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Dark Finish on standard maple

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RiverRat

RiverRat

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I am currently working on a kibler woods runner with the standard maple stock. I did two coats of iron nitrate and then stained with cherry stain. It turned out pretty nice. I am waiting on a kibler Fowler also with the standard maple and I want the finish to be very dark, about the color of an eggplant. How would I go about getting the stock that dark?
 
So you do the walnut stain first and then do the iron nitrate, or the iron nitrate first then the walnut stain. I’m pretty sure I know what you meant, but I just want to be sure. Thanks!
 
Use the iron nitrate first, blush it with the heat gun, then the stain. If you don't have scraps to practice on, use the inner barrel chanel, small areas. Maybe one app of FN, then two. Maybe an area with no FN - sand, whisker, top finish, then choose
 
Logwood stain, is purple. I've used it on an Ohio Vincent that I built and thought it came out pretty dang good!
 
I have used an ebony toner. It might be Laurel Mountain. It is solid black and can be added to any stain to change the shade. I guess it would work alone.
 
I found that aqua fortis on the open grained areas of maple can really get dark, almost black. So, on my most recent builds, I scrub it back significantly with scotchbrite after blushing. This evens out the coloration between the close and open grained areas. It also seems to get darker with time. It's easy to overshoot with the stuff, so plan accordingly.
 
I've noticed a trend in stock coloring, in my area at least. In the 80S it seemed most wanted light shades of stain, darker in the 90s, and very dark now. The prettiest stock I ever had I left the color up to the builder having seen rifles he had made. That wa about 1978. He made the walnut very dark to set off the silver mountings but commented most buyers wanted lighter shades of finish but he deliberately went dark for mine. Gorgeous. On th right side of the buttstock he inlaid an 1811 silver coin. Lately though I've sort of leaned the other way favoring light, almost blonde, fancy maple with no extra furnishings.
 
stubshaft said:
Logwood stain, is purple. I've used it on an Ohio Vincent that I built and thought it came out pretty dang good!
Click to expand...
Just how long did that stain last. Logwood is noted to fade rapidly in sunlight. Last time I did experimenting with logwood dye, it went from blue/purple to gray in 7 days of sunlight exposure.
 
I have come to the mindset of just letting the wood determine the color from its reaction with the natural stains.

I can understand the use of colorants if one wishes to make black walnut to resemble European walnut for historical interpretation purposes.
 
Not sure if it has been mentioned but years ago a plug of tobacco in a jar of ammonia.
Let it dissolve and Then apply.
The longer it sets the more dissolved it becomes.
Try on a scrap first to see how it works.

I’ve also used leather stain of British Tan to get a red hue. But most recently I’ve been using nitrate acid with a heat gun

Kind of like that. Generally two coats or two applications does it. The heat determines the darkness
 

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