I'm making a Shaker-style piece with square ebony pegs. I plan to use vinegar and steel wool to make an ebonizing solution. It works great on the white oak samples I've tried.

My question: When inserted into their holes, the ebony pegs will be contacting the end-grain of the face board, which is also oak. Does any one know if over time the face board will soak up some of the ebonizing solution and start to turn black? Do I need to seal the ebony pegs before I use them?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John

Although the ebonizing solution you describe does work, I would probably opt for a different solution based on the woods you are using. I would be afraid the tanin in the oak combined with moisture in the air would bleed some of that vinegar/steel wood solution around the peg holes, even with sealing.
If this were my project I would opt to use the MinWax ebony stain. It works great, is not expensive and wont't react with the oak like vinegar and steel wool solution might. This would be the safe way to accomplish the same thing.

I wasn't satisfied with the results I got using the Minwax Ebony stain, but I have read that adding India Ink is a big improvement. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm planning on doing some soon. You may want to look into using it. I wasn't able to find the India Ink at regular stores. I found it at an art store. It was very inexpensive, only a couple of dollars.