Tiger Maple

[Otter Trapper 100]

What is the best way to really "pop" the figure on stripped or tiger maple?

 

[Rifleman1776]

Acid stain. But wait for others much more expert than me to give you details.

 

[Dane]

Ferric Nitrate. Available from The Science Company in crystal form. Dissolve in water or alcohol.
When ready, slather on, let it dry, then heat with a heat gun to "blush". I usually use a scotchbrite pad to remove any raised grain, then finish.
Does not need to be neutralized, and won't cause undue corrosion of metal parts.
Each piece will be a little different in color, due to the chemical make up of that piece of wood.
Gives an authentic, in the wood color.
Finish of your choice when dry.

 

[Dane]

Ferric Nitrate. Available from The Science Company in crystal form. Dissolve in water or alcohol.
When ready, slather on, let it dry, then heat with a heat gun to "blush". I usually use a scotchbrite pad to remove any raised grain, then finish.
Does not need to be neutralized, and won't cause undue corrosion of metal parts.
Each piece will be a little different in color, due to the chemical make up of that piece of wood.
Gives an authentic, in the wood color.
Finish of your choice when dry.

 

[tenngun]

Acid stains are the best and most HC. I have not had good results with it. I find Laural mountain to do well. If you have a cut off piece or have not cut your wood to size now you can Finnish off a section and attempt stains... or you can order knife handle slabs and try some stains on those. Acid will be your best, other stains can give you some very pleasing looks.

 

[Scota4570]

Make it really dark with the AQ stain and a heat gun. You could slightly toast areas. That is called Sugi. Make it darkers still with dye stains, Chambers sells a set. Cut it back with very fine sandpapaer to expose the curl. Since the grain density changes the sandpapaer will expose the areas that took the stain less. You can make a large contrast arount the curl like this.

 

[Dane]

Also, have a look at Jim Kibler's site. If you want to REALLY bring out the curl, you can first bath the wood in tannic acid.
It will add tannins to the wood. This is the chemical that is naturally in the wood that the acid reacts to.

 

[Zonie]

Although one can add tannin to the wood, IMO, it really isn't necessary.

For those who don't know, tannin is what gives wood its brown color.

Even a blond wood like maple has tannin in it and it can be brought to the surface easily by applying a coating of lye water.

The curly woods have a unique grain that bends back and forth in waves.
When these waves meet the surface they form strips and each stripe is essentially "end grain" that will give up more of its tannin than the areas where the wood grain is running parallel with the surface.

This "pops" the stripes, making them much more noticeable than an untreated wood.

This lye water treatment is done after all of the sanding/scraping is finished but before stains or acid treatments like aqua fortis is applied.

To see a topic I made about applying lye water years ago, follow this link.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/6642/post/6642/fromsearch/1/

Dry lye can be found in many hardware stores in their plumbing section.
This process doesn't take much more than a teaspoon in some water so, use the remaining lye to eat the hair and crud out of your homes plumbing drains. That's what it's usually sold for doing. :grin:

I should add, if you use lye water on cherry it will make the color a very dark brown.
If you use it on walnut (which has a LOT of tannin), it will turn the surface almost black.

 

[Micah Clark]

Although one can add tannin to the wood, IMO, it really isn't necessary.

For those who don't know, tannin is what gives wood its brown color.

Even a blond wood like maple has tannin in it and it can be brought to the surface easily by applying a coating of lye water.

The curly woods have a unique grain that bends back and forth in waves.
When these waves meet the surface they form strips and each stripe is essentially "end grain" that will give up more of its tannin than the areas where the wood grain is running parallel with the surface.

This "pops" the stripes, making them much more noticeable than an untreated wood.

This lye water treatment is done after all of the sanding/scraping is finished but before stains or acid treatments like aqua fortis is applied.

To see a topic I made about applying lye water years ago, follow this link.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/6642/post/6642/fromsearch/1/

Dry lye can be found in many hardware stores in their plumbing section.
This process doesn't take much more than a teaspoon in some water so, use the remaining lye to eat the hair and crud out of your homes plumbing drains. That's what it's usually sold for doing. :grin:

I should add, if you use lye water on cherry it will make the color a very dark brown.
If you use it on walnut (which has a LOT of tannin), it will turn the surface almost black.

Thank you Zonie !!! I was going to private message you before I get to staining my current build because you have mentioned this before, and I bought the Lye, but needed a refresher, and now here it is. My stock is a Chambers curly maple, but it's a little disappointing in that while it has grain the curl is only about 20% of the stock and mostly all located forward of the lock . . . but what little I've got, I'd like to make pop with my LMF stain. . . I think your Lye treatment will help.

Micah

 

[kansas_volunteer]

Really strong ammonia, much more stinky than house hold ammonia, reacts with tannin in wood and brings out the grain. The wood isn't soaked with ammonia it's just exposed to the fumes.

 

[Micah Clark]

I've not heard of this before . .Can you see the wood change with the ammonia fumes? How do you know it's working or when to stop?

 

[eggwelder]

I know this practice was used on oak furniture and trim at the turn of the last century and on into the arts and crafts/ craftsman era of the 1920`s-30`s. really accentuates the flecks found on quarter sawn oak, but the colour ranges vary a lot. wonder how that will work with maple....

 

[Col. Batguano]

It works particularly well on oak, because that is really loaded with tannins.

I used this method on a white oak cannon naval carriage. Why? Because I was curious to see if it would work, and how well. I just used household stuff so it took few days. The ammonia in my containers (cream cheeze tubs) evaporated off relatively quickly so I had to replenish it several times during the process. It is also temperature sensitive. Warm temperatures during fuming will give you a reddish tint, and colder temperatures a more greenish one.

Yes, you have to keep an eye on it while fuming, or else the piece will eventually turn black. So the lesson is to NOT place the tubs directly under your target piece. It's a good way to reach areas of the piece that are otherwise hard to get in to and get even application though, such as inside corners in tight places. You also have to figure out a way to support the piece during the process so the gas can get everywhere. I used a triangle with nail points driven through a board to hold it off the ground. It does seem to be a fairly deep and penetrating stain, and it does not raise the grain.

In the end though it was more hassle than it was worth. Still fun to do though, and I was satisfied with the result. If someone wants to try it on maple I'd be curious to see what their results are.

 

[kansas_volunteer]

As mentioned, fumed oak was a common fashion a hundred years or so ago. I'm setting now beside an old oak family heirloom from the late 1800s. I think was fumed. It also has no varnish and it is entirely original condition.

I've not had a project big enough to fume itself, but I've tested bits of wood exposed to household ammonia with mixed results. My testing standards weren't very strict. My bits darkened.

I first learned about fuming quite a while back when I read an interesting article in Fine Woodworking magazine. Long before that, according to the piece, a large bank was finished entirely in oak. To darken the oak the finishers sealed the building and set out containers of very strong ammonia, then got the hell out. In a few days they returned to find the oak darkend nicely, and the ammonia evaporated.

I don't have any household ammonia to check, but I think the bottles list what percentage of the fluid is actual ammonia. I think it's a low number. Fuming ammonia needs to be three or four times as strong, if not more.

Brush on chemicals might be more expedient to use when finishing gunstock, but I bet fuming would bring out the color in a more subtitle way. My way of thinking about it is this, fuming let's the color change to develop only as much as the wood will allow. Directly applied chemicals force color into the wood. The difference is fuming is more "natural" and staining is more forced. Staining subdues the wood, fuming let's the wood just be itself.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Now you're piquing my curiosity. I'm going to try a test piece on some scrap of some curly wood.

The cannon carriage was only about 18" x 12" x 12" and weighed about 4-5 pounds. More of a model than a real carriage really. I did my project when it was around 10 degrees outside, and actually WANTED a greenish tint to it, so I was happy (meaning lucky) the way it turned out.

I think the household ammonia is around 3%-5% is all, so it takes a greater volume / surface area for the volatiles in solution to gain great enough concentration in the space to do their work. A gallon of the stuff is only $3-$5 though so it's not like it's a real costly experiment to try. Not good stuff to breathe though, so good ventilation is pretty much mandatory.

 

[kansas_volunteer]

I think this is more like the correct stuff.
https://www.amazon.com/Ammonium-Hy...99985850&sr=8-19-spons&keywords=ammonia&psc=1

Maybe you can find stronger on Amazon. Ebay also lists ammonia hydroxide at 28-30%. For some reason i couldnt copy a link to it.