Iron and vinegar stains, - weird results.

[Rolf]

I started brewing two batches of iron and vinegar stains for my pistols, about 18 months ago. Both were made by saturating the vinegar with degreased liberon steel wool. The vinegar used was lab. grade acetic acid. With one batch I used 7% vinegar (pickling strength) in the other 30% vinegar(full strength). Both produce copiously amounts of dark brown sludge on the bottom of the bottles. I strained both last week, through a coffee filter.

Results:
Fluid color
7% vinegar:The fluid is almost colorless with a very slight red tinge.
30% vinegar: The fluid is a dark burgundy red.

Tested on maple.
7% vinegar: Nice red/brown color, with blurry stripes. The red brown color developed after drying for 2 hours. A second coat gave a uniform red brown color with poor striping.

30% vinegar: Wood turned dark green at once. After 2 hours, greygreen with pronounced stripping. Color did not change after 24 hours of drying.
A second coat gave a very dark Brown color with distinct striping and no red tones.
Diluting the stain with water did not produce red tones. Neither did diluting with with 7% vinegar and heating it to 80⁰C for 4 hours.

What I'm looking for is a red brown color with distinct striping.  I'll post pictures next week when I've finished my exams

Best regards
Rolfkt

[Trkdriver99]

Try wiping with hydrogen peroxide on the 30% and it "should" take the green away. I had some do that and I wiped it one time and it helped turn to a better color. I was using 5% from local grocery store.

Ronnie

[Bill of the 45th]

Rolf, did you apply heat after letting the solution dry.  That will change the grey/green to a better color.  The vinegar-iron solution is just another type of aqua fortis, and it's a two part process to get the proper color.  The heat causes a second reaction that should give you a correct color.  Remember also that no two pieces of wood will color the same, unless they come from the same tree.

Bill

[Sean]

Rolf,

John Cholin was the guru on vinegar and iron stain on here back on the old board.  Your post shook up the malto-meal that I call a brain and made me recall something John wrote way back when.   To get more red out of your 30% stain, add a little more vinegar a bit before you apply it.  It worked for me back when I was playing around with this stuff.  If I recall correctly, it shifts the solution from ferrous ions over to ferric.  I highly recommend checking through the archives for more info, but I found this one in a quick search:

http://americanlongrifles.org/old_board/index.php?topic=7581.0

Sean