Speedball Black Guitar Finish

[BTL]

This is a finish I have used around the house on small pieces of furniture and picture frames.

I started this project at about 3:00 pm today, and it's now just after 6:00 pm.

I plan to assemble the guitar tomorrow.

The finish combines Speedball Black India Ink as a base coat and and Minwax Satin wipe-on Poly as a clearcoat.

Tools and supplies are:

- Speedball Black India Ink
- Minwax Satin wipe on polyurethane
- 0000 steel wool or similar
- Cotton rag
- 3/4" artist's paint brush.

That's it.

Here's a video that discusses the general process of "ebonizing" wood in depth, with the segment on India Ink starting at about 21:00



It's VERY simple, and to demonstrate I went old school with a lazy Susan and screws in the body to suspend it off the surface while I painted the back.

1. Brush on three coats of Speedball Black, brushing with the grain and burnishing with steel wool in between coats.

2. Wipe on three coats of Minwax Satin polyurethane, burnishing with steel wool in between coats.

3. Enjoy!

Getting ready:

After only one coat of Speedball Black:

After 3 coats of Speedball Black and 3 coats of Minwax Satin, burnished with steel wool:

Thanks to @fretno for introducing me to this technique.

 

[BigBobbyBass]

Classy finish. I dig.

 

[Means2nEnd]

That looks super good! I thought ebonizing wood was an actual thing taking cider vinegar and soaking steel wool in it for a few days then brushing it into the wood and it reacted with the tannin and turns the wood black naturally? Anywayze your guitar looks amazing.

 

[PDX Rich]

Simple and elegant. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Will_White]

That looks super good! I thought ebonizing wood was an actual thing taking cider vinegar and soaking steel wool in it for a few days then brushing it into the wood and it reacted with the tannin and turns the wood black naturally? Anywayze your guitar looks amazing.

There is a couple ways to ebonize wood, with high tannin woods like oak it's easier to use the vinegar and steel wool, but with low tannin woods like pine and maple it's easier to use ink, dye, or stain to ebonize.

 

[BTL]

I think it's possible to argue whether this is truly "ebonizing" the wood itself, or simply a very thin and very black surface finish.

Still, it's amazing how quickly and easily this can be accomplished.

 

[johnson79]

Looks awesome!

 

[tubedude]

I'd like to see a finish with the black knocked back so the grain shows through. Like the turned bowl in the video.

 

[moonshinegtrs]

I'm going to have to try this.

Nice job Brad!




Moonshine

 

[howlin]

Very cool!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Dang, wish I'd seen this years ago! I ebonized an ash Jazz body by applying what seemed like 100 coats of Minwax ebony stain. It worked, but what PITA! Have to try that if I ever ebonize again. I've tried the rusty steel wool trick on oak, it works, but it's hard to get an even stain out of it, and it's a nasty mess. The tiny particles of steel wool are almost impossible to get up out of the open grain, so they keep oxidizing under the finish. Is the Stewmac ebonizer just India ink?

 

[MoonChild2112]

Wudtone Guitar finishes has a similar finish, a bit more waxy looking... redid an old P body I had, looked kool as hell... a bit more complicated though, and definitely more expensive...

 

[wraub]

Looks good, less work, and quick.

Winner.

 

[GwenOnBass]

As a pen and ink person and some-time calligrapher, this is a use for India ink that is entirely new to me. Well done.

 

[Will_White]

Dang, wish I'd seen this years ago! I ebonized an ash Jazz body by applying what seemed like 100 coats of Minwax ebony stain. It worked, but what PITA! Have to try that if I ever ebonize again. I've tried the rusty steel wool trick on oak, it works, but it's hard to get an even stain out of it, and it's a nasty mess. The tiny particles of steel wool are almost impossible to get up out of the open grain, so they keep oxidizing under the finish. Is the Stewmac ebonizer just India ink?

The stew mac ebonizer is feibings leather dye, it works great I used it on my purple Double P neck.

 

[FerruleCat]

I have an old ash P/J body* that I gooched with water-based stain (which I'll never use again). I'm going to use this technique to see if I can salvage it.

* Not to be confused with my other ash P body that is still in raw state.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I once saw a bass some idiot savant had ebonized with black magic marker, kind of a weird, streaky, purplish black, clear-coated with rattlecan gloss laquer. It was actually kind of cool! People do some crazy sh*t to guitars.

 

[McFarlin]

Are there other ink colors that work as well as this black?

Also, would this look bad on basswood?

 

[BTL]

I'm not sure about other inks, but Speedball Black is shellac based, so it sticks to nearly anything.

I suspect the "lamp black" pigment and shellac base make for a pretty unique combination.

Think of it as a primer/sealcoat and the wipe on poly as the finish.

I've used it on all kinds of household objects like floor mirrors, picture frames, dining room chairs, etc.

It's the quickest and easiest "almost factory" finish I've ever seen.

 

[FerruleCat]

@BeeTL, by the way, P90s are my favorite pickup. You've got a killer plan going there.