Black dye problems and solutions

[RICK LOWE]

I've never done many black dyed sheaths because the dye seemed so difficult to work with. Using Fiebings it still wanted to rub off, not stain evenly and leave residue. All this happened using the same procedure as with the brown dyes. About 3 years ago I tried the vinegar/steel wool solution and it didn't work well at all. Last weekend I tried the vinegar with some grinding residue and it worked like a charm! Got the best looking black finish (all the way through) that a guy would ever want. Got so excited that I dyed the next two on the bench black instead of brown. Probably won't do many more black, but it sure will work for accent pieces and the ones that need to be black. Just wanted to pass this on and say thanks for the idea, again.
Rick

[MtMike]

Rick -- two things that probably affect your solution, the type of vinegar and the type of meatl. I've had good results with steel wool and apple cider vinegar, but not wine vinegar (??) And I'm guessing that the kind of grindings that you used this last time is also critical; was it some kind of carbon steel that would normally rust pretty easily on a knife blade?

Mike

[RICK LOWE]

Mike, I used cider vinegar with both batches, but this time the metal was 1084, 5160 with a little sawblade mixed in. I tried it after waiting about a week for the metal to go into solution. Have to think the metal had something to do with it and maybe it being fine grindings helped, too.
Rick

[fishguy]

Don't let it sit too long as the iron will form rust and precipitate out of the solution (so no black). I have found 24 hours to be plenty of time with vinegar and steel wool.