Tannic acid + Ferric Nitrate?

[Greg_E]

Have a question, building a Traditions "Hawken" kit and finally getting the stock ready. Final product is going to be Truoil, several coats. The big question is the mystery wood in the kit, it doesn't have a lot of pattern so I'm wanting to bring out what I can get. I also think I want the whole stock dark. Here is what I'm doing, might be stupid, might be nice.

Got everything shaped down to where I want it, sanded to 120 and then 220 grit. To raise the whiskers I decided to mix up some tannic acid and water. Let dry and lightly sanded with 220 again. Wet it down a second time and drying more slowly to let the tannins soak in as far as they will. Will probably need to knock whiskers down again.

So was this a stupid idea? If I regret it I'll just need to apply more tannic acid and make everything black.

I want this dark because I nickel plated everything but the screws and triggers, screws will be blued as dark as I can get them for contrast.

I've used Ferric Nitrate before, but not with the extra tannins. I have watched both Kibbler videos on the subject, but he uses such nice wood that my results won't be anything close to his.

 

[1950DAVE]

A nickel platedHawken?

 

[martin9]

No way of knowing til you put the iron nitrate on it. I've used that combo on red maple, hard maple, oak and hickory. Some will go really dark black, some won't...I always apply my first coat of finish with a grey scotchbrite pad so I can rub the color back like I want it.

 

[Greg_E]

A nickel platedHawken?

Not all of us try to make period looking weapons with artificial aging. And while this Traditions kit is far from a legacy rifle to hand down through the generations, you don't practice on a $2000+ Track of the Wolf kit. There will be a couple other things I'm going to practice on this rifle.

Also, if I decide to carve some of the brass, now I'll have a two tone piece which might look good.

 

[64Springer]

No two woods will take aqua fortis the same way. No two homemade aqua fortis solutions are the same. You need to test your solution on your wood.

Pictured is a Jukar Kentucky with straight up AF solution. No dilution. But I wanted a dark rifle. I can cut it with water to give me the darkness/lightness I want.

Jukar/CVA/Traditions all use Beech. Beech has no fancy grain figure to speak of. So it makes for a fairly lifeless stock. Again, it's what I wanted. A stock that looked old and oil soaked.

Test. Test. Test. Your barrel channel has plenty of room for that. Some will say don't do that. I say do it. Then grease your barrel prior to final assembly. To keep rust from forming.

Good luck.

 

[Greg_E]

I'm using ferric nitrate crystals, so the corrosion factor is greatly diminished. And anything I do will be "sealed" with truoil.

I've used ferric nitrate on walnut before, and with a gloss finish it looks really nice. I felt the tannic acid wasn't needed on the walnut as it was dark enough naturally.

And since I raised the grain with the tannins in solution, I'm probably stuck on this path. Probably going to stain and blush tonight and get the first coat of finish down.

 

[longcruise]

You can test in the barrel channel. Give the channel the same treatment you gave the rest of the stock.

And while this Traditions kit is far from a legacy rifle to hand down through the generations.....

You never know what your family might consider a legacy. When it's been around long enough it will exude memories and character that can't be imagined now. That nickel plate will be a part of it. That said, not for me!

 

[Rifleman1776]

You can test in the barrel channel. Give the channel the same treatment you gave the rest of the stock.

Yes. Only really on point response. You said "mystery wood". Yer question cannot be answered. You must test and find out for yerself.

 

[Greg_E]

Mentioned above, probably beech which is what I thought.

I keep hoping to win a lottery, build myself a real workshop, and then I'll build a real legacy rifle. Until then I'll work on my skills with cheap kits, though a Kibler would be within reach since they do all the hard work. Track of the Wolf will do as much as you want, but it starts getting expensive, I stopped pricing it out when I hit around $2000, something for down the road a bit when I can do more of the work myself.

My stepson bought the same Hawken kit, he hasn't started on his yet. Lessons learned will probably go into his kit, whether it be nickel or blue finish. I will note that brief examination of his kit looks a lot better. Mine must have been cut in the last few hours of work before a holiday, or the morning after a big sports match. The barrel is good, the lock decent, the trigger not great, and the wood has suffered a heavy hand at a sander and improper loading in the cnc. It will always only be a shooter, so I figured I might as well experiment and see what I could do. That nickel plate takes a lot more preparation than I gave it, lesson learned but still OK. It's going to be very much nontraditional. But at least it's not an inline.

 

[longcruise]

@Greg_E I know guys who have built GPR kits at the kitchen table so a Kibler would be even easier. My "shop" is 5 1/2' X 7" unheated in a garage corner and sometimes it surprises me what can be don there

 

[Greg_E]

Well, only a few areas with end grain really retained any of the tannic acid, so I have a few black spots. Mostly it is just a dark brown with a little character from the grain. Only got one coat of truoil on, it was starting to gum up after several swipes of a saturated cloth. Have to do more tomorrow after it really soaks in and hardens. Probably going to sand with 400 between coats to try and bring it to a really nice shine, got some 800 too for final sanding.

 

[Coinneach]

Not all of us try to make period looking weapons with artificial aging. And while this Traditions kit is far from a legacy rifle to hand down through the generations, you don't practice on a $2000+ Track of the Wolf kit. There will be a couple other things I'm going to practice on this rifle.

Also, if I decide to carve some of the brass, now I'll have a two tone piece which might look good.

"Carve brass" ?

 

[Tenring]

I have used a brand of aqua fortis from Dixon’s Muzzleloader Shop that has a head of a Indian on it, I just can’t remember the name of it and have used it countless times. It really brings the curling out and is easy to work with. The stuff has a red tint to it.

 

[barracudadave67]

Tenring
Sounds like you are discribing "Wah-Kon Bay" Aquafortis. it is good stuff. Its available from The Log Cabin Shop, in OHIO.

Dave

 

[Tenring]

That’s the name of the it. Cool Dave I am glade some one remembered. And yes It is good stuff.

 

[Greg_E]

I bought the smallest amount of ferric nitrate crystals I could find on Amazon for very little money, probably a lifetime supply now.

I think I'm done, going to let the last few coats of truoil set for a week or so before I decide. And then I'll probably wax it for greater depth, and the wax should help protect the finish too. I ended up with a nice root beer brown with some dark bits of grain. It's a decent contrast to the nickel plate on most metal parts. Decided to keep the screws blued, but all the brass was polished and plated, as well as all the steel. I still need to fix up the screw heads and blue them again, but want to shoot it next week if it isn't too cold. The rear sight still needs to be made permanent, if it works with my old eyes. If not then I'll quest for the next option which might be a period style scope. No fun to shoot if I can't see the target.

I've seen so many negative comments when other people try something that isn't historically accurate that I may not post photos. This kit is far from historically accurate to even call it a Hawken, so that was gone before I even bought it. It turned out mostly the way I wanted it, and that's what is important. I built it to try new things, learn about those things to refine for the next time, and that mission was accomplished. I did leave a few things not done, didn't put any checkering on the stock, I'll probably practice and do it later. A little extra grip and decoration might be nice.

 

[Pete G]

I've seen so many negative comments when other people try something that isn't historically accurate that I may not post photos. This kit is far from historically accurate to even call it a Hawken, so that was gone before I even bought it. It turned out mostly the way I wanted it, and that's what is important. I built it to try new things, learn about those things to refine for the next time, and that mission was accomplished. I did leave a few things not done, didn't put any checkering on the stock, I'll probably practice and do it later. A little extra grip and decoration might be nice.

If you don’t care about historical accuracy why not just buy an inline?