Just thought I'd share this. I bought a knife blank from the auction site for some low cost experimenting. I have been wanting a knife with an ebony handle but the entire point in this knife is low cost. So, I found a piece of mystery wood from an old project and thought "hey, I wonder if my leather dye will work on this wood?" It's the Eco-Flo professional water stain from tandy leather. I've already marked off the parts for my handle and used a scrap piece for the experiment. I squirted some of the dye on a wool dobber and rubbed it in. I let it dry a few minutes and hit it with a hair dryer to speed things along. I did a quick sand job with 320 and 600 grit. Then, three coats of superglue. Another quick sanding with 320, 600 and 1500 to smooth it out some. Finally a few passes on the buffing wheel for a nice shine. I think it turned out pretty good. I'll spend more time on the final project but now that I know it works I'm going to make it happen
. Ebonizing is the process of making one wood look like ebony. It's been used for hundreds of years as a low cost alternative to using real ebony. One way is to use some type of hardwood and apply iron acetate. Basically vinegar with rust in it. It reacts with the tannins in the wood turning it black. I learned how to do this last year while building slingshots.