staining maple

[Trot]

I have a maple stocked tradegun finished with Birchhwood Casey Walnut stain and Tru oil. It is sort of a yellowish brown that I am not too fond of. I would like it to be darker, resembling walnut. I was checking out the Laurel Mountain forge stains, but it is tough to get a good idea from a written description. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[Mike Brooks]

Strip it , sand it and whisker it, and stain with aqua fortis.

 

[Swampman]

I'd use either Dangler's or Laurel Mountain Forge stains they are very easy to use and work great.

 

[hangfire1755]

Strip it , sand it and whisker it, and stain with aqua fortis.

 

Strip it , sand it and whisker it, and stain with aqua fortis.

Yes sir, that would be my vote as well. Nothing gives a deeper mellower finish than Aqua Fortis as a stain. The second you put the oil finish on it you won't regret the decision. :thumbsup:

 

[Swampman]

With the Dangler's or LMF, you probably don't need to strip it. It will go right thru the finish. It's going to have to be very throughly stripped to get the Aquafortis to work right.

 

[twotoescharlie]

chromium trioxide--Dixie gun works


TTC

 

[George F.]

Do you guys mean nitrate of iron ( nitric acid with iron added as it somewhat depletes the nitric acid) and gives it a more mellow medium brown color that is VERY DEEP?? .................George F.

 

Yes sir.

 

[rich pierce]

chromium trioxide--Dixie gun works


TTC

High GREEN potential with chromium trioxide

 

[Zonie]

Swampman said "With the Dangler's or LMF, you probably don't need to strip it. It will go right thru the finish. "
________________________________________-

That must be some stuff!
Tru-Oil forms a varnish like coating and I haven't found much (if anything) that will go thru it. :hmm:

 

[Swampman]

My friend finishes fruniture for a living and he says the alcohol/annaline stains like LMF and Dangler's will go right thru most finishes. It went right thru some of the old finish that was on my Brown Bess.

 

[Herb]

You might also try Fiebings dark brown oil leather dye. It might go through Tru Oil. It goes through linseed oil finish just fine.

 

[Trot]

Thanks for all the responses. If I go the LMF route, is their walnut darker than BC or would one of their other stains be better?

 

[hangfire1755]

Just keep in mind that alcohol base stain including leather stain fade. LMF cherry turns PINK

 

[Swampman]

Have you actually seen this, or are you reporting what someone else said?

 

[hangfire1755]

Both, I've seen some "BEAUTIFUL" I mean "BEAUTIFUL" contempary long rifles with alcohol based stains where they were kept in one position for period of time and the back side (agianst wall say) was darker than the facing side. It may take some years, but still. Granted, it looks great when it's first applied, but it's a quick fix for what we hope should last 200 years or more like the Masters.
And I do know some "PROFESSIONAL" gunmakers (Williamsburg caliber)that would not touch the stuff.

 

[Swampman]

Of course they won't touch the stuff. They only use period techniques. We must remember there are other period finishes. Many only know what they read in Foxfire 5 and I'd like to encourage them to look beyond that. I'm playing with adding pigments to the finish right now.

 

[hangfire1755]

As a matter of fact, I'm appling aqua-fortis to a Lancaster right now too. Well... not right at this moment, I'm typing.
They (I) too use period technicques, I feel thats part of the mystery, what brings us all here, to build a piece of our own history or someone elses.
I have learned myself "first hand", from Master gunsmiths and reading (never read Foxfire 5), So if I found that after many hours building a flintlock rifle and finishing it with a stain that in 4-5 years it needs to be restained because it faded, I have a chance to pass that info on here.

 

[Mike Brooks]

I use both aqua fortis and alchohol based pigment stains depending on the color I desire.
AF gets darker with age. I've not noticed pigment stains fading, but I suppose they could. I put pigment stains on so uneven anyway it would be difficult to tell if it had faded or not.
As far as wear goes I've worn out both AF and pigment stains at about the same rate thru heavy handling/use and weather. It's the finish over the stain that will save your color from wear.