2 ?'s Poke Salad Berries & Backings

[hillbilly61]

 1.  Has anyone tried using the berries from Poke Salad? I know it stains everything I touch and the horses too. Would it make a good stain for wood? The berries would be for the mod. Holmegaard that I finished. (no pics till it's comp. finished)

 2. Can I tiller my Hickory board to the point of say, 16-18". Then back it with boo? It's true 1/4 sawn, so I know it don't need backing, but I just like the looks of the boo backing.

[Pat B]

You can stain wood with poke berries. Some berry stains will fade with time and especially if exposed to sunlight. You might try mixing the berries with alcohol, strain out the pulp and use that for the stain. Do a test piece first.
  As for tillering the bow out to 16" to 18" before backing...yes you can do that...but your tillering need to be good before you add a boo backing. Bamboo makes a very strong backing and will enhance any problems you might have in the tillering. I personally don't consider hickory to be a good belly wood option for boo backing. I know it can be done but hickory is relatively weak in compression and boo is very strong in tension. Not a good match in my opinion. 

[koan]

I have done exactly what Pat said, it works great..... but it does eventually turn pink on white woods, lol...Brian

[ken75]

i would agree with Patb if you have a 1/4 hickory make it a bow , bamboo backin would give the same results as hickory by it self , strong tension, weak compression although the bamboo is prob stronger than hickory. slap that boo on some ipe and you'll be happy !!

[hillbilly61]

I looked all over the pasture today and found about 10 berries. Crushed them and added a little alcohol. I put it on a piece of hickory scrap. All I can say is YUCK!!!!  It turned the wood pink I let it sit out in the sun this afternoon and you're right. It faded out. Thanks Pat B for the heads up. I'll keep tillering the Hickory on out Thanks for the help y'all.

[Pat B]

I like to hand rub charcoal dust and bear grease into hickory. Gives a nice subtle washed look and cuts the bright white hickory. I have done it with water too but it raises the grain of the wood. Cooking oil would probably work fine too.
  If you have black walnuts in your area, soak(maybe boil) the hulls in water and it will give you a rich dark brown stain that will last. 

[hillbilly61]

 Since I don't have any bear grease, do you mix the cooking oil and dust together? If so, I'm assuming that it is small enough amout of oil to make paste to rub with? 

[HoBow]

Pat- how will the black walnut dye store? 

[Marc St Louis]

Apparently in the old days they would use urine to fix the dye, don't know if you want to pee on your bow though 

[hillbilly61]

Apparently in the old days they would use urine to fix the dye, don't know if you want to pee on your bow though 

  Naaaaaaa. I think I'll pass on that one Marc   Maybe a little doe in estrus urine? I'd always have a cover scent

[mullet]

 Jeff, I have some that has been in a jar for a year.lIt starts to get a rotten smell after a while. But after you rub it in the wood and let it sit outside the smell goes away.

[ken75]

eddie you got year old walnut stain or pee in the jar ? man i hope its walnut stain. lol

[mullet]

 LOL, Walnut stain, Ken.

[Pat B]

Made with alcohol or kept in the frig it should last a pretty good bit of time.
  HB61, It doesn't take much charcoal dust to get color. Use as much oil as you would to rub down the bow. You will wipe off the excess that doesn't work into the wood. The heat generated from hand rubbing helps the oil(and charcoal) get into the wood. You will have to play around with the mixture to get the color you want. It will not be dark color but more of an antique or washed look. 

[hillbilly61]

So I can put as many coats on to get the look I want? The antique is about right. Does the oil seal the wood so I don't  have to put a urathane coat?