Finishing ebonized beads

In earlier blog posts I wrote about cutting and boring beads from an old weathered cedar trellis. This batch was abraded and dyed in a rock tumbler, which emphasized the grain texture and ebonized the beads.

Like the chisel cut coffee dyed beads, I oiled these by putting them all in a lidded contained, drizzling a little walnut oil over them, and tossing them thoroughly.

To avoid gummy blobs of oil or a blotchy,  uneven finish, I hand-polished each bead with a lint-free cloth and set them out to dry for another day.

These beads are too large for a bracelet, but they do make a lovely choker.