Refinishing Wood Tabletop With India Ink?

[jyl]

I have an oak table top to refinish. It is a veneer, but a fairly thick one. The top is currently coated with a lumpy coat of god knows what clear plasticky goop. I'm going to chemical strip, fill defects and lightly sand. Then . . .

I want a black finish that still shows woodgrain. I'm reading that "black" stains sometimes produce only a gray.

So, I'm thinking of staining the tabletop with India Ink, then satin poly.

Anyone done this? Some Youtube videos make it look easy as pie and the results appear nice and black.

[jyl]

FYI I'll test on a scrap of oak - but just interesting in tapping the bottomless well of Pelican lore . . .

[wdfifteen]

By “still shows wood grain” do you mean you want to preserve only the 3 dimensional aspect of the grain and turn the wood totally black or do you want the wood’s color character to show through also?
The bed wood on my truck was painted black from the factory and I wanted a restored truck. But the new ash boards were so nice I couldn’t bring myself to paint them. I used Minwax black wood stain, which allowed both the texture and color variations of the grain to show, but didn’t make the bed look like a piece of furniture the way a clear coat or wood colored stain would. It doesn’t look gray to me. I like the effect.

[dad911]

I'd try black stain, or thinning black paint first.

And if you mess up, there is always shou sugi ban.

[legion]

Sounds messy. India ink will stain anything that it comes into contact with, including you. Also, keep in mind that as that table was previously stained, it might not take stain well a second time.

One trick that I've done that looks really cool (and gives an old wood look) is to stain with a black stain, sand, and stain again with a lighter stain that is gray or brown. Then I seal it with polyurethane.

[rwest]

Oak is so ring porous that I think you could use a slightly thinned black oil based paint and get grain texture to remain. Maybe use a sprayer to keep the coat thin?

[herr_oberst]

I have some printing ink I've used to good effect to get a very black finish.

You're welcome to give it a try before you buy some....

[serene911]

I've done tons of stain work over the years. You might try a gel stain, black of
course. General Finishes is a good brand. The gel stains cover very well and allow
you to do multiple coats if you want a deeper color.

[LWJ]

Consider this.

I have some West Epoxy that I used to glue some reclaimed white oak. I am staining the expxy black with some dye I got at Rockler. I will then thin the epoxy and brush it on as a finish. Then sand to a satin.

You could dye epoxy black and do this. Test with a scrap. A little dye is supposed to go a long way.

[Bill Douglas]

I agree, test it on some similar wood. Another idea is to mix the dye with suitable thinners and lightly (dusting it on) spray it.

I've done a little staining of wood in the past. nothing dark though. I just wiped it on then wiped it off to get the right level of color.

[look 171]

Wood dye. Much easier then ink, I think. Two coats and color will be very consistent. I would be careful with grain filler. That will take away from some of the character or the open pores that you like showing. Two to three coats of clear from General Finishes will do the trick for protection. Water base will be fine. You can get them in brush grade or spray. General Finishes top coat is very close to some of the industrial brand we use.

[MBAtarga]

Google - DIY Ebony stain. Uses iron (nails) and vinegar.

[Bill Douglas]

A couple of things. Take care with the chemical stripper in regard to it being a veneer. Should be fine.

I did a minor furniture making project and sprayed it with spare clear coat left over from car painting projects. Fantastic stuff. ROCK hard and easy to use. And dries enough to put it in the house and pour a celebrationary drink that night.

Excellent project - keep us up to date

[jyl]

Took three sessions with two strippers, then some light sanding with 100 grit. The goopy DIY finish came off easily. The “factory finish” was tougher. The strippers (both non methylene chloride) weren’t that effective. Last time I stripped enamel paint off a copper boiler, I used the methylene chloride stuff and it worked great. Citrus stripper not so much.

Pics below. I might have to sand a little more. Basically I wipe mineral spirits on the wood and wherever stays lighter, that usually means there’s still some coating on the wood. I’ve been very careful not to sand too aggressively, but that means this is going slowly.





I’m going to test a piece of oak with ebony stain and with some of Herr O’s printers ink. If those don’t look right I’ll try dye.

A friend who has a kitchen cabinet business showed me his “black oak” finish that uses a black tinted clear finish. Not what I want. It’s dark, dark brown. I want b l a c k .

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by jyl

Took three sessions with two strippers,

I love the grain. And nice table, well worth the effort. A special thanks to the strippers for helping.

[jyl]

Herr O did a test piece of oak for me. Right is printers ink. Left is ebony stain. Bottom left is ink over stain. One coat of each.

[Bill Douglas]

It's nice the stain accentuating the difference between the light and dark grains.

[Evans, Marv]

Another possibility is stain used for oak flooring. When we were choosing a stain for ours, they made several swatches. I was amazed at how dark a couple were.

[Rusty Heap]

black shoe polish........buff it in

[shadowjack1]

The ink over the stain looks very good.