: Plans are on the way for my Shooting Star :)
: Made up my first batch of ebonizing liquid, not exactly high tech.
: Used a plastic covered kitchen container, put a piece of 0000
: steel wool in the bottom, cover with white vinegar add a tea bag
: to the mix (darned things float in vinegar), loosely cover now
: have to wait for 3 days. The vinegar breaks down the steel wool
: and the tea leaches into it too, makes a dark liquid (so they
: say), has be strained before use to get the particles of iron
: out of the mix.
: So by Saturday should be able to try it :)
: Bill H.

It is not a kayak, but the handle is ebonized oak. I made this knife as a Christmas present for my daughter.
The blade is a Lauri PT (77mm - http://www.thompsonsknives.com/lauript.html). The handle is ebonized white oak. I used 0000 steel wool in white vinegar (no tea bag needed) that had been soaking for a couple of months. I also made a "tea" of oak shavings, also steeping for several months. After the handle was shaped and final sanded, I gave it a good soaking with the oak "tea" and while still wet I applied the iron-rich vinegar. The result is a dark black oak. Pretty cool to watch the wood over a minute or two go completely black. (and, by the way - trying to get a good picture of shiny black things is a pain.)

-John D.