Professionals and Amateurs Together

Faux Ebony

Question

Ebony is very expensive and somewhat hard to find in large pieces. I heard there is a “faux” ebony which is a secondary type wood that is dyed through the whole structure of the wood (different from dying it yourself which is only on the surface and needs to be careful not to sand it off). Does anyone know of this product and where is can be obtained.—Steve Colello

Answer

Peter Breu replies: There used to be a product called Ebonex that was pressure dyed walnut, but I don’t believe it is manufactured anymore. Dying walnut with a water based aniline dye will produce much the same results.

Tags: Ebony, Finishing