zebrawood guitar cabinet

[Knotbob]

I'm going to build a guitar display cabinet and I have some zebrawood veneer ordered to cover the plywood side panels, the partitions in the open top cabinet and probably the inside top of the open cabinet. I will use solid stock for edge trimmimg. The top cabinet and bottom cabinet will be installed seperately and I'm going to use black glass mosaic tile on the wall in between them and on the top of the bottom cabinet. I was going to use mirrors but I think the black tile will reflect the hanging guitars nicely. The bottom cabinet will store guitar cases and won't be finished inside but I was going to make raised panel doors with zebrawood to enclose it. I obviously like the striped effect but I'm wondering if I use the zebrawood for all the solid stock edging and cabinet doors that it will it be way to much zebrawood. Should I use a different less dramatic wood for the solid edge trim, the cabinet door rails and stiles or maybe even paint them a glossy piano black? I've googled up a few things that used walnut with zebrawood but I think that might dull the look and I wonder if a sharp contrast will work better. Any brilliant color and style ideas will be appreciated.

Robert Smith

[Puff Griffis]

I think a nice ebonized maple would look great. Puff

[Knotbob]

To ebonize maple do you mean a black stain or do you fume it like oak? Would you use a figured maple or plain sawn? Thanks, (finishing is my least knowledgeable subject - I'll google it while waiting for your reply) Robert

Puff Griffis wrote:

amatic wood for the solid edge

[Prometheus]

It's tough to ebonize maple, I've tried several techniques, and they mostly resulted in ruined maple. On top of that, the general texture of maple and zebra wood don't match that well- ebonizing would look nice, but I'd go with something like Ash or Oak that takes dye or stain well, and has a relatively straight grain. Either that, or use Birch and paint it that glossy black you were thinking of- no law against that, and it can look really nice.

If you feel you'd like to use maple, if might be easiest to tint a can of laquer black and build a lot of thin coats until you get the look you want. I haven't done this, so I can't recommend a suitable dye for it- but they might be able to help you at a paint store.

[Stephens]

Recently, my daughter, a film maker, went to a party where she was dressed as a pirate. I made her a compass like the one Johnny Depp used in Pirates of the Caribbean. I ebonized the wood by wiping India ink onto the wood. After each application dried, I did it again, for four or five coats. The ink penetrates relatively deeply into the wood, thereby not looking like a surface coat. Then, with a bit of wax on top, it looked just like ebony. A hit of the grain shows through, but it is very subtle.

Ken

[Prometheus]

I know the thread is getting a little old, but did you do this with maple? I had terrible results, but I only tried a single coat. Would be good to know if it works with multiple applications in the future. Though I'd agree, India Ink has given me the best results when it comes to ebonizing- just not with maple.