Leather dye for stock staining ?

[kyron4]

Trying to get a good even coat of stain on a Traditions Beech stock. Tried the Birchwood Casey Walnut (waterbased) and didn't care for the color and had an uneven dark/light look to it. Tried the minwax oil based in dark walnut and got a good shade before finishing but most of the stain came off when applying the finish . I've read about the Fiebing leather dye in med brown being a good choice. Any pictures of a cheap beech stock done using the dye ? Methods of use ? Can it be removed if results are unsatisfactory ? -Thanks

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Kyron,
Have used Fiebings on maple, ..dark brown, an dit worked very well. Use it more for blending in repairs , and it works well.
Make it a bit darker colour than you want, as it bleeds out a bit if oil finishing.
It was Ron Ehlert first told me of using this dye. Ron was one of the top makers in the US. He had a personal flint rifle, walnut stocked, and the figure was missing to some degree on one side, so he added it with this leather dye. No-one would ever have known!

 

[andy52]

Here's a storage box I used Fiebings Med Brown alcohol-based dye on. I'm not sure about the type of wood but it will give you an idea of the color. The wood didn't absorb the dye as well as leather and I had to wipe it down with mineral spirits to get the excess off.

 

[Nobade]

I have used it on quite a few guns that had beech or birch stocks. It works quite well and will penetrate where other stains will not. After a heavy coat the wood will have a green tint to it. I then wipe it back with a rag soaked in isopropanol until it is the color I want then apply finish. I rather like how it turns out and it certainly looks a lot better than plain white wood.

 

[LRB]

Fiebings spirit based dyes fade over time and with sun exposure. If you use it, stain the wood darker than you want it to be.

 

[French Colonial]

I like to mix a little russet to the brown leather dye to give the wood that very slight reddish color everyone seems to like.

Have used it on all sorts of stuff, guns knife handles etc. etc. I put it in a cheap plastic spray bottle, spray it on and wipe it off and let dry before handling.

 

[Capnball]

Trying to get a good even coat of stain on a Traditions Beech stock. Tried the Birchwood Casey Walnut (waterbased) and didn't care for the color and had an uneven dark/light look to it. Tried the minwax oil based in dark walnut and got a good shade before finishing but most of the stain came off when applying the finish . I've read about the Fiebing leather dye in med brown being a good choice. Any pictures of a cheap beech stock done using the dye ? Methods of use ? Can it be removed if results are unsatisfactory ? -Thanks

Here's some information about fiebings dye that may be of interest (and I just learned) fiebings "Pro" dye is alcohol based and takes as long as 24 hrs to dry. Fiebings Dye (also known as institutional dye) is water based and dries in minutes. This will affect your finish coats.

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Cap has it, use the oil based. Give it plenty of time to dry before adding finish.

 

[kyron4]

Here's a storage box I used Fiebings Med Brown alcohol-based dye on. I'm not sure about the type of wood but it will give you an idea of the color. The wood didn't absorb the dye as well as leather and I had to wipe it down with mineral spirits to get the excess off.
View attachment 132646View attachment 132648View attachment 132649

That's the color I'm going for. What top coat did you use ?

 

[andy52]

I just used quick dry water-based polyurethane. It's not something I'd use on a stock but it's just a storage box.
I also did a box in Aqua-Fotis just to see the difference I can post a photo if you're interested.

 

[Tumbledown]

I have used it on both of my Traditions Kentucky rifle kits. It does a nice job, IMO.

 

[skwerleater]

I did this beech stock in Fiebings medium brown.

 

[skwerleater]

And I did this one about a half hour ago. It’s maple but I mixed a couple drops of black feibings dye with the medium brown and it gives it a little more depth.
good luck. Beech doesn’t stain that well, but I think it looks ok with the fiebings

 

[skwerleater]

One more

 

[skwerleater]

This Bess stock is beech and was done with feibings med brown, and some yellow food dye as a base. It came out pretty good

 

[Jay Templin]

I’ve used Tandy’s EcoFlo dyes on a couple of guns now with good results. I mix scarlet with timber brown 50/50, and after 1 coat of that, I do a couple more of the brown with just a little black mixed in. Then a couple coats of tung oil over the top. This is my Hawken.
Jay

 

[French Colonial]

I’ve used Tandy’s EcoFlo dyes on a couple of guns now with good results. I mix scarlet with timber brown 50/50, and after 1 coat of that, I do a couple more of the brown with just a little black mixed in. Then a couple coats of tung oil over the top. This is my Hawken.
Jay

That's what I am talking about! The little bit of red really looks good in my opinion.

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

Not leather dye but I had good results using Tannic Acid and Iron Nitrate on this CVA Pistol. This is a beechwood stock

 

[oldwood]

Been using Fiebings alcohol dyes for 50 years. I like to copy the colors of original guns , and leather dye is the only way I can do it. I started out using chemicals like the "experts " in the gun building say to do. If you like dark stain , , or stain that covers over figure in the wood being colored , and even stain that over time fades out to yellow/green ,use chemical stains. Once you learn to use alcohol stains , all of a sudden you discover a whole different range of colors available by changing the % of color to alcohol. The depth of figure , is controlled by applying black leather dye first. For soft wood , cut the intensity of the black with 90% alcohol. IE , on white /soft , but curly maple , 25% straight black dye , is all needed to enhance the figure , curl , etc.. For curly figure found in hard maple , a higher % of black dye can be used ,up to 50% black for the hardest maple and again , less for softer maple. Next for the color . The color can be applied over the black. Original Pa. longrifles were orangish /black , tanish / black , redish /black. The most amazing original Jaeger rifle I've heldin my hands , was stained a pale see through, green color , on a hard white birdseye figure wood , with 3mm sized blue , red and green colored flowers painted on it. Any alcohol stain is applied with a heat gun / hair dryer , to dry it immediately , then OOOO grade steel wool to dewhisker the wood. Another feature of using alcohol stain is using heat to dry the wood is fast. Once the desired coloration is reached , the first coat of sealer can be applied. no wasting time waiting for an oil stain to dry. I hope someony out there can be helped by this.............oldwood

 

[skwerleater]

Great info Oldwood!! Thanks for sharing