Yellow stain experiment on black walnut

[Texcl2]

I decided to try out some different combos on a Quaker stock I have . It’s black walnut and wanted to add some yellow and see how it would affect the purple hues in the stock . My fist attempt was way too yellow although with finish applied it might have looked ok. So I sanded it completely back and diluted my analine dye back using 2 parts water to 1 part original dye mixture. That looked ok, much more subtle and seemed to bring out the grain a bit. So then I knocked it back a touch with 320 since the water based dye raises the grain and applied truoil on top and French red on bottom/toe side with a strip of no finish in between. Tomorrow I’ll add lightly knock back the whole thing and add a coat of truoil. Hopefully I might add a coat on the other side of the stock that has no dye for comparison. I’m thinking I might need more dye on the next try. Anyways here’s some pictures. Top is unfinished, next was first aborted attempt, next is toned down by 2/3’s, last is 2/3’s with truoil on top French red stain/filler. Tomorrow’s pictures with show more of what the finished product will look like.

 

[Texcl2]

I see my camera changed the lighting on the 2/3’s stain picture, just imagine the second picture 2/3’s lighter lol. I regret not leaving a patch of the original stain on there to compare. Also I scraped the stock initially more so on the top of the stock which tends to bring out the grain lines I think. The whole stock was scraped then sanded but the scraper dug in more at the top.

 

[Texcl2]

So on the opposite side I did just yellow stain vs no stain. Then I oiled it…..

 

[Texcl2]

Here’s the finished product. So far everyone who has seen it likes the yellow dye/French red better than the yellow stain and oil. The French red does slightly cloud the grain though. I believe I’ll never finish black walnut without yellow stain, it really takes care of the purplish gray tones and seems to add contrast and it does it super subtle.

 

[wiscoaster]

It's gorgeous. Well done!!

 

[Texcl2]

It’s too bad it’s on a Quaker stock lol. I scraped the finish all off on the other side already with my cabinet scrapers and is ready for the next dye combination. I’m going to add a hint of red into the yellow and see what it looks like. I’m also going to try out some bone black applications . I need to practice mouldings and carving of the lock and tang eventually.

 

[stubshaft]

I too use yellow aniline stain to provide a "golden" undertone. I usually like Dangler reddish brown over it.

 

[Texcl2]

I was thinking of testing an area with yellow first then mixing some brown and red and putting that over top after wiskering. Would it just make an orange’ish brown? I don’t know. I know the yellow looks good under French red stain/filler so will probably go with that on the next kibler Fowler I’m starting this week. It’s just too bad it clouds the grain, it’s not too bad though.