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I'm ready to finish my 6th drednaught that I used oak for back, sides and neck. I like the look of using the vinegar and steel wool solution on a test piece. I just tried a little shellac on it and it seems ok, but I was wondering if anyone has experience at this. I looked through the old threads on the subject of ebonizing but didn't see anything about finishing over it.

I've never had a problem finishing with shellac over a vinegar/steel stain.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Thanks for your input. I'll be trying it out on this one. The oak I used was from an old table I found on the side of a road. Not much figure to it so this ought to make it look "different"

Ebonized necks with french polish finish were more common than not in the 19th century. The 19th cent antique ebonizing which I have seen looks like it was done with an initial layer of carbon black and shellac, followed by clear french polish.

I've had good results simply dyeing with aniline black, and then french polishing.

To pile on, I have FPed over oak ebonized with vinegar and steel wool without issue. It is not really like a stain or even a dye where the color is in the wood and could be washed out by a solvent. The tannin in the wood is chemically changed. So, the wood itself has changed color like when you ammonia fume. The only way to undo it is to sand off that thin layer of treated wood. With that in mind, sand through will still be an issue (not so much a problem with FP).

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

So here's the first "wash" coat over the ebonized oak. I'll star the neck today