Have any of you ever tried to bleach ebony?

[Wade Hampton]

Strange question, I know. But the reason I asked is that I have a new Blue Lion mountain dulcimer on the way to me, and the design of the headstock is such that the Gotoh 510 minis I sent to be used on it won’t fit: only Schaller M6 minis (which are smaller) can go on there.

On both guitars and dulcimers I routinely replace the stock metal tuner buttons with contrasting wooden aftermarket buttons, both to cut weight and to add a bit of visual flair at the same time. But unlike with Gotoh tuners, where there are a wide range of aftermarket buttons to choose from, with Schallers the only commonly available buttons you can get are pearloid and ebony.

Reverb.com does have a listing for some rosewood Schaller buttons, but in the photo they look remarkably ugly, kind of like the pellets that an herbivore might drop in a little pile on a game trail...

As it happens, I do have some ebony Schaller buttons here that I could use, but there isn’t any ebony anywhere on the instrument and I’d to get some buttons that will harmonize with the rosewood fingerboard and headstock veneer.

Which brings me to my question: will submerging some ebony buttons in a bleach solution lighten them into more of a brown color, and if so how strong should I make the solution and how long should I expose the buttons to it? I realize full well that I’m going to have to fly by the seat of my pants and experiment with both solution strength and exposure time. But if anyone has any experience doing anything like this I would like to be able to benefit from your advice and practical, hands-on knowledge.

Which is why I ask!

Naturally I’d try this on one button before proceeding with the rest, but I’m just hoping to get some guidelines to follow before indulging my curiosity.

Thanks in advance for any practical tips you can pass along.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Trevor Gore]

Not answering your question, but nothing you like here?

[Wade Hampton]

I can’t say I like the buttons with shell on them, but I do like the grained ivoroid and some of the wooden buttons. The folks at Allparts special ordered some ivoroid and tortoise Schaller buttons for me, but I might also have to see about some of these. I’ve never ordered from a European online dealer before, but there’s a first time for everything, I suppose...

Thanks for the link.


whm

[Quickstep192]

I’ve mostly seen oxalic acid used to bleach wood and I’ve used it to get mahogany almost white. I’d guess that ebony would get more of a gray color than brown.

[H165]

It's an interesting question, because lots of ebony parts are dyed uniformly black for cosmetic purposes. Might be best just to see if you could remove the dye with some thinner. However, I don't think the result would be brown; more like back with tan streaks.

I think I'd get out the saw, files, sandpaper, and drill, and make some I like.

[Wade Hampton]

Well, I actually have an abundance of Gotoh ebony tuner buttons that I don't think I'll ever get around to using, so I'm willing to experiment a little on one or two of them. If I like the effect I get, then I'll proceed from there on the Schaller buttons.

Quickstep, your suggestion of oxalic acid is interesting, and not something I would have thought of. How did you apply it when you used it on mahogany? Did you brush it on for a specified period and then clean it off once you got the look you wanted? How did you remove it from the surface of the wood when you did?

Last question: where's the best place to find oxalic acid?

Thanks.


whm

[JCave]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Last question: where's the best place to find oxalic acid?

Thanks.


whm

Google suggests Home Depot carried the product. As does Rockler.
https://www.rockler.com/oxalic-acid-for-wood-bleaching

jc

[Wade Hampton]

Thanks all. I tried to get through to the hardware and paint department at the Wal-Mart in Eagle River, Alaska this afternoon to see whether they had any oxalic acid, but in the aftermath of yesterday’s earthquake they’re still sweeping up and mopping up all the shattered containers in their department.

I’ll swing by tomorrow and maybe they’ll be open.

Thanks again.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Quickstep192]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Quickstep, your suggestion of oxalic acid is interesting, and not something I would have thought of. How did you apply it when you used it on mahogany? Did you brush it on for a specified period and then clean it off once you got the look you wanted? How did you remove it from the surface of the wood when you did?

Last question: where's the best place to find oxalic acid?

Thanks.


whm

I applied it with a brush. Just enough to keep it wet, not sloppy. I rinsed with water. Be aware that it’s very corrosive; it will remove the galvanizing from a boat trailer before you can rinse it off.

If you live near a marine supply, you may want to try a product called FSR fiberglass stain remover. It’s an oxalic acid gel. Ironically, although it will remove any stain from fiberglass, it leaves the fiberglass very porous and far more susceptible to future stains.

Please keep us posted on progress.

[Earl49]

If you cannot find it in Eagle River, there is a West Marine boating supplies store in Anchorage just west of the Dimond Center.

[Wade Hampton]

Thanks guys - I’ll come back to this thread once I get a chance to experiment with this. Right now, as you might imagine, I’m a little too busy cleaning up in the aftermath of the earthquake to engage in any speculative ebony bleaching!

One last question, though - how long did you leave that oxalic acid gel on the fiberglass before rinsing it off?


whm

[runamuck]

I've made furniture for a living for over 30 years and have used O.A. a number of times. My experience is that it depends on the species of wood that determines how long the bleaching will take and some woods never do lighten up significantly.

I've never bleached ebony but my guess is that you won't get what you're after attempting to bleach it.

[Wade Hampton]

Thanks, runamuck - you’re almost certainly right, but I have some ebony tuner buttons that are “surplus to requirements,” (as the British would say,) and my curiosity has been aroused. So I will get some oxalic acid gel if I can find it, paint it onto a button or two, and see what it does.

If the buttons were cherished family heirlooms I wouldn’t be monkeying with them, but they aren’t, so I’m going to give it a try on a button or two. If that produces a good result, I’ll bleach the full set of four buttons needed for a mountain dulcimer.

How can I know for sure about this without trying?

It’s not as though I’m thinking about “cleaning up” the Mona Lisa with battery acid...it’s just a couple of wooden aftermarket tuner buttons that I already have but am not using.


Wade Hampton Miller

[mirwa]

I have used OA on ebony, it just made it looked washed out grey, I have not used bleach.

Steve

[runamuck]

Originally Posted by mirwa

I have used OA on ebony, it just made it looked washed out grey, I have not used bleach.

Steve

I've tried Clorox bleach on several species and it simply eats the wood away.