should I look for? There's a small carpenter shop here in Oman so supplies will be very limited but I can give it a shot.

[Grainger49]

Sanad,

Follow the directions for gluing the base together before finishing.  To align the four pieces before putting the tape on them I used the back splash of my kitchen counters.  Electrical tape is very easy to stretch so it isn't the best for holding the wood pieces properly aligned when gluing.  I have used painter's tape.

Wood, white or yellow, will work fine.  If there is some that oozes out you can wipe it up with a moist cloth and the stain will set well after that.  If you leave glue to dry on the surface of the wood it will not stain at all.

[Mosez]

Take a look at Bob Trancho's Midnight Crack. He used an ebony wood dye, resulting in a very nice and contempory looking amp.

[2wo]

If you can't find a suitable stain or dye, black shoe polish works very well...John 

[Noskipallwd]

Sanad,
I used an Ebony stain on my Crack, I was a little over zealous with it and it turned out black. On my Quickie and Eros I learned a little about staining and they turned out great. The wood grain is visible and you can see the subtle shading that mimics the ebony. A note of caution, when you glue the base try to avoid getting glue on the oustide surface. If you do, clean it off right away! Stain and dye won't penetrate where glue is present. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Shawn

[Doc B.]

My son Colin has stained a base with India ink. Worked very well.

[4krow]

I have also used ebony stain, but we will see in the end whether that is my final answer. It just depends on what effect you want. I was actually going for a very dark black, and this may just become a sort of primer coat. Pictures to follow.

[Tubejack]

I'd suggest a wood dye which can give you as deep or light a black as you desire.  Here's a brief definition of stains and dyes  http://www.finewoodworking.com/Materials/MaterialsAllAbout.aspx?id=2954  Also read down to the "Ebonizing Wood" section as it also relates to a black finish.

And if you want a little more info on types of dyes and application, here's a good intro  http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/you-and-dye/

[Grainger49]

And you thought you would just find tube knowledge here. 

It is a pretty amazing forum.

[caffeinator]

I wanted to finish my Seduction base in a deep black, and tried to get there with MinWax Ebony wood stain.  In spite of multiple applications, it didn't get to a real dark black - it looked good; just not the black I was hoping to achieve.  I think the dyes might be the ticket if that's your aim.

If you want piano black, that's a different story - just google 'piano black,' and you should find some tips on achieving that.

[sanadsaad]

Just saw the video and will go see what's available here in Oman. Thanks for all the useful links. You're right Granger. This is one AWESOME forum. I'll probably start assembling Speedball too. I have caught the DIY bug. I feel the need to strip and solder. Wires, I mean

[Grainger49]

Yes, if you do the other kind of stripping, soldering is contraindicated.  Kind of like cooking bacon in the nude.  Bad idea!

[Paul Joppa]

Haha, they probably don't cook a lot of bacon in Oman!

[Grainger49]

I hadn't thought of that.  I don't know what they might fry in the nude there either.

Sanad,

Frying bacon is an expression in the US, maybe just the South, of a bad idea.  It spits hot oil out and even when I fry bacon fully clothed I get a few minor burns on my hands and arms.  I am not much of a cook.  I'm much better with a grill.  See the pictures and video in Grainger's Corner.