Turning Hickory black?

[Bart]

Does anyone know what type of stain I can use to turn Hickory very dark or even black in color?

[Pete G.]

Depends on the wood, but black leather dye; not the water based stuff. Regular stains don't seem to work well.

[T*O*F]

chromium trioxide will turn it black with a double coat and then allowed to sit for 24 hours before steel wooling it.

[Jim Kibler]

Iron nitrate.  Hickory should contain enough tannins to create the reaction to essentially "ebonize" it.  If it isn't dark enough, use a tannic acid treatment on it.  Dyes etc. won't work the same.

[blienemann]

Recently accomplished this on a hickory ramrod for an English style pistol, after much experimenting.  Use both a stain and a dye.

Black stain from local paint or hardware store will stain down inside the grain, but rubs right off the surface.  Then a dye like Behlen Solar-lux Jet Black dye for the surface.  Once dry, you are good to apply finish.

[Bart]

Thanks Men!! I have had a devil of a time with this undertaking.

Bart

[John Archer]

I turn my hickory blacksmithing hammer handles black by staining with LMF, applying several coats of Tried & True, and then setting it on fire with a propane torch. Keep at it with the torch until it's all black.  Rub it back with a cloth as soon as it's cool enough to handle. Add more finish until you're happy. It's something I saw on YouTube if I remember correctly. This gives a very nice smooth finish.

The reason for the dye: On a hammer handle the black will slowly wear thin and reveal the underlying color...a dark brown dye shows much better than the stark white of the natural hickory.

John

[retired fella]

just finished a 50 cal straight grain maple using medium brown shoe dye.  This is the second one done this way and on maple you can get light to dark brown to an almost black finish.  With linseed oil finish you get a bit of reddish tint. Was told be an old timer not to use black dye as it clumps up?  Don't know, never tried it.

[Bart]

I have no problem getting the softer woods such as maple to take color.

[jamesthomas]

 I've just finished staining a couple of hickory ram rods with Danglers Red Brown stain and after a couple of coats they are very dark, almost black you might try it. Now I just need to fix the stain so it wont come off when I use them to clean my rifle, What do ya'll recommend as a fixer so the stain wont come off?.

[L Moler]

Have you tried fuming the rod with commercial grade ammonia?
Hickory should have enough tannin in it to turn pretty black...