Author Topic: Ferric Nitrate [ Iron[III] nitrate  (Read 4494 times)

Offline smoke

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Ferric Nitrate [ Iron[III] nitrate
« on: August 31, 2011, 03:53:18 AM »
Hi:How do you use this to stain maple stocks? The bottle i bought has hard chunks in it is that normal?Thank You for any help. Dan

Offline Dr. Tim-Boone

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Re: Ferric Nitrate [ Iron[III] nitrate
« Reply #1 on: August 31, 2011, 04:48:17 AM »
Yeah the crystals tend to stick together.
Put some of the crystals in some distilled water or denatured alcohol... make a strong solution.... but you only need about half a cup at most.  Wipe it on the gun with your choice of material...I use a cotton swab like comes in shoe/leather dye.  let it dry and then heat the stock carefully but thoroughly with a heat gun or stove element or forge...
Experiment on some scrap from your stock..each will react diferently... you can use more than one coat if you really want to   but be careful. It is easy to make it darker than you might want and have to rub it back...which is OK too...
« Last Edit: August 31, 2011, 04:50:12 AM by Dr. Tim-Boone »
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Offline Glenn

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Re: Ferric Nitrate [ Iron[III] nitrate
« Reply #2 on: August 31, 2011, 05:15:41 AM »
Hi:How do you use this to stain maple stocks? The bottle i bought has hard chunks in it is that normal?Thank You for any help. Dan

Try this link and see if it helps.  This is a great tutorial on the subject:

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=17315.new;topicseen#new
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Offline smoke

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Re: Ferric Nitrate [ Iron[III] nitrate
« Reply #3 on: August 31, 2011, 05:28:14 AM »
Thank You both. If i make too much can i store it in a glass jar or should i dispose of it? dan

Offline Dphariss

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Re: Ferric Nitrate [ Iron[III] nitrate
« Reply #4 on: August 31, 2011, 06:25:43 AM »
Thank You both. If i make too much can i store it in a glass jar or should i dispose of it? dan

I have a number of jars of the stuff, would never dream of disposing of good stain.

Dan
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Offline Eric Smith

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Re: Ferric Nitrate [ Iron[III] nitrate
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2012, 04:46:48 PM »
Will a common hair dryer be hot enough to treat the stain?
Eric Smith

Offline Dennis Glazener

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Re: Ferric Nitrate [ Iron[III] nitrate
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2012, 05:15:22 PM »
Quote
Will a common hair dryer be hot enough to treat the stain?
The first couple of stocks that I stained with Aqua Fortis I used my wife's hairdryer. Had to hold it close to the wood to get it hot enough to get the full color. Was slow but worked fine until I had just started on the third stock. The hair dryer gave up and my wife was upset ;D I am not sure it was from heating the stock or just its time to go. I suspect that holding it so close to the wood caused the dryer to heat up much more than it was designed to do. I ended up buying my wife a new hair dryer AND myself a heat gun ;D
Dennis
« Last Edit: January 12, 2012, 06:57:52 PM by Dennis Glazener »
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Offline Jerry V Lape

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Re: Ferric Nitrate [ Iron[III] nitrate
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2012, 07:30:32 PM »
Hair dryer isn't adequate as Dennis related.  I tried the stove thing but that is difficult because the stock is too long to maneuver easily.  Heat guns aren't expensive and you can find some at hobby stores as well as building supply stores. 

Trkdriver99

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Re: Ferric Nitrate [ Iron[III] nitrate
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2012, 07:34:11 PM »
Harbor frieght has heat guns for about $15. China made but work for a good while.

Ronnie

Offline Larry Luck

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Re: Ferric Nitrate [ Iron[III] nitrate
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2012, 01:44:22 AM »
Be careful with the heat gun around delicate features on the stock...along the barrel channel on the forestock, carving, etc., because the heat gun  can burn those areas in a flash.

The advice to experiment is a good one.  Try some small pieces to see how quickly they ignite.

Larry Luck