Tonight was about using the tracksaw to cut the four sides to the final dimensions, and then the miter saw to cut the four elements of the outside frame.
This confirms I like the “recessed” look (if that’s the word).
The BIG question now is what color I should stain/paint the frame. I’m thinking black (as in the F360 render), but maybe leaving it as is would work. Poor contrast ?
@OldDude: thanks for the video, pretty cool project. My WAF is still too low though.
I love his custom lift, I’m going to look into that
I agree with @WillAdams on this…there needs to be contrast. I don’t know if black is the only answer – it depends on what else is in the room where it’s going to be. I could see this with a dark walnut finish, or even a red mahogany — it depends on what it needs complement to get compliments!
EDIT: (and arguing with myself): Since it’s Shoji paper, black does make sense. More traditional.
EDIT 2: Continuing to debate this in my head (I have WAY too much time on my hands…I need to get back into the shop!): Since you’re leaving the bamboo natural, that does away with the black traditional Shoji screen…so I’m back to the browns working as well - based on the rest of the pieces in the room.
And I’m on my way to the store to get some white vinegar and steel wool and various stains. I’m not sure yet I want the frame ebony black, but for sure I want to learn that technique, its sounds like it could come in handy sooner or later.
Ebonizing interacts w/ tannins in the wood — it won’t work where either there isn’t as much tannin, or where the ebonizing solution can’t penetrate. One thing which can help is to “paint” w/ tannic acid (a strong tea will work — I just use a used tea bag from my most recent cup).
Actually I did use the tea trick, brushing water infused with black tea before applying the vinegar mix. Anyway since I posted, those clear spots have completely disappeared and I have a uniform dark color, it was only a matter of time. More tests and pics tomorrow
I watched this Michael Alm Video recently (timestamped appropriately How to Make Floating Picture Frames - YouTube) and I really liked the results he got with simply a black oil paint and a drier mixture. He was able to buff it nicely to the desired finish. I may try this next time I need a dark ebonized finish.
This is coming along very nicely. Glad to hear the clear spots eventually changed as you were expecting/hoping. That said if it didn’t change it would have been quiet unique giving it an aged look. Can’t wait to see the final results.
Well I wish I had interesting news but it seems like I’m getting nowhere with this ebonizing now.
Yesterday it looked as if just another coat would bring me to a nice black tint, but tonight after letting it dry (I did soak it yesterday when I brushed more vinegar on the frame, which is maybe a beginner’s mistake) it looks much lighter, not uniform, and above all the four sides did not react the same even though they were cut from a single piece of wood.
When I’m not patient, or if I want it darker, my approach in the past has been black shoe polish (if need be multiple coats, buffing in-between each), followed by an overcoat of Johnson’s paste wax (and a final buffing) — but probably any clear wax will do, and if nothing is touching it, might be able to stop w/ the shoe polish.
When applying stain usually the end product will be darker when a finish is applied. I have a lot of things that looked dull and with the finish it looks great. Try some mineral spirits to see what it will look with a finish.
I have used ebony stain before and it did a good job. I also tried some ebony gel stain and that does not penetrate as well as oil based stain. Even with your vinegar solution you may still have to stain to get a dark finish. Even with the vinegar you could spray paint it black either gloss or flat. After all it is a back piece that wont be seen much.
