fiebings

I'm staining the Verner, and having a hard time getting the dye to go on smoothly. And I steel wooled it after staining, and the high spots in the carving come out lighter, then when I try to touch up, it gets darker than I want.
Never used this stuff before, but I like what I have seen so far.... :surrender:

Try wiping it back with a paper towel and isopropyl alcohol.

If you have the volatile solvent based Fiebings, there should be little to raise the grain, making steel wool unnecessary.

Put it on generously and as mentioned, wipe it back with some alcohol and a rag, after it has dried. Repeat as necessary. What colors of Fiebings are you using?

Of course! See? That's the kind of learning a guy can get here. Thanks, Blackhand!!
Down to the shop!

zampilot said:

Put it on generously and as mentioned, wipe it back with some alcohol and a rag, after it has dried. Repeat as necessary. What colors of Fiebings are you using?

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Medium brown. I didn't like the dark brown, it had too much of a black cast to it.

I have used an air brush in the past with good results. :thumbsup:

Mike Brines said:

Medium brown. I didn't like the dark brown, it had too much of a black cast to it.

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I haven't tried Fiebings on wood yet, except a couple of loading blocks, but used it a bunch on leather, especially the medium brown. I wish I knew whether my thoughts are insight or guess, but no way to prove it till I try it. But here goes:

On leather I really like the color of that medium brown when cut with Fiebings Reducer, two parts Reducer to one part dye. It comes out different than the light brown, and on wood it lets me put on a couple of coats if I want.

As for rubbing back after applied, the Reducer works more predictably for me than my limited experiments with rubbing alcohol.

I guess in a nutshell, if you've got access to it, their Reducer is worth playing with on wood. I know that's my intent once I get a few more projects crossed off the list.

Thin it down with regent grade alcohol about 50%. Apply several coats and let it soak in as much as possible. It will lighen way up when the finish is applied. If you want a lighter finish thin it some more.

Thanks everyone for the replies, I folowed backhand's advice because I was too impatient to wait for others, and it looks great! Just ordered some permalyn from Brownell's, when it's finished, you'll get a look.

Fiebing's russet and medium brown mixed 1:1 make a great reddish brown. Perfect for black walnut, not bad on maple.

I use fiebings and love it. I use it on modern guns too.

Folks: DO NOT USE STEEL WOOL FOR DEWHISKERING OR FOR RUBBING YOUR STAINED WOOD.

If your using a water based stain or aqua fortis the small fragments of steel wool left on the stock will rust and cause a bad case of freckling.
Yes, as in freckles. Little dark spots.
Even with an alcohol or oil based stain steel wool will remove much of the work you did to stain a stock so don't use the stuff.

Use steel wool for breaking the sharp edges of the rifling in a new barrel. For most other things steel wool is more of a danger than an aid.

Zonie, what about using bronze wool? I know it is used often by refinishers of boat "bright work" such as mahogany trim, because in a salt marine environment the steel wool leaves little rust spots, the bronze wool seems not to. Comments? Good smoke, Ron in FL

I wouldn't use any "wool" when working on a stock finish. They will cut thru epoxy paints so they don't have any problem at all cutting thru a fine gun stock oil finish.

If one is "whiskering" their wood they want to cut off the whiskers cleanly without pushing them back down into the pockets from which they sprung.
Steel or brass wool will not cut off the whiskers. It will just push them back down giving the appearance that the whisker is gone.

That said, a piece of unused 220 grit sandpaper cannot be beat.

Speaking of 220 grit sandpaper, IMO that is the finest sandpaper that anyone should be using on their wood prior to staining.
Grits finer than this will tend to cause the woods surface to close up making it difficult for the stains, be they alcohol or Aqua Fortis to penetrate the wood.

More than one person has finished their bare wood with grits down to 1000 grit and then wondered why the stains didn't penetrate the wood. After reading this, now they know.

By the way, those fine grits of sandpaper are meant for working on metal or painted surface finishes. Not for sanding bare wood.

I agree on not using steel wool to finish your stock. BTDT- it was miserable for me too. I was taught to do that( wrong) in my shop class in H.S. What do those guys know?

You can use scrapers to remove whiskers from a walnut stock effectively. Just draw the scraper along the line of the grain, and against the direction of the whisker. A good sharp scraper will cut them right off. I have also used various grits of sand paper, and the hardware abrasive screens to good effect. You have to sand Lightly, however, and brush the dust out of the grit frequently from sand papers to be able to cut those whiskers cleanly. Don't Sand Across( at right angles) the Grain- ever! If you have to sand a burl, or some other circular grain in the wood, stick with the direction of the surrounding straight grain. If the grain curves, curve your strokes with the grain, or take much shorter strokes on the wood. :thumbsup:

I prefer wet sanding with pumice or rottenstone to knock off the whiskers.

you will clog the pores in the wood that way, and it won't take stain.

The idea on any gun stock finish is to fill the pores. Rotten stone mixed with stain serves as an excelent pore filler/sealer ,especially if rotten stone and the stain is sanded in to the wood rather than just a wipe on .. Kills two birds with little stone. :wink:

Twice.

I give up, not worth wasting my time.

What I recommended is a similar formula and technique Steven Dodd Hughes uses..
Give it a whirl might be worth your while.
Twice.