Stain for a Maple stock?

[TNHillbilly]

What would be the best stain for a plain Maple stock? Never saw one, so don't know what color/finish would look good. It's for a flintlock style rifle.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Aqua fortis is traditional. Turns the maple stock brown when done correctly. Green if not.

You really need to tell us what color you want the stock to be when its stained. There are blonde colored maple stocks, which can be gorgeous, with the right wood. Plain maple, with no figure in the grain structure, and no fiddleback( "tiger stripes") is often just stained brown. Can you give us a better idea where you want to go with your staining?

To see the grain on the stock now, run a wet rag over the wood, and hold the stock up to the light at different angles. Oh, many " plain " maple stocks show fiddleback after they have boned( rubbed with a piece of leg bone, or hard plastic(( the handle on a screwdriver)), or even the steel shank on a chisel or screwdriver, or just a plain smooth rod. I prefer to bone after staining, as staining after boning the wood is harder to do. The compressed wood takes stain much less. \

With a plain maple stock, I have used some diluted cherry stain to wash the stock( and then wipe off whatever doesn't soak into the grain) to highlight the grain. Then stain the stock with brown over the reddish grain and watch the grain POP through the stain and finish! It makes a fairly impressive piece of wood much more interesting to view.

 

[Mike Brooks]

Aqua fortis is traditional. Turns the maple stock brown when done correctly. Green if not.

Your thinking of something else, Aquafortis won't give you a green stock.

 

[Dane]

Magic Maple stain will. I think it's Chromium Trioxide.

Definitely will turn a stock green. (Ask me how I know). :shake:

Aquafortis, after it is properly blushed will NOT turn green. :nono:

 

[TNHillbilly]

Think I was thinking more on the traditional brown, but always open to new ideas. I'm using all German silver furniture, if that helps. Don't think I ever saw a blond stock, but might be interesting. I bought a big slab of maple long ago when I was on AD, and the Craft Shop made me a deal. Guess I could stain some of the huge slab I have left. I'll try wetting it and see if I can take a decent pic. How do you do Blonde? I assume you guys use a water based stain-I hate that oil based stuff. Years ago, I think I tried some of the old time recipes, but never had a really great piece of wood!

 

[TNHillbilly]

Here are a couple of pics: one 'wet', and one to give some idea of the style. Still have a lot of sanding to do yet. (The splotchy spots are from stain I used to find low spots)

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you go to any home improvement store, and most Paint stores, even hardware stores, you will find a variety of stains in all kinds of shades and colors. Blonde shades are available . They even will have brochures from the company to let you know what the stain looks like on wood. Pick one, and try it on some scrap, or in the barrel channel. Start with the lighter ones, and go darker, if you don't like it lighter stains. You can always restain darker. Reversing the process is not so easy. You usually have to sand off the finish enough to remove all the stain. So, practice on a piece of scrap from the stock to find out what you really like.

Over the years I have seen a variety of colors of stains on gunstocks, for both modern guns and replicas of MLers. A friend left his CVA mountain rifle blonde, simply because he didn't want his gun to look like anyone else's. A good enough reason, IMHO! I don't think he stained the wood at all. He simply put an oil finish on it. He won a lot of prizes with that gun, and always got second looks from the guys who were more PC than he is.

 

[TNHillbilly]

Fact is that 'wet' color looks pretty good! If I had the neat tiger strike, darker might be better. You're right though, I don't necessarily want one like everyone elses! Why build your own? Think I read once the 'Ole Timers' would wrap rope around a stock and burn it to make it look like tiger stripe. And, you're correct too in that it's easier to go darker!

 

[Dane]

TN,

All that a burning rope will give you, is a scorched stock.

Leman was famous for artificially striping stocks. it was done with a small, short bristled brush, and ink.

Once the stripes have dried, stain with the normal stain, and finish as usual.

Good luck.

 

[Zonie]

I'll have to comment on PaulV's post a little.

Almost all builders agree that you do NOT want to use a OIL based stain and you definitely don't want to use one of the Home Fix It Stores "All in One" finishes.
What you want is a alcohol based or water based stain.

The oil based stains are very difficult to make darker after the first coat is applied and after two coats, what you have is what you get.

Assuming you don't want to use the Aquafortis stain method you could try Vinegar + iron.
You would have to let the iron dissolve in is for a few months before it would work.

I would suggest Birchwood Casey's Walnut Stain (available at your local gun store).
It is a water/alcohol based stain that works well on Maple and because it is a water/alcohol based stain if you want it to be darker you can continue to apply more coats. Each coat will darken the wood more until you reach a color you like.

By the way, the color you see when the wood is still wet from the stain is the color the stock will be when you apply the finishing oil(s).

If you want a color that is quite "correct" you can go to a hardwood store and buy one of their alcohol based stains (they don't raise the grain and you can apply multiple coats). They have all sorts of colors so if you apply a coat of Mahogany and then a couple of coats of Dark Walnut you will end up with a "Colonial" color which had a reddish tinge to it.

PS: That "burning rope" wifestail is a bunch of manure. As was mentioned, all it will do is ruin your nicely sanded stock.

 

[pichou]

Yeah I think a little red helps the dark walnut stains. Cherry stain will do that too.

Woodcraft sells a alcohol base stain called Behlen Solar Lux. Lots of colors in their line. Works well on maple.

:thumbsup:

 

[William Joy]

You could try a 50% mixture of pine tar and linseed oil. Very simple, historical correct finish. Can be finished with wax, most gunstock oils or a linseed/ varnish mix.... Especially good if a lot of carving on stock!!

 

[TNHillbilly]

While I'm getting some new ideas here, where the heck do you get pine tar? One thing I agree on though is oil based stains are quite limiting. Usually, 2 coats, if your lucky, is all you get.

 

[dlpowell]

I'm planing on using brown leather dye on a maple stock. I use it on powder horn butts all the time and it is a real good looking finish. If you have any striping in your stock the dye won't be as dark there and it really makes them show up.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

google the Wooden Boat Store. They carry pine tar for $14.00 for three pounds. The stuff has a number of uses.

 

[huntman58]

I asked this very same thing. I went with A.F. and boy am I glad I did! Wow just a wonderful brown easy to do and if there is figure in the wood it brings it out like nothing I have seen. If ya need a it a bit more brownish red add some diluted rusty from B.C. cut with alcohol. Finish it off with low gloss tug oil (that’s what I did) and I am one happy camper. I will say I did some test staining with a scrap of wood from the stock and next time I will just use AF nothing other.

 

[flashpanner]

paulvallandigham:
If you stain your gun blonde it will shoot stupid and be confused! :rotf:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Jim is right. Don't use oil Based stains on gun stocks. Use alcohol, or water based stains. I should have said something along those lines. AF simply needs to be heated over a stove, or with a heat gun to " blush " it( think that was the term someone used, here), and of course, any acid based stain needs to be neutralized with water and baking soda. Use more baking soda than less. Do this before blushing the stain. I did not intend to suggest there was anything wrong with AF, BTW. I have a gun done with AF and it looks fine.

I mentioned the other stains only because the original post didn't indicate what color he was looking for. By All Means, NEVER burn rope around the stock or anything else. Its just chars the wood and damages the stock. I am also not a fan of painted-on striping, ala Leman. Trees undergo a lot of stress during their lives, from windstorms bending the tree. That is what is believed to be the source of the fiddleback. You can bring out fiddleback by boning, as I have described. Fiddle back moves, depending on what angle the light is hitting the surface of the stock when you are looking at it. ( Painted stripes don't move.) Its part of the magic of Maple, that endears it as a gunstock wood to shooters.

Oh, Boning was first used with the intention of getting the grains that raises up when the stock is stained to lay down, to make a smooth surface for the finish oil. Along the way of doing this, it was discovered that fiddleback that had not previously known to be in the wood popped out when the stock was boned, making utility grade stocks, ( both maple and walnut) look a lot better than first throught.

 

[William Joy]

You also can get pine tar in tack shops or even vets for horses ( they use it on hooves....)

 

[TNHillbilly]

I swear, I learn new stuff everyday I ask a question! Now, its been a while since I have worked on my ML stuff. But, don't ever remember hearing of 'Boning', or using pine tar, for that matter. Got some books with some pretty old alchemist type concoctions, too! Got to remember burying that dishtowel at midnight when the moon is full...or was that for warts? Well, I got plenty of wood to play with, but definitely got to find some bone-who knows what I might have?