Hello All

Bmikten started a thread about where our work should end up and I and a few others hijacked it and turned the discussion about pigments , which I apologize for.
I would like to talk about pigments, not dyes, and how people work with them ways of staining wood, ways of printing with them, ideas on how to crush stone and make to paste, basically
use this thread to gain more information about them.


I will start it here with a post by Drew W.

That technique is called "ebonizing". But there are much safer and less expensive formulas than the dichromate route, easily searched on the web. The wood itself needs a high tannic acid content. So some wood species darken far more than others. But using such a solution also raises the grain, so you have to polish or fine sand everything down again afterward, prior to a final sealant. A major wholesale frame factory in this area had a lot of demand for that, with one employee dedicated to it almost full time. But due to the substantial extra cost of the appropriate hardwoods, as well as extra labor expense, they eventually switched entirely to Black Cat ink for their opaque black wooden frames. However, a partial chemical ebonizing might simulate ammonia fuming of white oak without the awful health risk involved with that.

Now as per that linked insane "death wish" toxic voodoo method of enhancing cherry ... escape the Medieval Inquisition torture chamber and acquire a modern transoxide colored sealant. I've used something called Cetol 1 for both personal picture framing and cabinetry needs, as well as massive architectural restorations (including one entire Frank Lloyd house, inside and out, plus furniture - a six million dollar renovation project). It's totally lightfast, truly transparent, penetrates deeply, and is dispersed in oil sealant, so allow it to thoroughly outgas before putting artwork in the frame. There is also a water-based equivalent, but it's not as deluxe to apply.

And yeah, it might be nice to section all this off to a separate thread.