Looking for help in making smooth shiny black animal eyes

[Craig Allen]

I would really appreciate some help on how to make beautiful black smooth eyes. I am a newbie and I am trying to make a dog.

[NC Scroller]

Ebony is a black wood though it is hard to find and very expensive. For round eyes l have taken pieces of dowel and rounded them on a sanding wheel. When I get the shape that I want I stain them with ebony stain.

[Will M]

There are companies out there that sell all types of animal eyes.I have used them in the past and they really make a big difference in the
finished item.Try and google them,sure you can find something.
Will

[Quartz43]

Search Amazon for black eyes.

[Rolf]

Yes I know ebony is expensive. but it is what I use for all of my animal eyes. If round I turn them on my lathe, sand and polish them. I like it because with a high gloss they pick up the light in the room and appear to follow you. I have also use black walnut and Wenge. Sand and polish . I also have put a thin coat of clear nail polish as a final coat.
The eyes and buttons on this snowman are polished ebony.
Snow man croped.jpg

[Sandy Oaks]

I use Wenge. It is black with red streaks.

[handibunny]

Craig, it might help to give more information about what type of dog you're making. Given the variety of projects that can be made with the scroll saw, it could range from artistic and realistic, to cartoonish and childlike.

For example, is it a puzzle, child's toy, intarsia? Each of these might call for a different approach, such as ebony for a realistic intarsia animal, or wood painted black and lacquered or even a purchased eye for a child's toy.

[tgiro01]

Ebonized Black Walnut - Soak a golf-ball sized hunk of steel wool in white vinegar overnight. Throw the steel wool away after 24 hours. Shape your eyes the you want them - then paint them with the vinegar mixture. Watch them turn black. Now you can coat them with a few coats of gloss poly.

[will8989]

Love the snowman Rolf. Whose pattern is it?

[Rolf]

A Kathy Wise book of ornaments, or more like a pamphlet.


Cover.jpg

[will8989]

Thanks. I remember seeing her at an open house at fox chapel many years ago.