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Ebonizing and Fuming
Mar
Our normal approach when finishing a piece is to emphasis and celebrate the colour and grain of the timber. We never stain and we very rarely use anything other than an oil finish. It’s fair to say that we are renowned for the quality and clarity of our oil finish.
Just occasionally there’s an argument for a dark finish. Sometimes it’s to fit a home’s colour scheme, sometimes it’s emphasis the form of the design over the colour of timber. When we go down this path, we either ebonize or fume the work. In either case, we are activating the tannins in the timber to darken the piece in what is essentially a natural way.
Timber selection can dramatically change the way a design is perceived. Consider the two Maleny cabinets (right). These were made at the same time, one in highly figured and colourful QLD Silkwood, the other is quartersawn Tasmanian blackwood. Although these pieces were made at precisely the same time, they possess quite a different energy.
So too, ebonizing can change the way a design and the material is perceived. The process can happen naturally under certain circumstances. In Australia, perhaps the best-known example is ancient red gum. This is red gum that has been either buried or submerged for so long that the tanins in the wood have reacted to the organic iron in the environment and turned the timber black. The grain structure is not lost, but the colour has been radically altered.
Now let’s consider the two Mutawintji side tables below. The natural jarrah Mutawintji is a celebration of jarrah. The ebonized Mutawintji is a celebration of form.
Is there any point in using “special” timber if all we’re going to do is ebonize it? In short, yes. Ebonizing does not completely mask either the colour or the grain of the wood. Indeed, sometimes it can enhance it. From a distance, an ebonized piece looks “black”, however with closer proximity the nature of the timber is revealed. In this case, the quilted grain of the highly figured river red gum is only visible within the tactile range. We want the hand and the eye to share the journey of discovery.
The quilted nature of the red gum grain in this Mutawintji is still visible through the ebonizing and the glow of the rich red natural colouring penetrates the ebonizing to add a lay of interest.
Another method of darkening timber is to fume it with ammonia. We make a “tent” that completely encloses the work, then boil off a pan of 25% ammonia inside the tent. Again, the tannins react with the ammonia, giving a naturally dark hue to the work. Fuming tends not to make a piece as dark as ebonizing. If anything, fuming is “better” at highlighting the grain in the timber.
Some timbers, such as Tasmanian myrtle or American cherry, oxidize quite quickly and thus change colour over a relatively short period. Fuming such a piece essentially “advances the aging process” and stabilizes the colour. This Cascade rocking chair in myrtle was fumed with ammonia and shows the subtle grain with an almost polished-bronze colour.
Woodworkers are deeply divided about ebonizing. In a recent Instagram post, we asked who was for ebonizing, and who was against. Of the 26 people who responded to the poll, 42% answered “yes, I love the ebonizing” and 58% answered “no, bring back the natural colour”. Many woodworkers are “purists” when it comes to such things, and I frankly expected more of a bias towards the natural look. If we’d polled 26 interior designers, the answer would have been the exact opposite!
Ebonizing and/or fuming can dramatically change the way a piece is perceived. With my designer hat on, I like ebonizing. With my woodworker’s hat on, I like the natural colour of timber. At the end of the day, your choice is simply a matter of personal preference.
