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The katalux fretboard didn't quite cleanup. I want to put a 1mm wbw purfling on the edge, and then bind with 1.5mm thick katalux with a wbw sideways at the bottom. If I didn't have the purfling, I'd let it go, but a third of the side or so won't have the white/black edge, and it would look stupid. I haven't stained wood since 8th grade shop class back in 68!

What would do it?

It doesn't have to be perfect, it is just a 3mm wide strip about 7 inches long.

I'm also wondering about how to do the same wbw purfling scheme carried around the head. I planned on making the entire head and neck black with lamp black and shellac, but I don't know how to do that, and keep the wbw purfling. Would a black stain work on the Spanish cedar? Then just finish over the top?

This is the fretboard:

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Why be normal?

I use Fiebings black leather dye--It works great on fingerboards if black is what you're after.

Dave

I’m not 100% clear on what you are asking. Do you want to dye katalox black. Is the question about staining Spanish cedar a second question?

Katalox isn’t as black as it seems. There is a lot of variation in color. That fretboard is a lovely dark brown with nice grain. IMO dyeing it black would be a shame. I think you are saying that the sapwood does not run the length of the board and I agree that would look off especially with binding. It would be nice if you could just darken the sapwood.

Do you have scraps to practice on. It might be interesting to see what iron acetate does to the sapwood. I suspect it will turn it pretty dark. With the high density, it would probably not penetrate very deep, but then, neither would dye.

As for the cedar, you might try the iron acetate on scraps of that too. I have put it on mahogany and gotten pretty close to black. SC might be similar.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

India ink or as mentioned leather dye are commonly used to make FB's totally black.

Total black isn't what I want. A black transparent stain.

I thought in doing that it might work for the neck/head too that is to be all black. seeing the grain in the Spanish cedar would be fine with me, I'm not trying to make it look like ebony, just the black color. I don't know that lamp black in shellac would sink in enough to not be scraped away when I put the WBW purfling in. If the black was really IN the wood, I might need some touchup, in a few spots.

Bryan, ahh, spelled like our son; I always test things out on scrap first. Maybe not always extensively, or long term, but at least try them. Like doing the engraving on the brass cover. I used to be much more impulsive. Do you make that Iron acetate up, or do you buy it in a bottle?

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Why be normal?

Anything you do will be a surface stain, and is likely to scrape off or wear off if you're not careful. The iron/vinegar/tannin dye probably penetrates the most.

Some woods will turn dark with exposure to ammonia. Black locust can get to a very dark brown, where others, such as oak, may only be darkened somewhat. It's always worth experimenting with. Often fuming like that will penetrate very deeply, but that may depend on the pore structure of the wood.

Alternatively, some woods, such as cherry,can be darkened by a lye wipe. Use a solution that is fairly weak, say, a teaspoon full of household lye in a quart of water: it should just feel 'soapy'. It's easier and safer to use multiple coats of weak stuff than try to do it all at once with a strong solution. Lye made from hardwood ash works better.

Mohawk ultra penetrating dye stain would work well both to dye the wood and to tint the finish. It mixes with both solvents and water, so it is very versatile and easy to use.
https://www.mohawk-finishing.com/produc ... ngr-stain/

For the neck I would dye the wood and tint the finish.

Every black stain I have ever used seemed to basically do nothing or at least very little. Kind of like putting sun glasses on. I have used lamp black and shellac to repair some very old guitars which was what they were originally finished in and that is also totally black and opaque.

I just made it myself. I dissolved steel wool in vinegar. I haven’t done it in years. I heard that it could be used to darken woods to a nice brown and in some woods black. All my expirements gave me either black (oak, Osage orange, wallnut and mahogany) or a really ugly color.

I used it once to make an oak fretboard black and another time, I soaked oak veneer strips for days because I wanted black veneer lines. It eventually penetrated through the whole thickness of the veneer but it doesn’t go super deep in solid wood.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Well I see that iron acetate is easy to make. Besides that, I have everything; what could be easier? I'll start some up today.

I've used lye on cherry, and even on spruce (combined with water with cherry chips in it for tanin) to get it to darken some. It gives a nice, aged look, but not that dark. Better than what I've ever got just putting them out in the sun; I don't get much of anything just doing that. Maybe if I lived in Arizona? I never got the lye water to feel somewhat soapy. Maybe I needed more ashes.

Tinting the finish as well sounds like a good idea. I'll make a test piece. And put clear on the inlays. And then tape. Decoration is a lot of work!

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Why be normal?

One trick with the iron acetate: don't rush things. Acetic acid is not as powerful as something like nitric, and vinegar is only 3% acetic acid (I'm told there is a 'horticultural vinegar' at 10%, and photographer's 'stop bath' is either 28% or 38%, if memory serves; strong stuff). Vinegar can take several weeks to produce a strong acetate solution. The solution itself will be clear. It also requires tannin to work; acetate solution on maple doesn't do much. Oak, on the other hand....

If you boil the steel wool in vinegar on your stove top it speeds the process up. It will stink the house up though.

I just used a steel wool pad and vinegar in a medius sized jar. I didn't have a big one. I put a plastic glove with a bout 8 small holes in it. for some reason a little solution came out, and was on the tray I have it on. Wiped some of it on some test pieces with my finger. The Spanish Cedar takes well to it; I don't think I'll have any trouble with the neck. The Katalux? Nothing so far. But it's been less than a day.

It is impossible today to catch the color. I guess completely in the light it is about that color. It usually looks a lot darker. The photo I took in the house it looks blue. But the brown table didn't look brown either. It still has a lot of shine, and the grain shows. The photo doesn't show much.

It doesn't seem to be doing much of anything in the jar. Some air bubbles, but nothing is moving. We'll see what it does in a week or so. I'm thinking that the Katalux might need more of a boost.

I get in enough trouble just using varnish in the basement, and then taking them into the garage.

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Why be normal?

A tip from Mario Proulx, which I have used, is to darken fretboards with hair dye. I've gotten a bit at the dollar store, identified as "root touch up." If you want something really black, without the blueish cast that Fiebing's black leather dye sometimes has, hair dye will do it and it seems to penetrate a ways and be permanent. I suspect it would outlast ink. I don't know how well finishes adhere to it so I'd test it under finish. "Transparent black" --I don't know about that.

You have received a lot of good suggestions, and you might combine them, like darken with lye and then darken further with acetate.

YMMV, but in terms of coloring wood, I've had the best luck with a sort of harm reduction approach. Instead of making a complicated mess trying to get it perfect and failing, I color the offending area enough so it's no longer distracting, and then take refuge in the usual excuses, most of which rely on the word "natural." Such as: "Wood is a natural material," "I prefer a natural look," etc.

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Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."

The acetate dye works by producing a black iron oxide in the wood at the correct pH. That's what the tannic acid is for. Lye is alkaline, and would neutralize the acid. A lye wash on cherry (and maple) brings up the natural patina of the wood; it's an artificial aging process that works on the chemistry of the wood itself.