Nickbee

Looking for comments / suggestions here. Overall I’m happy with this 1st attempt.

This is a sample of maple finished with:

2 coats of India Ink (flooded, wait 1 min, the wiped off).

1 Coat GF seal a cell

5 Coats GF wipe on gloss poly

1 Coat GF wipe on semi gloss poly

Final buff with steel wool / wax

I think I can skip the seal a cell step. I’m not sure if it adds anything with the ink being applied.

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bobj3

Hi Nick

You may want to take a peek at the links below,,,I'm not a big fan of India Ink
Black can look neat but it must be done right from the get go..

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...er_finish.html
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...er_finish.html
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=47097


The box below is a lacquer job, it's not black but a clear lacquer job.

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harrysin

Nick., I'm not sure what kind of result you were after, Low sheen Ebony type or lacquer type high sheen, I feel that you're results don't quite fit into either category. For the latter I've had success spraying matt black paint followed by several coats of high gloss lacquer, I've done this in black and white. For an Ebony finish I would try the matt black followed by several coats of low sheen clear lacquer. It's important of course that both finishes use the same solvent! When I make boxes that are going to be painted, I use pine, often from FREE packing cases!

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Nickbee

The idea here was a low sheen semi gloss or satin finish but still being able to see some wood features (color and grain). I'm not sure if paint would allow that. As far as laquer is concerned is that always high sheen?

Thanks for the replies guys!

harrysin

Nick., spray lacquer is available in gloss, semi gloss, satin and matt. Semi gloss is 60% gloss level and satin gloss 30%, I don't know what matt is.
Be daring, try everything, that's the best way to learn, one's own experiences!

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jerrymayfield

Oil based paint is the same as varnish with the addition of pigment. Maple has very little color or grain. Why not simply us black oil based paint in whatever sheen you desire. It is always a good idea to do test boards,before using your project as test sample. Keep it simple and enjoy the process.

Regards

Jerry

Nickbee

I agree Harry! Figured I'll want a black finish on something one day. Time to try things out now!

So will laquer still show some grain?

Also since I don’t know the 1st thing about lacquer how is it applied?

Thanks!

Hamlin

I hope you are a big fan of "dusting". Black shows dust quite well unfortunetly. Not trying to discourage your efforts/attempts. Just stating from experience from a black end table my grand mother used to have.

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challagan

Nick any black lacquer I have seen in the past is opaque for the most part. Lacquer can be applied in a number of ways but the most effective way is spraying it for your application. Just FYI, use in extremely ventilated areas. Nitro Cel lacquer prodects are about as bad as anything you would want to breath. Can really mess up your nerve system from extended exposure. I have a buddy that use to do guitar repairs and sprayed a lot of lacquer... nasty. If I understand what you want to do you want basically a black wood look with little gloss. I like the India ink method myself. There is also a concoction you can mix to ebonize the wood... David Marks has used it. For what your looking for, Jeremy's suggestion sounds interesting.

Corey

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harrysin

Nick., I read you're post several hours ago but couldn't give you a definitive answer, so, between a day of gardening I managed to sand a piece of scrap Pine, wipe it with a tack rag, spray a liberal coat of matt black, go back to it a couple of hours later and spray a coat of matt Poly. followed a couple of hours later by a second coat.
If I was for instance making a coffee table consisting of a rectangular frame with a glass centre, I wouldn't hesitate to finish the frame as described. There is a feint hint of grain, in other words it's obvious that it is wood and not plastic.
Regarding lacquer, I have used both aerosols and a low pressure gun but the latter is not economic for small items, a lot of thinners is required for clean-up. I do feel that you used far too many coats in you're test sample and spent a lot of time on it compared to no more than a total of about five minutes on mine. By the way, for a slightly higher finish, a rub with furniture polish would be all that is needed.

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