Maple vinegar iron stain

[F.G. Ford]

I tried a mix of vinegar and iron to stain a new .36 cal squirrel rifle.
I had my doubts when I started, the mix wasn't too dark, and not much body to the mix. How could this put any color to the maple?
One coat left a slightly purple hue to the wood, after sanding with a 3M sanding pad, the wood gave a soft almost light walnut appearance.
Would I dare give it another shot of stain....would it make it too dark??
I'll hold back adding stain untill I get some response from some of you, who may know more of this process.
This stuff is great, I have tried other commercial stains, and they would just sit on top of maple, penetrating some places, and not others.
If anybody has some advice it would be appreciated.
Best Regards

Old Ford

 

[bioprof]

Usually to get the desired color, you have to heat the stock over a hot burner or with a heat gun. I'd try heating it first befothere applying any more stain.

I used vinegar stain on the first rifle that I built and liked the tigereye effect. I used aqua fortis on my next two rifles, but they came out darker than I wanted. Next time, I think I'm going back to the vinegar stain.

 

Boiprof, you might want to try cutting the AF with distilled water a little at a time until you get the color you want. I mixed a batch myself last summer and had to cut it a little more than the recipe called for using this method.
I have never used the Vinegar stain so I can't comment on that. But, your right, the AF needs the heat from some source to turn color.

 

[MikeFromON]

You have to let the stain sit in the jar for a few weeks to let the acetic acid work on the metal before you use it. I stirred it up before I applied it to a pine door I was finishing and it went on practically clear but after the water evaporated (~1/2 hour), the wood was stained reddish brown. I scrubbed off the powdery residue with a dry paper towel and gave it a coat of homemade furniture wax and it came out a really nice rich dark brown.

 

I've played a bit with this and plan to use it on the rifle I'm building. From my experiments:

1) It doesn't need heat.
2) It's gets darker when you put an oil finish on it and multiple coats can make it really dark on softer woods. Harder woods like hickory (a self bow) seem to get to a point and just stop taking color.
3) I keep getting funky mold growing in my pot, but it doesn't seem to hurt it. I think it's because I used a paper towel to apply it.
4) I've read on another board that if it get's too dark you can add a bit of vinegar to a pot that had set for some time to get more reddish tones.

Sean

 

[bob1961]

here are some samples from the same maple from my gun stock....i let it age fer bout 2 months before i used it....differtent metals differtent colors....8 coats of stain with 8 coats of boiled linseed oil........bob

 

[MikeFromON]

Other than iron, what metals did you use, and which sample numbers do they correspond with?

 

[sidelock]

What's wrong with No 8. Looks good to me. I guess you have looked at some realy old guns. All of them are dark. My favorite is boiled linseed,,,,hand rubbed. That looks real----- not so the modern shiney yellow stuff. Just MHO :v

 

[Old40Rod]

Would I dare give it another shot of stain....would it make it too dark??

Photos please!

 

WB can throw down on the question of metals he used for those nice colors. I've read elsewhere that pure iron is really the way to go. If you use other alloys you can get funky colors. John Cholin (The Vinegar-Iron Stain Guru) suggested old, rusty, barbed wire, of which there is no shortage here in the Cattle Kingdom of the SW. I grabbed a bit hanging off an old rundown and un-repaired fence while I was out scouting for turkeys, chunked it in a pot of cider vinegar. 3-4 weeks later, 'Wah-La', stain. No expensive HAZMAT charges for shipping Nitric Acid, no noxious fumes, no eating your skin off, no nasty trips to the E-room followed by wife complaining about your tendency towards self mutilation in the shop, and I'm recylcing waste materials off my mountain. How cool is that?
-Sean

 

[bob1961]

here are the metals i used on my stock....yers will be different then my wood........bob

1. brass
2. engine bolts
3. wire fence 3/32"
4. nails
5. unkown iron
6. cut nails
7. cast iron pipe
8. metal banding

8 coats of stain
8 coats of boiled linseed oil

 

[fho]

I found some old square nails and put them in some apple cider vinagar.I put the nails in a plastic bowl with a lid, then covered them with aple cider vinagar. I will let this set for a month or two. Is this all you have to do or is there more?

 

[bob1961]

leave the lid loose as the cider will cause it to pop....i used a glass canning jar and an old t-shirt and a rubber band to cover it....fer bout two months ya leave it to ferment the rusted metal....and use it on some stock samples of yers to see what yer stock will be.........bob

 

[fho]

I am working on a pcs. of birdseye maple and want a light brown or brown stain. I hope that this will work. I have anothe gun with a maple stock that I want to stain light brown or brown. Every stain that I have is to dark, will cover up the figure.
Thank You
Olie

 

[riverrat43]

I've had a batch brewing for about 3 months in a plastic milk jug. It looks exactly like a very thin chocolate milk. I used a quart of white vinegar and cut up about a 4 foot section of 70+ year old barbed wire fence. Not all of the metal is disolved. Tried it on a pice of maple and it came out a very dull light brown with a sort of greenish cast to it.. Not appealing at all on this particular piece of wood.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Ollie: have you tried thinning the stains with either water or alcohol, depending on whether they are water or oil based? That tends to help lighten them up to the tint you want.

 

[bob1961]

ya will get color like that till ya sand rub or wisker the stock....when ya apply more stain and do all over again ya will see the color come out....when ya put oil on yer stock the color will really pop out at ya....i did 8 coats of stain and 8 coats of boil linseed oil till i got what ya see...........bob

 

[bob1961]

30 grains of metal and 1/2 cup of vinager is what i used fer each stain..........bob

 

I am working on a pcs. of birdseye maple and want a light brown or brown stain. I hope that this will work. I have anothe gun with a maple stock that I want to stain light brown or brown. Every stain that I have is to dark, will cover up the figure.
Thank You
Olie

Vinegar stain will not cover up any grain. It will actually enhance grain you did not know was in the wood. Each wood will take it at a diferent rate.

You guys are getting wayyyyy to technical in making this stain. There is no uniformity in how it works on the wood so there is no need to attempt exact duplication of successive batches.

Fire up the propane torch and burn the oil out of some cheap steel wool, drop a couple of pads into a large empty mayo jar and top it off with vinegar. Put it under the workbench for a couple of weeks and forget about it.

The last batch I made has been aging for over a year and should be about right.

 

[bob1961]

The last batch I made has been aging for over a year and should be about right

so the longer it sits the better it gets :hatsoff: thx...........bob