Staining oak black

[Mick Walker]

I want to stain an oak picture frame black. I want the grain in the oak to show and then apply a clear finish. What do I use to stain the oak? Can't remember ever seeing a black stain.

[Neal Moore]

I stained a red oak frame with Minwax dark walnut and got a nice result. It didn't come out black but I think you could get the results you want with several applications. The grain shows through nicely.

[Jediscroller]

Mick,
I'd recommend ebonizing it. Dale has a piece in his album with ebonized oak that turned out very nice.
Some steel wool in distilled white vingar for about 24 hours will do the trick.
There's a couple of thread hereabouts about ebonizing with lots of tips and such.

[Gill]

Oak is tannin-rich so it should ebonize beautifully. What's more, ebonising solution is dirt cheap to make.

I suggest you take Kevin's advice and search the forum for more details. It's all here somewhere.

Gill

[workin for wood]

If your wanting black but to keep the grain, I suggest Transfast dye. It'll cost you about $10, but it will last a long time. It is water based, you just mix the powder in water, rub it on, and it dries fast. Then you can spray it with polyurethane or whatever else on top.
I have a few of these dyes I mixed in mason jars and they are still good to use years later. I still have the powder too. Add more powder, makes the color darker, add more water, lightens the color.
You can buy it online or at a woodcraft store. Other stores are possible, but I wouldn't know which ones.
OH, when you use a water base on wood, you need to raise the grain first. This is, you wash the wood with a damp rag. wait a few minutes for it to dry and then you will feel all the grain raised on the wood. lightly sand the raised grain off and then you are ready to apply the dye. If you don't do this, then applying the dye will raise the grain. When you sand the dye, some of the dye will be removed which defeats putting it on in the first place. The bottle of dye will also tell you to do this , so be sure to read the instructions.

[Bill Wilson]

Hey Mick,

Sorry for repeating myself.... but I've used the Kiwi black shoe polish paste with decent results. Also have thinned acrylic craft paint down to a wash coat to get colored "stains" before.

[MacS]

Making your own Black stain

Bill,

Go to any arts and crafts shop, and buy a small tube of either a Universal, Oil, or Japan pigmented or past colorant. If you have Mineral Spirit or Paint Thinners (which are the same, except the names) use that as the solvent to make up your stain. (Its cheaper in price then buying stain.

It doesn't take much to make up 3-4 ozs of stain to color a frame. Mix up a sample, and stain the wood, be sure you clear coat the sample to see the final color. get a small tube of any one of those 3 colorants.

Basically, this is how professionals make their stains.

[lucky788scroller]

This is red oak, the complete thing. The ebonized parts were cut with the table tilted, and reinserted after ebonizing. Dale

[Trout]

Minwax...

Ebony stain...I've used it for the black strips on a striped bass and the tires on the old pickup truck...

That's the easy way...
Trout