Aqua Fortis and Lye on Walnut, An Experiment

[PathfinderNC]

Sounds great. I will be staining my Kibler SMR stock with it also as soon as I get done with the stock. I have everything done with the stock except molding cuts along both sides from the trigger guard to the butt plate if I don't change my mind. I engraved my patch box lid today but it still needs to be cleaned up.

Will the lye affect the brass mountings? I have inlays that cant be removed on my stock.

 

[Trapper Scott]

Will the lye affect the brass mountings? I have inlays that cant be removed on my stock.

I wouldn't think so, but if I can remember tomorrow I'll brush a scrape piece of brass with the mixture and we shall see what happens if anything. One thing I did on another rifle with brass inlays was to cover them with painter's tape to keep Tru-oil off of them, but it's thicker and non-corrosive.

 

[64Springer]

Jukar .45 Kentucky beech stock.

Left is raw grain. Center is 4oz water with 1tsp common lye and heated. Right is Tru-Oil over lye treated area.

I think the highly technical name for the outcome is FUGLY. It's Latin.

 

[64Springer]

On Cherry. 1 tsp of lye didn't change. Just added more water. Very promising. You can make oodles of dye/stain for about ten cents.

Top 4oz. Heat applied.
Next 8oz. No heat.
Next 12oz. No heat.
Bottom 16oz. No heat.

 

[Trapper Scott]

On Cherry. 1 tsp of lye didn't change. Just added more water. Very promising. You can make oodles of dye/stain for about ten cents.

Top 4oz. Heat applied.
Next 8oz. No heat.
Next 12oz. No heat.
Bottom 16oz. No heat.

It looks like the more diluted the mixture, the less of the darker areas which brings the red tint out. I like it.

 

[vintovka]

Sorry now i didn't try the PP after the Aqua Fortis on the Franken flinter. I really like red!! Woulda only cost like a current penny's worth of it.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Sorry now i didn't try the PP after the Aqua Fortis on the Franken flinter. I really like red!! Woulda only cost like a current penny's worth of it.

nice looking stock!

 

[64Springer]

It looks like the more diluted the mixture, the less of the darker areas which brings the red tint out. I like it.

I agree.

I will add 4oz more water at a time and keep checking results.

This lye test on cherry is a first for me. Very excited.

 

[Trapper Scott]

I agree.

I will add 4oz more water at a time and keep checking results.

This lye test on cherry is a first for me. Very excited.

It's fun to experiment with. I did a few test and have been setting the test boards in the sun to see how much darker they will get from exposure and to be honest unless the change is so subtle I haven't noticed much if any change from the sun.

 

[BadDaditood]

Aqua fortis reacts with tannins, the more tannins the darker it gets.
I would assume walnut would go black after blushing.
I read somewhere that a lye wash over aqua fortis on maple gives an orange cast… so I tried it and it did!
However I didn’t know (until this thread) that lye was a base and I didn’t have to neutralize it with water which took most of the orange with it. ;-(
I liked the color before I rinsed it off…
I’ll try it again next Lancaster rifle.

 

[Trapper Scott]

Will the lye affect the brass mountings? I have inlays that cant be removed on my stock.

Here is a piece of brass I dropped into the lye mixture and let it soak for about an hour. Most of it turned that bluish color. Now, you will not be soaking a stock in lye, but there is a possibility that the brass inlays may discolor around the edges.

 

[TDM]

On Cherry. 1 tsp of lye didn't change. Just added more water. Very promising. You can make oodles of dye/stain for about ten cents.

Top 4oz. Heat applied.
Next 8oz. No heat.
Next 12oz. No heat.
Bottom 16oz. No heat.

That’s a good comparison test.

 

[rkg1]

A comment on the ammonia fuming. I did it a few years ago on an oak cabinet I built. Once you are set up it is very easy to do and I got a very nice even light brown color on red oak. Red oak has less tannic acid than white oak hence the lighter color. I used 30% ammonium hydroxide and you will need an isolated room to do the staining and it took me about 3 days. I think it was worth the effort and it gave me some experience.

 

[vintovka]

This is my last effort on the Hatfield CVA mongrel using 2 coats of dilute PP and a couple coats of tru-oil. I found the PP will stain hickory ram rod equally dark red in two coats. Rest of build in another thread. May add this was made up by adding water to some dried up mix from 2 week ago. This is the end of the ML wood finishing projects for me. All the estate items are barrels and hardware -- no wood.

 

[The Appalachian]

The aqua fortis is from Wahkon Bay and I used it straight from the bottle.
I've been told by an aquaintance who is a student of antique arms and premier restorer that lye has been used "forever" as a stain for cherry. Since lye is a base it will also neutralize the acid based aqua fortis.

Just remember that a strong base alone, not neutralized by an acid, is just as caustic as a strong acid alone. If I were you I would play with some pH strips and see exactly where in concentration your neutralization occurs.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

You're right, both an acid and a strong base like lye will cause a severe burn if you get careless with them. I would think that the base would be less corrosive to the gunmetal than the acid but that's just a hunch. Maybe the chemists among us who have some real knowledge will chime in.

I've posted this before but here's the Kibler cherry SMR I finished with lye and Fiebings stain a couple of years ago.

 

[Trapper Scott]

Lye will change the color of brass to a bluish color if left exposed too long.

 

[TDM]

The Lye and even using Aqua Fortis is new to me but in watching the Kibler videos Jim said to avoid getting the iron nitrate/aqua fortis into the lock or barrel inletting, or any inletting, because of the corrosion concern.

 

[Trapper Scott]

You're right, both an acid and a strong base like lye will cause a severe burn if you get careless with them. I would think that the base would be less corrosive to the gunmetal than the acid but that's just a hunch. Maybe the chemists among us who have some real knowledge will chime in.

I've posted this before but here's the Kibler cherry SMR I finished with lye and Fiebings stain a couple of years ago.

View attachment 175630

Now that's a beautiful rifle. Did you blush the lye wash with heat?

 

[TDM]

You're right, both an acid and a strong base like lye will cause a severe burn if you get careless with them. I would think that the base would be less corrosive to the gunmetal than the acid but that's just a hunch. Maybe the chemists among us who have some real knowledge will chime in.

I've posted this before but here's the Kibler cherry SMR I finished with lye and Fiebings stain a couple of years ago.

View attachment 175630

The tone of the stock turned out really nice.