Steel Wool and Vinegar Does What

What do you get when you mix steel wool with vinegar?  Yes, you get steel wool that smells like vinegar, but thats not the point.  Ill give you a hint.  You can use the results to stain wood.  Believe me?  Find out for yourself with my tutorial.

You too can enjoy the dark color of ebony without the high price of commercial stains or ebony!  You will need the following items.

• Vinegar 
• Steel wool (0000 is best)
• An old jar (plastic is better)
• Solvents (I used Mineral Spirits and Lacquer Thinner)
• Coffee filter and rubber band (optional)

The process is pretty simply.  First, find your steel wool and douse it with mineral spirits.  I followed up with lacquer thinner to remove the mineral spirits because Im a bit impatient with things.  The solvents are used to remove the oil that most steel wool is coated with to prevent rust.  Most any solvent will work.  If youre really desperate, you can swipe your wifes nail polish remover or use gas (I dont recommend this and if you catch yourself or property on fire, thats just your own fault.  Im glad you understand.)  Let whatever solvent you use fully evaporate before you proceed.

Now shred your steel wool into dime sized pieces.  Wear thick gloves if you like.  You can get splinters from tearing steel wool.  Find your jar and toss in the steel wool and add enough vinegar to cover your steel wool mountain. Put on the lid and give the jar a shake.  Be sure to loosen the lid afterward so that the mixture can off-gas.  Wait at least 24 hours and shake the jar occasionally. Dont forget to tighten the lid before shaking, just speaking from experience here...  "Vinegar Steel" isnt going to be the next cologne to hit the shelves.

If you wait long enough, the steel will completely dissolve in the vinegar bath.  Regardless, once your waiting threshold has been reached, you are finished up and can either filter the solution, or use it as is. I noticed that there was debris in the jar and decided to let it soak through a coffee filter.  This takes forever.  Youve been warned.  I ended up poking holes in the filter with a awl, which didnt seem to speed up the process...  Drat!  

Ready for filtration!

Filtering

This is not coffee

Now go ebonize!  Woods with higher tannin content will react more than woods with lower tannin content.  All you need to do is apply more ebonizer if one or two of the applications is not dark enough. Apply this just like you would any other wipe-on finish.  The grain will likely raise some amount, so be sure to touch up the surface before moving on to a top coat.  Also, the solution does not go on black.  It will look like really dirty water, but just give it a minute and youll be surprised.

Here are a few pieces I grabbed to test out.  From top left to bottom right the samples are cherry, white oak, spalted maple, and rock maple.  You can see that the cherry and oak pieces darkened to near black.  I think with some good surface prep and an extra coat, these two would end up very dark.  You can see a color variation on the oak between the sap wood and heart wood.  Maple didnt react to the ebonizing solution as much.  It turned a weathered grey, which could still be quite useful. 

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.  If you use this on a project, let me know how it turned out! Thanks for reading!

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Making a Tool Handle From Pipe!

Want a handle for your turning tools without the big price tag?  Ill show you how and have a bit of fun in the process!

I was able to find all of the necessary components at my local Home Depot to make 2 handles. Interested?  Heres what you need to get going!

• Determination to save some greenbacks
• A tool for which to make the handle
• 1/2" pipe nipple (I used 18" and 12" long pieces)
• A 1/2" cap for one end of your pipe...  I mean handle
• Two 1/4-20 set screws per tool  1/4-20 x 1/4, 1/4-20 x 1/2   
• 3/4" ID hose to provide grip.  I used braided vinyl, but you can use whatever you like.
• Nylon spacer (This one is optional)
• 5/16 set screw (Only if you buy the spacer)
• BBs!  Dont shoot your eye out!

(Not all of the links are exactly what I used, but the discrepancies shouldnt cause you any trouble.)

Alright, ready to make a tool handle?  1/2" pipe is "supposed" to have a nominal ID of 5/8".  Mine did not.  Apparently, the manufacturer didnt get the memo.  So, I had two options here.  I could either put my piece on the wood lathe and free hand the cut or take it to my friends shop and borrow his metal lathe.  I chose the latter.  Here Im using a boring bar to open up the ID of my pipe.

After boring the ID to just the right size, I drilled and tapped two 1/4-20 holes for my set screws. Sorry, no picture.  I got too excited to finish up my new toy!

Note: Dont be like me and tap the threaded section of your pipe.  No, my drill didnt break, but there is barely enough wall thickness for your set screw to bite into.  However, just one set screw is holding my 5/8" gouge just fine.

Now, back at the home shop I brute forced the vinyl hose onto the pipe.  This kinda looks like a snake shedding in reverse huh?  This was by far the most time consuming part of the whole process.  I would recommend a heat gun and petroleum jelly.

Here Im making a bushing for my 3/8 detail spindle gouge.  Ive turned the OD of a piece of cherry so that it will be a press fit into the pipe.  Im now drilling out the bushing to accept the tang of the gouge.  I drill this slightly undersized as to have a good snug fit.  After this, I drilled the holes to allow my set screws to lock the tool in place.

Now, I make a pilot hole with an awl.  This allows me to drill the hole in the right spot.  Novel, I know...  The last picture is running the set screw into place before inserting the tool.  Trying to start the set screw through the hose with an allen wrench proved futile.

Back out the set screws before installing the tool.  Oh, the face? Yeah, I was goofing around after a long day at work.  I didnt think my wife was taking the picture yet...

At this point you will add the spacer and BBs, if you opt for it.  What is the spacer for? Good question.  The spacer isolates the BBs from the tool.  This way you can remove the tool for sharpening or to switch tools without your BBs running all over the floor.  Also, the 5/16 set screw is just threaded into the spacer to close the hole.  You could always just turn a small cylinder to fit the ID of your pipe and forgo the $1.96 to buy it at HD.  You may notice the tool Im using is from Thompson Lathe Tools.  I will go into further detail about these tools in another post, but let me just say for now that they are AWESOME!

3/8 Detail Spindle Gouge

5/8 Bowl Gouge

To buy a premade handle for your new lathe tools, its gonna cost you at least $45 for a decent one.  My total for this project with tax was $37.86.  When you consider that the most expensive item was the hose at $18.50 and I bought 10, Id say this was a pretty good project.  Just take a look at comparable handles and youll see that you cant even buy one for the cost of materials to make two.  That works for me! 

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