Best finish for black bean timber.

[The Welshman]

I have just finished carving something out of blackbean. The piece of blackbean i used has both a light brown and a white grain running through it. I would like to know what is the best product to finish it with. I have no idea if I should be looking for some sort of wax or an oil of some kind. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

[Dengue]

Blackbean is a very beautiful timber. I did three spice boxes / trays for my daughter recently, and the one made of BB is the one she liked best. All were finished with Livos Kunos #244 oil. You can see them here

It is an oily timber, so wipe the joint faces with acetone immediately before gluing. I used epoxy to glue the mitre joints of the box, just in case.

Also wash it down with acetone immediately before applying a finish.

Make sure you post details and photos of what you finally did, so we can all learn from your experiences, please.

[The Welshman]

Thanks so much for your help! The spice boxes are beautiful. You say to swipe the joints with acetone. My project is one piece with no joints. Do I need to swipe all of it with acetone before oiling? Also, you say the final coat was applied with steel wool. How do you apply the first two coats? My apologies for all the questions, I'm a total beginner at all this. Thanks for your time!

[Dengue]

Have a look here at what can happen to your BB if you wipe it down with the wrong substance, releasing all the oil in the wood to the surface.

With the BB spice box I wiped on the Livos Kunos oil with an old singlet or cotton sheet rag. Let it dry for about 10 minutes, then wipe off any excess. Let it dry for 24 hrs, then do it again. Let it dry for another 24 hrs then do a third coat, rubbing it in with 0000 steel wool and wiping off excess. You can get a deeper more lustrous finish by using a few drops of oil and vigorously wiping the surfaces with a rag.

Have a look at the Livos website on how to use this oil on furniture, and on the website of the Bungendore Woodworks gallery on how they use this oil on all their products.

Hope this helps

[soundman]

The question you have to ask is.

With a hard oily timber like black bean, is an added finish actually required.

cheers

[Dengue]

Good point raised by soundman. I thought the oil finish I did darkened the timber too much and you lost sight of the beautiful natural grain. Perhaps just a buffed wax finish to protect the grain against dirty fingers?

[soundman]

Yeh if the timber is hard and oily it is more or less providing its own finish.

I'd not go any further than a stiff scrub with u beaut traditional wax in natural colour.....that should blen with the timbers natural oils and give a nice silky satin finish.

cheers

[The Welshman]

Thanks for the advice fellas. By the time I read your wax suggestion soundman, I'd already oiled it with the livos kunos oil. It has gone quite dark after one coat so I'm hesitant to apply another. What do you think about waxing it now after one coat of oil for the silky satin finish that you speak of? Can I apply two products or is that not a good idea?

[The Welshman]

https://www.woodworkforums.com/album.php?albumid=1135

Here is a link to some photos of the project. As you can see there are some parts that are difficult to rub heavily with oil or wax. I look forward to hearing what you professional gentlemen think.

[The Welshman]

Here are some photos of the Welsh spoon that I made. As you can see there are some areas that would be difficult to rub vigorously with oil or wax. I look forward to hearing what you professional gentlemen think.

[Dengue]

The dark black bean spice box I did for my daughter had three coats of Livos. I suggest that you ring Livos next Monday and speak with Angela, a regular contributor here. She will be able to tell you if it will get darker. I am sorry I don't recall if it did go darker on subsequent coats, but it should not get any darker than the spice box.

[Dengue]

Just saw your post of the carving - how good is that A beautiful piece of black bean too, with the different shades of timber

I assume that photo is after the first coat of oil?

Firstly, I am not a professional , just a bumbling amateur who learns lots from mistakes and from the forum. I doubt if wax would be any good on this carving, as it tends to get into the crevices and forms a grey paste that is unsightly. I remember waxing a picture frame I built with a nice routed profile, and ended up with toothpicks and tissues trying to get it out of the profile depths and crevices.

Soundman has been around for quite a while, and I find his advice always worth listening to.

[The Welshman]

Thanks Dengy, I am very happy with it. Yes those photos were taken today. Two days after the first coat of oil. It has slowly been getting lighter. I'm off work until the 8th so i'll be popping over to Willoughby to speak with someone at the Livos shop on Monday and maybe pick up a few more products. I have a fair bit of black bean left and plan to make something for my mother. Thanks again for taking the time to advise me mate. Can't tell you how much I appreciate it! Before I found this forum I was spending hours scrolling through google searches lokking for relevant information.

[Dengue]

Yes, just checked on their website, they are open again Monday. Angela Petruzzi is the expert. I would be interested in what they say. Take the carving along to show them. It will probably be something to do with the crystals of the oil compound. The base ingredient is linseed oil, hence the need for air and light for the curing, like we used to do on our cricket bats all those years ago.

You are lucky to live nearby to their outlet. Costs me an additional $25 in shipping for a tin of Kunos Oil

[AngelaPetruzzi]

Hello The Welshman,
Hope you received the info you needed from Willoughby. (We are in Melbourne). Blackbean is quiet dark so whilst the oil is transparent, it will deepen the colourof the substrate one is working on. With your other pieces, what you may wantto try is to apply the first coat and only leave it to penetrate for a short (er)period of time. That means the oil wont penetrate as deep and logic says,should not result in such a deep tone...but then it also depends on the sandinggrit too. If you have some off cuts, do your own tests and see if you achievevarious depth of colour.

The Kunos has waxes in the product itself and on flat piecesone can buff the various surfaces to achieve more of a sheen or shine. Withyour spoons, this won’t be possible due to all the beautiful intricate detailbut if you had too much oil in the crevices, place a soft tissue over the surface,and push through with a hard paint brush or toothbrush. The paper will soak upanything that is not absorbed into the timber, especially the second coat.
Unless the timber is extremely dry, porous or roughlysanded, then the second coat of oil should not make a noticeable difference tothe depth of colour.
Dengue,
Thanks for your comments and happy to assist where I can.