The Framers Forum

Hi all,
I’ve been asked by an artist recently if I could stain an obeche frame to look similar to the one pictured
What would you recommend as a good brand of black stain to buy for my first attempt? and what would be the best prep beforehand
TIA

You could go the simple route - just paint the frames with black acrylic paint and a clear wax over it.
You'll have a nice glossy black frame but you will also have a rather yucky wood grain effect showing. It's a feature of obeche.

What you could do instead is get some Van Dyke Crystals (you should already have these!). Dissolve some in very hot water until you have an almost black stain.
Give the frames two coats of this, as liberally as you like.
When its dry, rub on some of this black grain filler, wiping away the excess as you go.
https://tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/ ... 500g.html
It needs to be left to dry overnight.

Lightly sand with fine paper or 00 wire wool.
Now paint the frames again with black acrylic paint and wax. This should eliminate a lot of the ugly grain effect and give a much glossier finish on the wax.

There's a lot more you could do but I think that's enough to be going on with.

I recently made several frames very similar to this one for a customer. I stained it with Dark Jacobean and the finish was very good after a medium oak wax applied.

it was actually Chestnut Spirit Stain in Dark Jacobean applied to Obeche.

Thankyou for guidance vintage frames & fitz, will try both methods and see how I get on

It depends on just what effect you are trying to achieve.

Obeche is a very bland wood, which isn't altogether a bad thing. But if you are staining to try to enhance the
grain pattern the the result is likely to be disappointing because the grain pattern is rather uninteresting.
Staining works great on denser woods that have an attractive grain - Oak, Ash, Walnut, etc.

I'm doing some black frames in Obeche at the moment. My usual method is to fill the pores in the wood with fine surface filler,
scrubbed into the pores with an old brush and slightly diluted. Akin to soaping your face prior to shaving.
I go over it with a J-cloth to remove the excess and level off the surface. When dry all it needs is a quick sanding.
Next two coats of acrylic gesso. This is sanded when dry. I finish off with two coats of black "artist's" acrylic which has a coat
of wax applied with fine steel wool and buffed when dry. This gives a nice deep 'ebonised' look with a nice sheen.

There are many variations. e.g. using a undercoat of Red Oxide and rubbing back the high points in the waxing stage to reveal
the red underlayer. Dusting with Rottenstone before buffing and while the wax has not quite dried can look good.

I use Smith and Roger stains for all of my framing although I did use the Liberon dyes in the past and they were fine.
I then use liberon wax to seal it and then buff it with an old tshirt.
The finish is fine although I definitely prefer using walnut or oak.