Stain color?

[ORBushman]

Hello all you builders! I'm going to be putting together a Traditions Crockett rifle kit as soon as it arrives and my plans are to make it different than others out there. I don't want to have the usual walnut/brown or in that area of color. Was thinking of a black or charcoal stock and dress it up with some brass tacks. What would y'all suggest for a stain color for what I'm looking to achieve? As always, appreciate the help in advance!

 

[ORBushman]

Looking to achieve something similar to this:

 

[The Crisco Kid]

The first thing to do is to get some kind of similar wood to practice on. Then I recommend a black stain or what they call an ebony toner. Fiebings leather dye works well. You can find it on the internet. Even India ink might work. Rub it out with steel wool or scotch bright until you get the look you want. The main idea is to try it on something else besides the stock first.

 

[ORBushman]

The first thing to do is to get some kind of similar wood to practice on. Then I recommend a black stain or what they call an ebony toner. Fiebings leather dye works well. You can find it on the internet. Even India ink might work. Rub it out with steel wool or scotch bright until you get the look you want. The main idea is to try it on something else besides the stock first.

Greatly appreciate the reply and suggestions. Not sure what I could use that is the same wood as the Traditions hardwood but, guess I could put a little on the butt end where the brass is going to cover it anyway? I'll look up the Fiebings.

 

[tenngun]

Track of the wolf has the Laurel mountain stains, and show about how they will look on your wood.

 

[ORBushman]

Track of the wolf has the Laurel mountain stains, and show about how they will look on your wood.

Thank you sir, greatly appreciate that!

 

[ORBushman]

Ok, I think I'll give this Laurel Mountain Ebony Toner a try. Looks like it might be what I'm trying to achieve. Love this Forum!

 

[TDM]

Do what @The Crisco Kid says. Get enough similar wood to try the ebony, the darker Laurel Mountain, and I recommend the Dixie Gun Works antique stain. It’s quite dark and works well.

 

[Greg_E]

It is probably beech, unless it specifies something else.

Two suggestions, one of which you'll need to look up.

#1 tannic acid and ferric nitrate. If you don't sand, wash, or otherwise remove the tannins, you will get nearly black. You can apply the tannins over the nitrate to dial in what you want. Watch the Kibler video on this, he talks about dialing it back and forth.

#2 Iron acetate, I haven't looked into this very much, but supposed to be really dark to black. Ebonize: How to naturally stain wood - Talla de Cucharas might still require tannic acid solution, or tea bags, steeped leaves, etc.

 

[Fly Navy]

If it was me, I would first stain it with a dark walnut and then add a second coat of ebony stain to get it darker.

 

[64Springer]

If you want a dark/blackish stain, do not use oil based stains like Minwax. Oil stains will not penetrate beech. It will lay on the surface and look muddy. I should correct that. It will look muddy and ugly.

You want an alcohol based stain. Buy some Trans Tint stain and some denatured alcohol. Expensive but it will provide a deep dark color.

And test test test.

 

[Tyler L]

Newbie here, but I agree on not using oil-based stain.

I used Keda Dye's powders on my Traditions Kentucky. I needed to mix it with a high percentage of alcohol to penetrate Tradition's beech wood. Even then, it was hard to get it even, particularly on the fore end.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Newbie here, but I agree on not using oil-based stain.

I used Keda Dye's powders on my Traditions Kentucky. I needed to mix it with a high percentage of alcohol to penetrate Tradition's beech wood. Even then, it was hard to get it even, particularly on the fore end.

I've always had good results with alcohol based dyes on stocks..., even when that dye was made for leather, not wood.

LD

 

[FishDFly]

Seems Zonie had some really excellent posts about dyes and how to apply them.

 

[Col. Batguano]

You will have an 18th Century "assault musket" then.

Watch the legislative front going forward for proposals limiting; "high capacity" powder horns, ball bags, long patching material strips etc. CA particularly. Your state may vary.

 

[waksupi]

I just used several coats of aqua fortis, made a stock dark as I wanted.

 

[bang]

I like red oak.

 

[BozoMiller]

I have read about making your own dye out of vinegar and steel wool. Just soak the steel wool in the vinegar for a few weeks and it will get very dark as the steel wool dissolves. Works good on leather, don't know about wood. Might be worth a try. I think its called vinegaroon.

 

[kansas_volunteer]

I did quite a bit of work on my Crockett stock to refine the shape. When it came time to stain it I experimented. I tried potassium dichròmate to age the wood. It looked like an old weathered fence post. I wound up sanding it back and putting LMF walnut on it. Don't sand the beechwood with anything finer than 320 grit. A polished finish won't accept stain.

 

[64Springer]

A polished finish will accept an alcohol based stain.

There are other ways of staining wood too.

Coffee. Tea. Red Wine. Etc. Combine these natural colorants together and the shading is endless.