Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: PEARL DRUMS on February 27, 2015, 10:06:49 am
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I have read a few times that a guy can darken osage. But I don't remember with what. I tried hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol last night, neither did anything to the woods color at all. Anybody remember what is used to darken it up, other than the sun?
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Clorox will darken osage some.
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Boy, that's counter-intuitive. Bleach to darken something, go figure :D
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Throw it in your tanning bed for a couple days Pearlie Boy!!! ;D ;D ;D
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Leather dye also works! ::) ;)
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Ill try that tonite Pat, thanks sir.
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leather dye or Clorox? ;D
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I thought I heard vinegar will do it, maybe that was like a stain though?
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i bet coffee would do it.. that stuff will stain anything
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I use aniline dyes to get whatever color I want, but if you want the classic aged osage color, you can get there by accelerating its oxidation.
Potassium permanganate is supposed to work. If you have the book... I remember reading about it in Hunting the Osage Bow, by Dean Torges... there's info about it around the web as well.
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That stuff will start a mean fire to Jeff. I will try bleach tonite, I do want that classic caramel color. Not a stain or dye.
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Ship it to me. I'll treat it for you in the s Florida sun. ;D
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Patience my friend, your on my "list".......somewhere!?!?! ;)
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Heat gun!!! Fire!!! :o >:D
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Simson had something that worked well to darken the wood.
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If u take vinegar and steel wool in a jar for a few days then strain the steel wool it reacts with the tannins in the wood. May darken it. Or make it black :laugh: don't seal the jar, it'll go bang. Quite violently
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All of his osage bows look 5-8 yrs old. I hope he explains that on this thread.
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Chris you could stain a osage quite nice with vinegar and steelwhool, as said. But you could do it also with ammonia:
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,48632.0.html
It's really crazy, just two hours before I put an osage bow in my fuming setup. It was a bright yeller stave. Will take it out tomorrow.
The big difference to any stain is that the color is not only on the wood it is in the wood.
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Pearly boy, all your bows look 5 to 8 years old and worn out.. :) LMAO
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Yes apparently chlorine will do it
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Thanks Simon and Marc. I have access to both of those.
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I also heard apple cider vinegar
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I haven't tried the ammonia fuming like Simon uses, but might have to try that.
I have had good look using the steel wool and vinegar mixture. I have used regular household white vinegar, but Gun Doc suggested apple cider vinegar to get a little more reddish hues in there. Need to try that one too.
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Whatever you do, don't use the ammonia and the chlorine bleach together......that can be bad....very bad...
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Lye and water will darken it in a hurry, I used to degrease with the stuff.
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I like the vinegar and steel wool, but if the wood has to much tanin it'll get dark. White oak will come out jet black, red cedar comes out blue/gray, hickory comes out walnut colored. After you put it on blush it with a heat gun.
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Black spray paint. Darkens it right up!
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Black spray paint. Darkens it right up!
LMAO! Made me choke on my snuff!
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I've been told that you can darken also woods with few tannins applying a black tea solution on the wood before vinegar and steel wool solution
Basically the tannins are provided by tea
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Looks like I have lots of options, thanks everyone................except you Cody!
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I have use old English before and it helped some.
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I put some aqufortis stain on a scrap of osage once and blushed it with a heat gun, the osage turned black.
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I made an osage bow that I wanted to quicken the aging on. I put the bow on a couple of blocks of wood off the floor. Then put ammonia in glass jars (3) and positioned them evenly next to the bow. I draped some plastic sheeting over it all and tried to seal the edges down to the cement floor. I left it for a couple of weeks. It worked pretty well. It still had a little bit of "osage color". But definitely darkened a bit.