Who ever discovered aqua fortis...

[Tom A Hawk]

... was a genius. I'm now in the final stages on this year's Isaac Haines build. Its been long project but very satisfying. Very happy with this Pecatonica stock.

Here is before and after aqua fortis staining.

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

Yes it was a genius discovery and your work sir is beautiful nice job!

 

[JohnL]

Very nice!!

 

[Crow Choker]

I've always admired work shown here and elsewhere where the builder has used aqua fortis to stain the wood. Sometimes the builder will mention he used AF to bring out the grain and then used Brand X wood stain to color the wood, some indicate as Tom A Hawk did that they just used AF, nice looking stock T. Hawk. As soon as bow and firearm deer season is over I'm going to start with 'gusto' on my Kibler SMR rifle with the mid available curly maple wood. I don't like to light of wood, nor real dark colored wood as the final finish. If after using AF on a first application, if not dark enough for my eye, will additional coats of AF darken the wood after the first coat brings out the grain? I know all wood is different and will react differently from wood to wood.

I don't want to use a coat of AF followed by a stain and get the wood to dark. I don't mind a slight reddish/brown color either, but not to red as I've seen in some rifles. Nor to I care for the super dark brown, almost black looking colors I've seen also. I have refinished alot of firearm stocks over the years using various commercial stains and mixing my own color using Brownell's five kit wood stain powders. One of my favorite commercial stains has been some called French Red sold years ago by Herter's, available from Brownell's now and other outlets I assume, but it's a combination stain and filler. Just don't want to end up with a color I have to live with, but want to be right 'right out of the chute' with my endearvors.

 

[dave_person]

Hi Tom,
Aqua fortis means "loud water" and it originally referred to nitric acid. Nitric acid alone with heat blushing was used to color wood as far back as 1200 AD. It was known also then that adding iron or other metals to the acid could produce different colors in wood. I don't know when it became common to refer to iron dissolved in nitric acid as "aqua fortis" but I suspect it predates the 18th century.

dave

 

[waarp8nt]

Nice job Tom A Hawk!

Used AF for the 1st time this weekend to touch up a lock mortise on caplock that I converted to flintlock. It needed cut down and sanded as the flintlock set too deep in the mortise, it was an older build using Golden Age Arms kit. Anyway, I was impressed by the way it brought out the grain and how it could be blended in to match the original finish. AF is not only good for an original finish, it can be used to make some quality repairs too!

 

[JohnL]

Nice job Tom A Hawk!

Used AF for the 1st time this weekend to touch up a lock mortise on caplock that I converted to flintlock. It needed cut down and sanded as the flintlock set too deep in the mortise, it was an older build using Golden Age Arms kit. Anyway, I was impressed by the way it brought out the grain and how it could be blended in to match the original finish. AF is not only good for an original finish, it can be used to make some quality repairs too!

Now, that’s smart! How did you get it to blend? I’ve never worked with aqua fortis; can you thin it or hand rub it?

Tom A. Hawk, that rifle is stunning! Did you carve the stock and do all of the inlay work?

 

[ppb]

Very nice!

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Now, that’s smart! How did you get it to blend? I’ve never worked with aqua fortis; can you thin it or hand rub it?

Tom A. Hawk, that rifle is stunning! Did you carve the stock and do all of the inlay work?

Yes. This is my second attempt at carving and inlay. Based on some great advice from Dave Person I obtained some Sterling sheet silver and cut my own strips. I have some thin strips from DGW but had trouble with them. They are stiff and springy and the ends of the inlay wanted to pop back up. The sterling is dead soft and stays put.

Now, if only I could learn to engrave. Attempts to date have been most unsatisfactory.

 

[JohnL]

Yes. This is my second attempt at carving and inlay. Based on some great advice from Dave Person I obtained some Sterling sheet silver and cut my own strips. I have some thin strips from DGW but had trouble with them. They are stiff and springy and the ends of the inlay wanted to pop back up. The sterling is dead soft and stays put.

Now, if only I could learn to engrave. Attempts to date have been most unsatisfactory.

Keep at it and you’ll get it for certain! Thanks for sharing!

 

[waarp8nt]

Now, that’s smart! How did you get it to blend? I’ve never worked with aqua fortis; can you thin it or hand rub it?

I was working on a small area so I rubbed it on with a Q-tip. Heated it and checked for matching color. It took three applications to get the color correct, then rubbed on some Tru-oil to get the shine about right, then once over with boiled linseed oil.

I'm not certain if it can be thinned out like a stain or paint. I'm not an expert, it was my 1st attempt at using aqua fortis, but my understanding is the more applications, the darker the finish. Just happy with the way it turned out well!

 

[Lippy984]

I wonder if it’s worth trying this on repo cap and ball revolvers

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Modern aqua fortis stain is just iron dissolved in nitric acid. That is all. It can be diluted with water or alcohol, stained over, stained under, and finished anyway you want. I don't buy aqua fortis anymore or make it with acid. I buy ferric (iron) nitrate crystals and dissolve them in water or alcohol at whatever concentration I desire. Ferric (iron) nitrate dissolved in water is chemically the same as "aqua fortis stain" and is used the same ways.

dave

 

[beardedhorse]

I've used nitric acid and potassium permanganate since the 70's. Aqua fortis was more than just reagent grade nitric but both require neutralization to not bleach out the solution you use to darken the more porous strip of curly maple. Peter, the Gunsmith of Grenville County did not care for this recipe as he claims it is not stable. Perhaps he didn't neutralize the acid properly. I've used a recipe from McCrory's booklet on building a Kentucky Rifle. Check with luthiers that make violins to see if they will share their trade secrets. The spar varnish or other oil based sealant had a red dye added to give a subtle but nice reddish tint to the fiddlebacks on violins. John Armstrong of Maryland longrifle fame was said to use spar varnish.

 

[Crow Choker]

One of the reasons I had Kibler send me four chunks of curly maple is to practice on, ie getting the right stain/appearance I want on my final stock. I know they aren't from the same chunk of wood my stock came from (who knows though, maybe one is), but the practicing will give me an idea.

Dave_person--are you indicating in your last post that aqua fortis solutions can have stain added to it before applying to the wood OR that the stock can be stained before or after the AF treatment? I'm understanding that just applying AF or if as you indicate your use of ferric nitrate crystals to water or alcohol to the wood it will give a brownish stain to the wood. The heavier the application or additional coats will turn the wood darker and the resulting appearance will be somewhere from a light brown to a real dark almost black brown. I was always in my ignorance of AF thought that it's only purpose and sole function was to bring out the grain, any color the builder wanted in the stock would have to be accomplished by the use of stains. Probably showing my ignorance here in the use to AF or equivalent solutions, but I'll confess. I'm aways yet from doing any staining, but the topic came up regarding AF and I've been curious about the use of it for quite awhile since I developed 'TNFAMLFLR'* late last winter.

*(the need for a muzzle loading flint lock rifle)!!!!!

 

[Rudall]

Aqua fortis means "loud water"

Strong water.

 

[Rudall]

Check with luthiers that make violins to see if they will share their trade secrets. .

I don’t think any violin makers use nitric acid on wood. Bow makers have been known to use it to darken the pernambuco they use, and in fact I have done so myself.

 

[Eddie Southgate]

That is a beauty .