Zonie's staining methed

[Dave Young]

Zonie, did I read it right when you said that the lye solution doesn't bother any of the metal inlays or parts? So I can put brass buttplate, nickle or silver inlays and pewter nose cap in place and then go through the staining and finishing? I use lye for making brain tan and it tends to tear up any metal it comes in contact with , so I just wanted to make sure. Thanks.

 

[bioprof]

I've used Zonie's method with great success and didn't have any problems. I'd remove the buttplate though, and wipe off the inlays if you get any lye on them. It shouldn't be a problem for the short time it will be in contact with the metal. The tannins in the wood should neutralize some of the lye that soaks in.

 

[Dave Young]

did you only use one coat of lye as well? What kind of vinegar doesn't make a difference does it?

 

[Zonie]

Brief contact of lye and steel, bronze and brass shouldn't cause any pitting or frosting of the surfaces.
Maybe its the brains that are eating the metal? :rotf:

Yes, one really wet coat is all that is needed.
I've tried using several coats and while it didn't damage the previous coat, it didn't seem to add any darkness or depth to the color of the wood.

I used just one coat of white vinegar to neutralize the lye. You really shouldn't need more and you really don't want the vinegar to wash the increased darkness of the stripes away and redeposit it on the lighter areas between them.

I suppose a wine vinegar would work but do not use Balsamic vinegar. It contains too much sugar (and it costs too much). :grin:

 

[tecum-tha]

Zonie,
what mix ratio of lye and water do you use? Is there an optimum pH-value for this task? Just curious, because the aquafortis stuff is expensive here, but lye is easy to get.

 

[Zonie]

I use about a teaspoon of lye in a cup of water.

The Lye water treatment WILL NOT darken the wood like Aquafortis does. It won't even come close.

What it does is to bring out the natural tannins in the wood (these being brown).
It penetrates further thus brings out more of these tannins in the end grain that is opened up by cutting across the wavy grain of the wood.

Even so, the difference between a treated and a untreated piece of wood isn't something that jumps out and grabs you.

If you don't want to use Aquafortis, select a nice Walnut or Maple alcohol based stain. You may want to have each and try one coat of Walnut plus two coats of Maple or Mahogany to add some red color to it.

These always work well for me.

 

[anika]

Will the Lye affect glue or acraglas bedding? odis

 

[Zonie]

I can't say for sure.
Most of the epoxies are very resistant to chemicals but some of the animal glues, being organic might be attacked by lye.

Although the epoxies themselves should be unaffected the bond between them and the wood might be if the wood is really soaked. Of course, that applies to just soaking wood with water too. The epoxy will be just fine but the wood will soften and the epoxy may start to loose its hold on it.