This is an test strip to see what look you get by applying various coats of homemade Iron Acetate to red oak. Some with black tea as well.

I mixed up a batch of Iron Acetate.

I made it with half a wad of used 0000 steel wool and approx two cups of white vinegar.

Normally letting it sit in a jar with the lid loose for 3-5 days is all you need. But I forgot about it, and it sat on my workbench for a couple of weeks.

In any event, it needed to be filtered before use. I used coffee filters. 

I also made up some black tea.

 

 

 

Next, I taped up a length of red oak moulding that I had made with my homemade moulding planes.

I then proceeded to make the test strip, A - E and Bare as shown.

 

 

 

Here are the details:

"BARE" (shown at bottom)

This is the datum point. It is Bare unfinished red oak.

 

 

"A"

This is one coat of Iron Acetate applied and allowed to dry.

 

 

"B"

This is one coat of Black Tea only applied and allowed to dry.

 

 

"C"

This is two coats of Iron Acetate applied and allowed to dry.

 

 

"D"

This is one coat of Black Tea and while still wet a coat of Iron Acetate was applied over it. Then allowed to dry.

 

 

"E"

This is one coat of Black Tea allowed to completely dry. Then a coat of Iron Acetate was applied over it and allowed to dry.

 

 

Interesting Results. I am fairly certain that I can come close to repeating these results.

Feel free to comment, ask questions and give a "thumbs up 👍" if you like it!

Cheers!
MrRick

I've been using the industrial strength vinegar. Doesn't seen to make a lot of difference in the outcome. I even boiled a couple of treated pieces to see if the ebonizing would fade. It did not. My tests were with white oak.

As an alternative "chemical" I tried India Ink. Much blacker results and it did not fade after boiling.

Lew.... the key is the steel wool. The solution needs a ferrite (iron) content. If you're not putting steel wool in your solution you're not going to get the results. 

Sorry for the confusion. Yes, I use steel wool, too. I was comparing cooking vinegar to cleaning vinegar. 

Lew... there needs to be enough tannins in the wood for the Acetate to work. Try coating the white oak with black tea and while it's damp overcoat with your iron acetate. 

Some woods don't have much tannin in them and it's crucial. Black Tea has alot of tannins. Other teas do too but different amounts.

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by MrRick

Also the same "Stain" used on Curly Maple Rifle Stocks.....

48 minutes ago, steven newman said:

Also the same "Stain" used on Curly Maple Rifle Stocks.....

I didn't know that. Interesting. 

I use a version on all my maple projects, and some others. Also known as , "Aqua Fortis" 

 

I tried the vinegar version. I call it "Vinegaroon". I've done steel wool and used old axe heads. What I usually do is ferric nitrate crystals in water for my base coat. I may add a variety of alcohol base stains over it for color. I use tannic acid pretty regular to darken the figure as well. Aqua Fortis is time tested and color fast. 

On 12/29/2025 at 8:20 AM, steven newman said:

Also the same "Stain" used on Curly Maple Rifle Stocks.....

 

 

☝️☝️☝️

Aqua Fortis needs to be heat treated/blushed to get the color. 

 

 

 

I've used both ferric acetate and ferric nitrate on various pieces of maple.  With either one you can add hydrogen peroxide to convert it from a dark finish to a brown one.  I'm not sure how the chemistry of that works, but then I'm not a chemist.  Seems to be pretty stable though, usually the brown iron colors are more stable than the black ones (like I said, not a chemist!).

 

I've mostly done this for gunstocks.  One thing I've found is that it's pretty important to use pieces from the same board if you need them to match.  Maple has very little tannin, so you really notice variations from one variety to the next or even one tree to the next.  The stocks I was making were three piece - butt, fore end, and grip.

 

My impression is that fresh solution behaves differently than old solution, but I haven't made a study of that.  For ebonizing I think the ferric acetate is best, it seemed to be darker before I would hit it with peroxide.  On a high tannin wood like oak that may not matter of course.

Here is a video of Jim Kibler and his method (at least at that time for the vid) of using aqua fortis and along with tannic acid. Jim is an accomplished contemporary builder and is as talented as they come imo. I've never tried any of his finishing techniques exactly but probably will check out the tried and true someday. 

 

I personally like it for a solid base stain and if I take a notion, I can rub some others in if I'm after a slightly different tone but the light fastness and overall look I want is there.  I have several in process post on the "whats on your workbench thread" of some maple boards I'm working up for euro mounts. This is the smallest one. I still have a lot of sanding and cleaning up to do but lately I've been applying stain early on in the process. I think I get a better soak and I apply multiple times as needed anyway. I have appied tannic acid here and let it dry, applied the ferric nitrate and took the pic with the board still slightly damp. The next work session I will blush it with a heat gun then continue cleaning up my edges and begin some sanding to see what I have. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That looks awesome @aaronc. It's going to make a really awesome mount.