Leather dye for stock staining ?

[barracudadave67]

Sounds good to me Ole Wood.
Thanks for posting that info.

Dave

 

[BuffaloSoldier]

Thanks for all the good info and pix, everybody. Appreciate that everyone is willing to share their advice/experience with a newbie.

 

[Redlemur60]

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!

Be careful useing leather dye
And analin dies as some are very toxic,yes you may need a purple respirator! And chem gloves !

 

[oldwood]

Been staining maple for 50+ years with leather dyes. They give predictable results. Back in the early 1970's , I followed the "experts" instructions on using acids , and strong base stains , and I ruined more than a few maple stocks. After a little experimenting, the art of staining was mine. To render the accentuated light dark of curlly maple , the first application is Black alcohol stain. Immediately blow dry the black. The warm wood , will show whiskers. OOOO steel wool , removes them . The whiskered dry , black wood will appear an ugly grey black color. Don't panic. You should be working on test piece of wood . Mix up a couple shades of alcohol stain to test to determine the final color the wood will have. I use yellow , red , and orange , mixing them to the colors , old guns exhibit. Not all old guns were black . When the color of the test alcohol stain is found , apply the stain the same way the black coat was applied. Dry with the heat gun until the wood is warm , steel wool again. The wood can be finished immediately , no waiting for stain to dry. My first coat of finish , is a thin sealer coat or three. Allow to dry completely , so future coats of any finish ,like a poly finish , will dry , and not stay soft and sticky for a while. I'm impatient , so I like the speed of the alcohol stain process , an hour or so , then the time can be spent sealing the wood , and after the sealer is hard dry , the final coats can be applied over it. About 1988 , I started using gel polyurethane. The instructions on the can , on how to apply gel poly , need to be followed closely . Again , I like the speed of application due to my impatient nature. This entire finish has another bonus , in that it can be easily repaired if damaged. I have fixed two guns broken at the wrist , and the repairs were invisible. The secret to make repairs invisible , is epoxie glue dyes , from Brownells gunsmith supplies. It doesn't take much dye to make the epoxie the color you desire. I bought a jar of black , and one of walnut. That pretty much covers it all , as far as glue is concerned...............Hope you can use some of this info..........oldwood

 

[sahib dad]

Fiebing's Leather Dye is a popular choice among gun enthusiasts for staining gun stocks because it is designed to penetrate deeply into the wood and create a durable finish. Here are some steps to follow when using Fiebing's Leather Dye:

Sand the stock: Before applying the dye, you should sand the stock to remove any previous finish and to create a smooth surface for the dye to adhere to. Start with a coarse sandpaper (around 120 grit) and work your way up to a finer grit (around 220 or 320).

Apply the dye: Fiebing's Leather Dye comes in a range of colors, so choose the shade that best suits your needs. Apply the dye with a brush or sponge, working in the direction of the wood grain. Be sure to wear gloves and work in a well-ventilated area. You may need to apply multiple coats to achieve the desired color depth.

 

[oldwood]

Have been using Fiebing's alcohol dyes for 50+ years , on figured wood. Get some test pieces of the wood you your working with , to establish the color wanted. Sand and polish the wood with sand paper and OOOO steel wool. No need to whisker the wood with water and a heat gun , as 90% alcohol is the level of alcohol Fiebings alco. dye contains. Plenty of water already in the basic alcohol , so don't add more water to the wood ,to heat and remove whiskers. If it is desired to accentuate the wood figure , get some Fiebing's black alcohol dye , and cut it with 90% rubbing alcohol , 50 / 50 by volume. Apply the 50% cut black dye first , and dry the wood with a hair dryer , or heat gun. Once the wood is dry , polish the wood , and de-whisker with 0000 steel wool. This step will highlight the figure , as in the curl in curly maple , for instance. Next , mix and try red, yellow , or orange dyes to the shade desired on the test wood. Once satisfied with the second color made by mixing the alcohol dyes , again apply it to the wood. Heat gun until the wood is dry , and 0000 steel wool , polish the wood. If the color needs adjusting , now is when to do it. add another color, or use straight 90% alcohol to lighten the shading, if desired.
It took a lot of experimentation to learn to work with alcohol dyes. How this process came to me ,was mixing colored inks , used in printing press printing. I don't like chemical agents for shading wood , as there is little control of the colors created by chemical reagents. Yea , some old time gunsmiths used it , but I assume they liked basically black gunstock wood. I've been to too many m/l gun museums , and seen many non-totally black gunstocks , with beautiful color enhancements. This knowledge was about all I got from a 1965 University Industrial Arts class. Guess I got something , for the $1000 tuition , I spent back then. .............oldwood

 

[Jay Templin]

I’ve had good results using Tandy’s newer Eco-Flow dyes on stocks. I use Citri-Strip to take them down to bare wood, wipe them down with denatured alcohol, then apply the dyes. Layering Timber Brown over Scarlet gives some nice, deep red tones. On my Investarms, once I got the factory finish off, I found that my stock was walnut with a streak of lighter wood. Evened it up with the surrounding wood using straight Timber Brown, then proceeded as above. Finished with straight tung oil.
Jay

 

[Jungle Dave]

I've been using Fiebing's for years and will never change.

 

[James Kibler]

As said before, leather dyes are not light-fast. There are better aniline dyes use for stocks. Laurel Mountain Forge stains, Transtint products, etc.