Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Hawkdancer on October 12, 2022, 11:54:30 pm
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I need recipe for a natural black stain for my latest hickory bow, somebody posted one a while back, I think. :BB. Thanks!
Hawkdancer
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You can blacken most woods with a mixture made from vinegar and steel wool (it forms iron acetate, I believe). It isn't really a stain, it causes a chemical reaction with the tannins in the wood that makes it go black.
Mark
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Pre-soak the wood in tea to raise the tanin levels
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Hickory should react well with iron acetate
If you want a darker tone you can paint it with a dense tea and after, when dry, use iron acetate
the tannins in the tea will produce a darker color. I tried that and it works well
Still have to try black carbon with wax, lineed oil or maybe fish glue . It should provide a true black color.
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same reply in the same time. nice :OK
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Osage turns black if you put iron nitrate on it (aqufortis), hickory turns a nice brown, not black.
In the picture the stain has been applied and heated with a heat gun to make it react with the tannins in the wood.
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I would make a black walnut hull stain, very easy to make and very sun resistant. Perfect time of year to do it!
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Sounds like some good ideas, luckily, I have some test pieces I can work with. Buckskinner, you got any spare walnut hulls? I haven't seen a walnut tree around here! Thanks for all the info, and if anyone else has a different idea, send it on!
Hawkdancer
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Sounds like some good ideas, luckily, I have some test pieces I can work with. Buckskinner, you got any spare walnut hulls? I haven't seen a walnut tree around here! Thanks for all the info, and if anyone else has a different idea, send it on!
Hawkdancer
Yep, how many do you want???
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Yeah walnut hulls are great. Darkest stain I’ve made with them is to crush them up super fine and leave them in a ziplock bag until they “melt” usually only takes like a week or two, you’ll get incredibly dark goo from them breaking down in the bag. Make sure it’s somewhere warm. You can also make a ink like stain from acorns, if you’d like details on that Lemme know..
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(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52429770592_8a80968ec5_k.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/gp/141458655@N02/41mkMbS85n)Untitled (https://www.flickr.com/gp/141458655@N02/41mkMbS85n) by Livvydog (https://www.flickr.com/photos/141458655@N02/), on Flickr
Heres a bow with the walnut stain. It could be darker but I sanded it off a bit to give the camo pattern. Still not totally black though. Im thinking the acorn t stain would be darker
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I have found that crushed walnut stain will get moldy over time, to prevent this I mix denatured alcohol with the slurry before I store the stain. I have had the same qt bottle for 20 years now, the alcohol will evaporate over time, I add more when I want to use the stain. I never filtered my slurry so it is like a thick paste, I boiled the hulls to break them down.
The arrow is poplar arow stained with my walnut slurry.
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you can obtain iron acetate very quickly
just put some iron wool (the one it's used to clean pans) in vinaigre and wait 3-4 days
Vinaigre will dissolve iron. In contact with tannins will produce a dark color.
You can use old bits of iron (like old rusty nails) but the bigger the longer they need to left in vinaigre before dissolving
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Eric, that is a really gorgeous walnut stain on the arrow. Poplar probably takes a stain well I bet.
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Do any of you have pictures of osage stained with iron nitrate?
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just as reference this handle is a kind of oak (tannin rich) stained with iron acetate and then sanded
You can see bot natural and dyed color
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Buckskinner,
A couple dozen should do nicely, if you want to spare that many! I will pm my address.
Eric Thanks for the alcohol idea, I hadn't thought about mold setting in. That does make a nice stain!
Hawkdancer
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Osage stained with aqfortis, one coat, more coats would be darker.
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I might have to make some of the walnut stain. I like the color and my wife has probably picked up 15 buckets of them out of our yard so far this year.. do they have to be green to start with or can they already be starting to decaying and turn black?
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you can use the one already black
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I highly recommend wearing rubber gloves - walnuts stain skin just as effectively as wood!
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I’ll look around the edges of my yard for my wife's dumping spots.. she picks them up almost daily and puts them in a bucket and dumps them in the woods. Won’t be any trick to find a bunch.. I’m guessing I need to take the nut off them then toss them into a gallon size baggie. Also will one bag be enough?
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The walnuts are good eating too! Also attract squirrels! They are also good eating! Might sll at the farmer's market, too!
Hawkdancer
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I collected a grocery bag full this year, all piled up on a sidewalk. Got em hulled and have the nuts drying right now. Gonna see how good they are but I mainly collected em for the hulls for stain.
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We’ll I guess I’m to late for the walnut hulls. They all seem to be dried out. I found a few that were still green but not like when they first fall off,kinda dry.. I did put a few into a pound size baggie to see what will happen.. The ones that were black were pretty much dried out. Guess I’ll have to wait till next year.. Anyone ever use lamp black for stain? Can’t recall how we used to make it. Might have been lamp black and linseed oil.
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You want the black dried out hulls for stain, crush them up and boil them. I wanted the old black ones for my stain, the blacker the better.
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Just add a little water to the bag they should rehydrate just fine
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So it doesn’t matter if the meat inside is gone? They are more dark brown than black.
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Doesn't matter, you are only working with the hull, you throw away the nut.
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Got the shipment of walnuts! I spread them out to dry, and will remove and crush the husks to start the process! Thanks!
Hawkdancer
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Good to hear! I really had to look for them this year, finally came across a couple trees where the squirrels must have had their fill. Didn't find many but should be enough for you to get a decent amount of stain out of them.
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Anyone ever use lamp black for stain? Can’t recall how we used to make it. Might have been lamp black and linseed oil.
you can use different oils. I also tryed used oil for frying.
Just put a wick into it and light it with a glass jar of water on top
Lamp black will start to deposit on the glass and you can scrape it off when cooled
A metal container is also good to let lamp black deposit onto. Usually I can collect lamp black out of the metal box I use to char cotton as fire tinder
to make a dye I guess you have to mix lamp black with hide glue or lineseed oil but still have to try it
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Got the bulls ground up and slugging in a plastic bag in a warm spot! Going to check to see what it looks like, might need more water!
Only knicked my finger twice removing the hulls! (lol) :fp
Hawkdancer