Speedball Black Guitar Finish

[BTL]

This is a finish I have used around the house on small pieces of furniture and picture frames.

I started this project at about 3:00 pm today, and it's now just after 6:00 pm.

I plan to assemble the guitar tomorrow.

The finish combines Speedball Black India Ink as a base coat and and Minwax Satin wipe-on Poly as a clearcoat.

Tools and supplies are:

- Speedball Black India Ink
- Minwax Satin wipe on polyurethane
- 0000 steel wool or similar
- Cotton rag
- 3/4" artist's paint brush.

That's it.

Here's a video that discusses the general process of "ebonizing" wood in depth, with the segment on India Ink starting at about 21:00



It's VERY simple, and to demonstrate I went old school with a lazy Susan and screws in the body to suspend it off the surface while I painted the back.

1. Brush on three coats of Speedball Black, brushing with the grain and burnishing with steel wool in between coats.

2. Wipe on three coats of Minwax Satin polyurethane, burnishing with steel wool in between coats.

3. Enjoy!

Getting ready:



After only one coat of Speedball Black:



After 3 coats of Speedball Black and 3 coats of Minwax Satin, burnished with steel wool:






Thanks to Scott H./fretless/fretno for introducing me to this technique.

[Pilgrim]

That may be the blackest black I've seen on an instrument.

[Dave W]

Looks very nice.

Was the grain raising minimal? Did it go on as well on the end grain in the cutaways and at the butt?

I wondered why he mentioned dipping the steel wool in Simple Green. Maybe it was for lubrication, or maybe just to keep the steel wool clean. He said you could wash the surface off after it's dry so it seems any Simple Green wouldn't have hurt.

[BTL]

 

It's pretty amazing how quick and easy this finish is to accomplish.

[Dave W]

Brad, did you see my questions below the video? Guess I should have put them on top.

[BTL]

Dave...yes, I missed your questions.

I included the video as the primary source for the information on this technique.

That said, my recollection is that anything have to do with steel wool and water has nothing to do with this technique.

The Speedball Black goes on with a brush and is burnished in between coats with dry 0000 wool or similar.

In my case, I use an old Scotchbrite pad to knock the shine off the surface.

Speedball Black India Ink is shellac based, so it serves as both a sealer and a finish.

[slinkp]

"How much more black could this be? And the answer is none ... none more black"

Nice look!  I spent many, many hours dipping brushes in india ink back when I was a budding young cartoonist. Never occurred to me you could finish a guitar with it!  (I eventually settled on FW brand india ink for reasons I don't recall... I think maybe it came out darker than other brands I'd tried when applied with a sable brush, but also worked well in nib pens.  Wonder if there's anything special about Speedball in this case or if others would work.)

[Dave W]

Dave...yes, I missed your questions.

I included the video as the primary source for the information on this technique.

That said, my recollection is that anything have to do with steel wool and water has nothing to do with this technique.

The Speedball Black goes on with a brush and is burnished in between coats with dry 0000 wool or similar.

In my case, I use an old Scotchbrite pad to knock the shine off the surface.

Speedball Black India Ink is shellac based, so it serves as both a sealer and a finish.

Brad, I was referring to my questions about grain raising and how well it did on end grain. I did watch the video section, from the 21 minute mark for about 8 minutes. He seemed to be done at that point.

"How much more black could this be? And the answer is none ... none more black"

Nice look!  I spent many, many hours dipping brushes in india ink back when I was a budding young cartoonist. Never occurred to me you could finish a guitar with it!  (I eventually settled on FW brand india ink for reasons I don't recall... I think maybe it came out darker than other brands I'd tried when applied with a sable brush, but also worked well in nib pens.  Wonder if there's anything special about Speedball in this case or if others would work.)

It has shellac.

[slinkp]

Aha. A quick bit of googling suggests Winsor Newton ink also uses shellac, but my old FW ink is probably not, so I guess you can't just do this with any old brand of ink.

[Dave W]

Right.

Dick Blick's website that they carry both Speedball and their own Blick house brand which was mentioned in the video. Next time I'm near one of their retail stores, I'll see if they stock them locally, even though I don't have anything that needs finishing at present.

[BTL]

The body I just finished had a coat or two of BLO on it, so the end grain was not terribly thirsty.

That said, I have finished a number of picture frames in clear pine, and the first coat of Speedball Black seems to seal the wood pretty effectively.

Subsequent coats sit more on the surface vs. soaking in, and it's possible to leave brush marks or drips if you're not careful about smoothing the ink out.

I tend to overwork paint with a brush, and that technique works well with this material.

[Dave W]

Thanks, Brad, and thanks for all this info.

[BTL]

No problem!

I think a gloss black finish may be just as easy, but because I haven't tried it, I can't be certain.

It's definitely on the "to do" list.

[Dave W]

A gloss black by this process would be great.

[slinkp]

I wonder how well it would work on fretboards, for a faux-ebony look.