# Finishing African Blackwood



## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm making a lathe turning and part of it is African Blackwood. 

I wanted it to be black, but it had some brown streaks, so I put some denatured alcohol on it to see how the brown streaks would show up under finish. When I did this, black color bled from the wood and the alcohol re-distributed the color, making the whole piece black. Since black is what I'm after, that's great, but I wondered what I should do when finishing this to control the bleeding and ensure good adhesion of the finish. 

Can I get some advice from those who have worked with African Blackwood?


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## Cowboy18 (Aug 21, 2017)

Did two years in Northwestern Africa, 76 United Nations Relief convoys. Never had time for any wood working, nor did I ever see a stick of African Blackwood. I would love to see a picture of you're project.


Just incase there are any UN mission veterans out there. My call sign as convoy Commander in Somalia under UN mission UNSOM I & UNSOM II, was "Cowboy11". In Rawanda under UN mission UNMIR it was "Cowboy18".


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Cant say ive ever had a bleeding issue with the blackwood ive worked with. I will say that sanding up to 800 grit and buffing with some white compound makes it look amazing


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Going on what you are describing the only solution is either use a mild finish or spray the finish. Alcohol is a very strong solvent so you wouldn't be able to brush a finish that was anywhere near as strong. Brushing the finish you might have to use a water based finish to prevent the finish from bleeding the color. Generally with exotic woods like that you wash the wood with acetone prior to finishing to cut the natural oils first. I realize the problem you have with a solvent bleeding the color but you might do this on the black wood anyway.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the advice. Based on what I've heard, Here's what I'm thinking about doing while the African Blackwood piece is seperate from the rest. 

1) Wipe the entire thing (again) with alcohol to get the oils out and ensure a good gluing surface when I glue it to the rest of the piece. 

2) (Maybe) dye it with some black TransTint dye to get it back to black if I need to. 

3) Mask off the part that will be glued, and spray a seal coat of shellac. 

4) Glue it up and finish as usual. 


Anybody see any pitfalls in this plan?


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Wait, I do see one pitfall; beyond some wax, you really don't need any finish. Blackwood's dense and oily, getting a finish to adhere to it is a bit of a chore and not really needed, the wood itself will take a nice finish with a bit of polishing work.

Gluing is a little tricky too. Again, lots of oils there. Scrub down the areas to be glued with a solvent, acetone is my preference but DNA will work too, and glue with epoxy. I dont really trust wood glues on dense woods, just seems that I get a better bond with epoxy. Scuffing the glued surfaces with some 120 grit to increase the surface area isn't a bad idea either


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Ok, now you guys really have me on the fence!
This will be the very top of a peppermill, so it will get a lot of handling. On one hand, I think it should look the same as the rest of it with the lacquer-like gloss that the rest will have. 
On the other hand, if there's no finish on there, there's no finish to wear off. 


What do you think?


Here's a drawing depicting the scene of the crime.


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

Love the light house design.
johnep


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

Me too


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Quickstep said:


> Ok, now you guys really have me on the fence!
> This will be the very top of a peppermill, so it will get a lot of handling. On one hand, I think it should look the same as the rest of it with the lacquer-like gloss that the rest will have.
> On the other hand, if there's no finish on there, there's no finish to wear off.
> 
> ...


The bare wood will take a lacquer like gloss. A coat of wax will give you all the protection you need. I'll see if I can't dredge up a picture of some blackwood I've worked with


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm going to give polishing it a go. I've done it before with rosewood and ebony, but I didn't get lacquer-like gloss. 

Since I want it jet black, do you think I'd be OK to dye it with some TransTint before polishing?


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Quickstep said:


> I'm going to give polishing it a go. I've done it before with rosewood and ebony, but I didn't get lacquer-like gloss.
> 
> Since I want it jet black, do you think I'd be OK to dye it with some TransTint before polishing?


I'm not sure it would even take a dye, actually. Same problem you get with gluing, the woods just too dense and oily for anything to really penetrate. Not saying its impossible, but I'm skeptical. May be a better idea to dye the finish, if you decide to use one. If you do go with a finish though, make sure you're very careful about wiping the surface down with a solvent, and don't be too surprised if it doesn't adhere the best


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I made a test piece and it does look like it's taking the dye. If I just polish and wax, I want to make sure it won't be coming out later on someone's hands.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Looks like Epic was right. It looked like the dye was getting in, but when I polished it, the light streaks showed up. So, although I had really gotten into the idea of just polishing, but now it looks like I'll end up giving it a wash coat of shellac tinted with dye, then use the Woodturners finish.

Unless... one of you guys gives me another idea. I've seen some ingenious ones here, so bring it!


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