aquafortis?

Does anyone on the forum make their own aquafortis? If so, what's your recipe?

 

[bioprof]

I start with concentrated nitric acid diluted 50:50 with water in a ventilated hood at work (the fumes given off are deadly -- work in a well ventilated area and stay away from the fumes). Dissolve iron until it won't dissolve any more. Dilute with water as needed before using. Be carefult with the acid. It will cause severe burns.

I neutralize with 1 M NaOH after applying the AF to the wood and heating. If you don't, it will keep turning darker until the wood is black.

I sometimes have to dilute the AF with as much as 1:12 with water to keep it from getting too dark. Be sure to test it on a scrap of wood from the same stock. The color that you get depends on the wood and may vary. You can always tint with alcohol stains if you don't like the color.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

[jerrywh]

Aqua fortis maens strong water in latin. You don't neccessarily need to put iron in the nitric acid. The iron will give you a reder color. The more iron you put in it the reder the color will be. With no iron you will get a dark brown but each piece of wood will be different. I never use stronger than 10% nitric acid. With the stronger stuff it's too hard to control the shade.

 

[Bill Hall]

Jerry, can you please describe what you do to "control the shade"? I not only use aqua fortis for gunstock coloring, but also for alot of other woodworking projects using maple. So far, my experience with aqua fortis has resulted in no control of the shade, I get what I get. Of course, I have only used pre-made aqua from TOW, since nitric acid seems impossible to buy, and having it around just scares the (bleep) out of me.

If I just water down the my store-bought aqua, in a measured manner, can I do things to get more control? Or, do I need to aquire the nitric and brew my own? Thanks, Bill.

 

[jerrywh]

snowdragon.
It's hard to tell how strong yours is unless tow knows. I use 10% strength and mix my own from regent grade nitric acid. Almost 50 years ago I bought a couple of quarts. It is as strong as can be bought commercially. It's not hard to buy now . It's just hard to ship but UPS will ship it as hazardous. That means it is about $30.00 to ship a quart or pint.
I store it in Brown glass bottles made for acid and put the bottles in a plastic storage bin. If it is weak you can control the shade by using multiple coats and heat in between coats.
A funny thing is it won't eat steel very good if it's pure . It needs a certain amount of water in it to sort of activate it.
I have not used it for about 10 years now. I mostly use leather dye.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Wait. I missed something. What do you use leather dye for, Jerry?

 

[jerrywh]

I use leather dye for staining maple stocks. Most of the long rifles on my web site are done with febings leather dye. Here are two examples.
The first one doesn't show very good because I never had a good camera back then. http://jwh-flintlocks.net/kelly_ls_comp7.html http://www.jwh-flintlocks.net/vigilance-pg8.html

 

[Bill Hall]

Jerry, a very informative answer. Thank you very much. Bill

 

[hoochiepapa]

Wow! I'm speechless. Those are beautiful rifles. Too beautiful to hunt with.
I thank you for the info and am going to try some of that leather dye on scraps of maple I have. Thanks again. Beautiful!!

 

[rmonday2]

Those are beautiful Jerry! Thanks for the pictures.

 

[jerrywh]

Thanks guys. The first one was built for a guy in colorado named Jim Kelley. He hunts elk and eveything else with it all the time. The second one was bought by a collector who lives in NJ. Next door to Whitney Houston. I'm not allowed to tell you his name.

 

[Mattole]

Jerry, you have saved me from going the direction of nitric acid on my first rifle build - thanks.

Whereabouts in eastern Oregon are you? I bowhunted for elk in the Eagle Caps a few years ago and enjoyed that area of eastern OR immensely.

 

[jerrywh]

Baker city is just south of the Eagle caps. We can see them here. We are between the Eagle caps and the Elkhorns 80 miles form the Idaho border.
It's a lot like Jackson hole here. This is the last best part of what America was. Almost no crime. I know a guy who lives here that left his keys in his car for the last 25 years and it never got stolen. Many people still have the same front door key if they even bother to lock up.
The place is 85% republican the rest are outsiders from somewhere else. More cattle than people. Some places you can see for 50 miles and can't see a house. You can get lost here permanantly. It's wild country. Cougars come to town in the winter and eat cats and dogs.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Coming from CO this is going to sound a little wierd, but doesn't it get cold there?

 

[Bill Hall]

Small world, I lived in Prairie City for a while. Actually spent my honeymoon in the huge metropolis of Baker City (when it was still called Baker). Had a few track meets and wrestling meets during high school in Baker also. Wish I had known you then.

Beautiful rifles BTW. Your work is a standard to be used when talking about fine craftsmentship. Bill

 

[Mattole]

I do believe I was in Baker City one Sunday during my bowhunting trip, looking for a place to eat - pretty town, as I remember it.

You said the cougars were eating the dogs and cats, but are you certain it aint them 'outsiders' you mentioned?

You do beautiful work, by the way. Good inspiration for a first time builder.

 

[jerrywh]

It's been -40° here before in town. -20 is pretty normal for a cold winter morn. No bigotry intended but do you know that nobody at taco bell or DMV here can speak spanish. It snowed here at the sumpter flea market year before last on the 4th of july.

 

[rmonday2]

Jerry your home town sounds as wonderful as your rifles you build. :hatsoff:

 

[Goldhunter]

As an aside, I made AF for my last build using Ferric Nitrate crystals. These are disolved in water or alcohol. Not as caustic as iron in nitric acid. You can get the crystals from The Science Company online. Some report neutralizing, others don't. YMMV.

I used the ferric nitrate crystals disolved in denatured alcohol on this rifle. I mixed it pretty much 50/50. Heated just like the AF made with nitric acid.

It's another option anyway. As always, test on a scrap to see how it reacts with your wood. :v

Jerry, beautiful rifles BTW. :bow: