even more vinegar stain

[greybeard]

This is vinegar stain that I would prefer a bit more red  tones. Not too happy with it as is.

[wetzel]

It sounds like most people are getting a dull grey color until they add the oil?  Long John, what does it mean to decant?  How do you go about doing that?  I want to try making a batch.  Here is another dumb question, how do you degrease steel wool?  Do you buy it that way or degrease it yourself?

[bgf]

My vinegar stain was made with mild steel filings from under the vise (I was raised to never throw anything away) with some white vinegar (5%).  It achieved a nice gray/black in just a couple of days -- ideal if it was a modern laminated bench stock.  I added some rusty barbed wire from the barn (which seemed silly to save, but there you are) and more vinegar, but that hasn't made much difference in a week, except that now there is starting to be some more organic looking slime in the solution, which was crystal clear before.  I don't know if that was the barbed wire or just the result of more time.  Do I just need to wait a while?

[omark]

wetzel, just rinse your steel wool with alcohol, not the drinking stuff, big waste. i havent used the vinegar stain much, but what i did, i just use saw chips, filings, drill press and lathe tailings, all unoiled of course. i let some set probably a year or so, didnt strain or anything. just used a q-tip from the top of the bottle of stain. just testing a small piece. it was beautiful after coating with tung oil.    mark

[Rolf]

the easiest way to degrease steel wool is put in your wifes dishwasher. Works like a charm.

Best regards

Rolf

[LynnC]

Decanting is to carefully pour off the clear top liquid without stiring up the sludge in the bottom.  You want to use the clear as your stain as it has the iron in solution.

[wetzel]

Okay, that makes sense.  Thanks!

[A.Merrill]

    On 3-20-11 I started 2 batches of vinegar stain, one with white vinegar and one with cider vinegar using very old barb wire. Today ( 3 days later) the barb wire has tiny bubbles rising off of it in both batches, is this normal?    AL

[Paddlefoot]

Yes it is. It will probably get to the point where there is rusty looking foam and scum on the top of the liquid. Let it keep working.

[Long John]

Like LynnC said, decant means to gently pour the clear liquid off the top of the liquid surface.

The bubbles on the surface of the barbed wire in the pot is probably dissolved air coming out of solution.  Three days is nothing!  Vinegaroon is NOT a Polaroid product!  Go do something constructive and come back in 3 months.

Grey,  The color you have is almost exactly same as the original rifles on exhibit at Dixon's each year.  Also, are you judging your results under a fluorescent light?  Remember that the color you see is reflected light - the source of the light matters.  There is no red or red-orange light in the output from a fluorescent light.  You will have to judge color by taking your samples outside.

With the next rifle I stain I plan to follow the following process:

I will take my stain pot and decant off about 1/2 pint of clear liquid into a screw-lid jar.  I will add 1/2 pint of fresh cider vinegar, screw the lid on tight and let it set for a couple of weeks.

I will scrape the stock down real fine, dewisker with warm water and a rub down with de-oiled 0000 steel wool and then burnish it with my hemp brush. 

I will then apply a coat of stain with a foam brush, saturating all surfaces throughly.  (I stain with all furniture removed)

Once the stain has dried I will rub down it with de-oiled 0000 steel wool and burnish with my hemp brush.

I will give the stock 4 or 5 coats of stain this way waiting a day or two between coats.

Then I will apply finish.  I expect the rifle to turn out pretty much the others have.

You don't have to use vinegaroon if you don't want to.  I just find it the simplest way to get a nicely stained stock - no dangerous acids, no need to heat, no need to neutralize, no interactions with metal parts (that I know of).

Best Regards,

JMC

[C. HUMMEL]

    On 3-20-11 I started 2 batches of vinegar stain, one with white vinegar and one with cider vinegar using very old barb wire. Today ( 3 days later) the barb wire has tiny bubbles rising off of it in both batches, is this normal?    AL

       A.Merrill,
    I started a batch the same day with white vinegar!I used a bunch of rusty nails,first time for me.
                                                                           Ernie

       
             
               

[A.Merrill]

    C.HUMMEL,  this is my first time making vinegar stain. Hope it turns out as nice as Long Johns.    AL