# Ebonizing Safe for Cutting Board?



## high6ix (Aug 13, 2012)

Granted, with wear and tear and refinishing over the year the ebonized wood will eventually be gone, but is it safe for cutting boards? In regard to coming in contact with food.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

It would be safe if you used black food coloring.


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## HowardAcheson (Nov 25, 2011)

The safety will be dependent on the process, chemicals and/or materials used. There are many, many ways that folks have devised to "ebonize" wood. How do you plan to "ebonize" the surface?


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## high6ix (Aug 13, 2012)

HowardAcheson said:


> The safety will be dependent on the process, chemicals and/or materials used. There are many, many ways that folks have devised to "ebonize" wood. How do you plan to "ebonize" the surface?


I have seen a bunch of methods, the most common being the steel wool in vinegar to get the solution, before you strain it multiple times to get any particulates out. A couple of posts I have seen, not here, have stated that once dry it would be food safe, but I was wondering what opinions here would be.


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## HowardAcheson (Nov 25, 2011)

Many of the professional finishers will create their ebony in two steps. The first step is to apply an ebony dye stain. Then apply either a pigment stain or a pigment gel stain. When fully dry, apply a satin varnish.

I've never seen the need or benefit to messing around with a home brew stain. Many I've seen give uneven results. I'd suggest testing both out before committing to finishing your project.


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## joejohnson (May 31, 2019)

Moved to new thread


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

HowardAcheson said:


> .............................I've never seen the need or benefit to messing around with a home brew stain. Many I've seen give uneven results. I'd suggest testing both out before committing to finishing your project.


I agree 100%. besides the effort, you will probably get an inferior stain out of your work. For one thing, when you use steel wool for anything, there always exists the possibility of really small chards of the steel left behind. This could possibly rust under your finish and leave an undesirable effect. I'm sure that lots of people will testify that they never had a problem with it but that dont mean it ain't so for others.

If it was truly a better stain, the paint manufacturers would be all over it. Think about how cheap they could manufacture it and sell it for a cheaper price and beat out competitors. Anyway, voo-doo woodworking is not for me.


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## TETD (Feb 21, 2021)

How To Ebonize Wood | Popular Woodworking


Ebonizing can be a lot of fun and it’s a great option to add to your offerings. Learn how to achieve a deep, rich black using household ingredients plus some powder from a South American evergreen.




www.popularwoodworking.com


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

I helped my spouse ebonize a couple of small oak mushroom plugs to make black eyes for a scroll saw intarsia project of hers. The buttons turned completely black and have stayed black for over a year. We used household vinegar and steel wool, let it soak a couple days, then strained it through a coffee filter.

The oak turned very black because of the high tannin content, but other woods may not.

_*FOOD SAFETY WARNING: *_
Vinegar and steel are NOT food safe when they react together!! The resulting Iron Acetate from the reaction is not food safe and should not be ingested. Iron Acetate reacts with tannins in the wood to stain it dark.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Tool Agnostic said:


> ............ We used household vinegar and steel wool, let it soak a couple days, then strained it through a coffee filter..................


Really dumb questions............. does the smell of vinegar dissipate?


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

URGENT: PLEASE NOTE MY FOOD SAFETY WARNING ABOVE!! - (The reaction of steel and vinegar yields iron acetate, which is toxic. Do not ebonize food contact items, like cutting boards or bowls.



Tony B said:


> Really dumb questions............. does the smell of vinegar dissipate?


Yes. To be honest, I do not remember exactly how long it took, but it wasn't long. A few days at most.

Spouse made it November 2019. The only ebonized parts are the two small oak mushroom plug eyes. She stores it in a sealed plastic box and displays it for a few weeks during holiday season. Just for fun, we got it out just now and gave it a sniff test to see if we could smell anything at all. There was nothing but "wood smell."

Photo was taken a few minutes ago. Clearly the eyes have stayed very dark.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

OK, then. I thought that maybe you can cut your salad on that board and not need dressing.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

@Tool Agnostic .....have you performed any simple visual comparative tests as to how this recipe compares to stain or dye?


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

URGENT: PLEASE NOTE MY FOOD SAFETY WARNING ABOVE!!
The reaction of steel and vinegar yields iron acetate, which is toxic. Do not ebonize food contact items, like cutting boards or bowls.



Tony B said:


> @Tool Agnostic .....have you performed any simple visual comparative tests as to how this recipe compares to stain or dye?


No, but we did try ebonizing various woods. The oak was by far the best - it was very black. Two coats was enough, and it took a few minutes to darken as a chemical reaction.

Other woods turned various shades of gray, no matter how much we coated them with the ebonizing "stain" or how many coats we used. It reacts with the tannin in the wood. High tannin = dark color. Low tannin = not so dark.

Ordinary tea that you drink has tannin in it, and some people first coat the wood with tea, then apply the ebonizing stain. We never tried that.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

I spray lacquer so the wood has to be pretty dry. How long does it take to dry and quit smelling like a salad dressing?


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Tony B said:


> I spray lacquer so the wood has to be pretty dry. How long does it take to dry and quit smelling like a salad dressing?


Perhaps someone here knows. Sorry, but we don't remember. I just asked Spouse. She said, "I dunno. Maybe a couple days??" 

Give it a try and see for yourself. We let the steel wool sit in vinegar in a covered jar for two days. We filtered it and applied it on the third day (there was not much solids left by the third day). We applied two coats to the oak plugs, about 30 minutes apart.

The reindeer pictured above was finished with an oil finish (Tried and True), not a lacquer. Sorry we don't have better information.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Thanks for the Info.


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## Jay_L (Oct 16, 2020)

I wonder if Rubio Fumed is food safe?

The SDS doesn’t state what the active ingredient is..I’m guessing it might be sodium nitrite which I think might be a food preservative..

The following is a lightly ebonized white oak sample done with Rubio Fumed.


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