Birchwood Casey Colonial Red

[LLCranford3]

Question: Is there a commercially available stain out there (that anyone knows of) that mimics the color of the old Birchwood Casey Colonial Red?

 

[Zonie]

Not in one bottle.

You can get close by thinning down some Solar-lux American Walnut and applying a few coats. Then using some Solar-lux Mahogany, also thinned down with reducer you can add the reddish tint to it.

It's too bad that BC decided to drop that stain.
I thought it worked very nicely on maple.

 

[TinStar]

I think Homer Dangler makes a red stain along with others. Take a look at Muzzleloaders Builders Supply. I think they still sell it. You can give it a try and mix others with it/over it.

TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

 

[TinStar]

I think James Klein sells it also. I have tried some in combo with others on curly maple and you can really get it red if you want.

TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

 

[Hemorad]

Laurel Mountain Forge makes several colors of stock stain. Their cherry stain is very red. Their Lancaster maple is browner, and their honey maple has a light golden tone. These are non-grain-raising stains that come in small plastic bottles and can be easily mixed. I would think some combination of cherry and Lancaster maple would make a color about the same as BC colonial red.
These stains are available from Track of the Wolf.

 

[LLCranford3]

Thanks Everyone! Looks like I have some experimenting to do! Cheers! Watch your top knot!

 

[Zonie]

For the record, the Birchwood Casey stain was called "Colonial Brown". I have two bottles of it that I bought years ago long after BC stopped making it. It is a water based stain.

It is much more brown than red which is why I suggested just using a very light (thinned) coat of a red stain like mahogany. Cherry would work too.

No, I'm not interested in selling my Colonial Brown stain. :grin:

 

[LLCranford3]

Zonie, I wouldn't dream of asking to buy your stain......I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing that I had deprived you. :wink:

 

[Vaino]

I presently use Dangler stains from Jim Klein in combination and am satisfied w/ the resultant colors. Once used LMF's cherry straight from the bottle and worked many hours to "subdue" it. Never again....it has to be greatly diluted. The Dangler reddish brown yields a nice "reddish brown"....and isn't nowhere as red as the BC Colonial Red that I used on one stock.....Fred

 

[LLCranford3]

Thanks Fred!

 

[Col. Batguano]

the moral to the story is to try it on scrap wood a couple of times before you go to your finished piece, with 100+ hours of work in it.

For those that don't do a lot of woodworking, we may only finish a couple of pieces a year, and we can get out of practice. So, for that reason, I always fully finish a piece of scrap (through all the steps and processes with my mixes) before going to the stock. It lengthens the build time by a week, but, after working on it for a year, so what?