Dragons Blood

[PineyCreek]

I restocked a rifle for a friend who then received an evaluation from an authority of importance who described the finish as a "Dragons Blood" finish. Is this a technique known to have particular value?

 

[Stophel]

Dragon's Blood is a resin (I forget what kind of plant it comes from), red in color, of course, that is mixed into spirit varnishes to make red varnish. I do not believe it is soluble in oil, but I don't recall.

 

[curator]

Dragon's Blood is the dried resin from the Dracaena draco plant that grows only in the Canary Islands. It was used in olden times as a artists' paint and wood stain prior to the availability of Logwood stains.

 

[Trot]

I restocked a rifle for a friend who then received an evaluation from an authority of importance who described the finish as a "Dragons Blood" finish. Is this a technique known to have particular value?

What did you use when you finished the stock?

 

[PineyCreek]

Funny you should ask that. I finished it the same way I finish all my stocks. Sanding and whiskering through 320 grit. Staining with an alcohol based dye of my friends choice. Deeply burnishing and finally over 50 coats of hand rubbed linseed oil. I am not sure whether comparing my finish to a Dragons Blood finish is a compliment or a criticism. Regards, Piney

 

[Stophel]

Sounds like the person simply didn't know what he's talking about. A Dragon's blood varnish is a red colored violin varnish.

 

[Stophel]

https://maas.museum/inside-the-collection/2012/06/25/violin-varnished-with-dragons-blood/

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Lehigh valley rifles were sometimes finished with a red varnish which used either dragon's blood or madder root.

dave

 

[M. De Land]

Hi,
Lehigh valley rifles were sometimes finished with a red varnish which used either dragon's blood or madder root.

dave

There is another chemical reaction known as Dragons Blood. It is a residual of black powder combustion occasionally found in a fouled bore and is basically a sulfur deposit, that is red in color.
Some black powder cartridge shooters have reported it but it can also appear in muzzle loading arms, I have read.

 

[kansas_volunteer]

Alkanet root is probaby the source of red stain used by American gunsmiths. There is plenty of info online about it and sites offering root for sale. Ive seen seed for the plant for sale on ebay.

 

[dave_person]

Hi KV,
I am not sure that alkanet root was used much by colonial and early American gunsmiths. For maple stocks the overwhelming favorite was iron dissolved in nitric acid. However, some gun makers tinted their varnishes red with dragon's blood or madder root as described by Eric in the following link:
http://www.vonaschwegeflintlocks.com/red-violin-varnish.html

Madder root was widely available and was the dye used to color the uniforms of enlisted men in the British army. The bright scarlet uniforms of officers were dyed using much more expensive cochineal. Alkanet root was also widely known for many centuries but is does not do a great job on white woods like maple compared with ferric nitrate (traditional aqua fortis stain, although aqua fortis originally referred to just nitric acid). However, alkanet root is my overwhelmingly favorite stain for walnut, particularly English walnut. It brings out the grain and figure better than any other stain I've used and it has been the traditional stain for English guns since at least the 18th century. I am not sure if it was used much in 18th century America for walnut, however it certainly was used on American walnut during the 19th century. The photos below show English walnut stocks stained with alkanet root.

dave

 

[Stophel]

Berks county gun. Red varnish (dragon's blood or madder), over black paint/ink stripes, and no stain.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/76254909_a-faux-striped-flintlock-kentucky-rifle-signed-j

 

[SingleMalt]

I've neutralized aqua fortis with lye solution that tipped the stock color to the red end of the spectrum. It's not really noticeable until finish is applied.