Tannins for stock color

[Robert Wolfe]

I understand that some folks swab their maple stocks with a solution of strong tannins prior to using ferric nitrate to get better (redder?) color. Are you buying powdered tannins or simply brewing up a strong cup of tea? 

[dogcatcher]

I bought a pound of wine tannin that winemakers use, I think I found it on Amazon.  But I haven't used it on a stock, I bought it to ebonize another wood project using rusted steel wool and vinegar.  No red, but it was almost as black as real piece of ebony on the first application.  I mixed it with denatured alcohol instead of water, had almost no grain whiskers.

[smart dog]

Hi Robert,
Yes some do use tannin first and then ferric nitrate or aqua fortis but it is not necessary to bring out the curl or get a nice reddish brown color.  The ferric nitrate will do that by itself.  Tannin can highlight the curl by increasing the contrast between light and dark figure.  If you visit the link below, you can see where I used strong tea to add tannin to maple that had dense but faint curl. The tea brought out the contrast:
http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=45790.msg454984#msg454984

You can also buy tannin powder from Jim Kibler, which he used to glorious effect on a late 17th century fowler.  He describes using tannin in his blog on his web site.

dave

[Robby]

I tried Jim's tannin and was, still am impressed with the results on a piece of curly maple that is a sister to one I used only aqua fortis on. In fact I used Jim's iron nitrate on it as well. Like Dave said it does enhance the contrast, and for me, did bring out a beautiful subtle red. Over all it is darker which I liked because it is easily rubbed back to a lighter tone giving me more control of where I wanted it to be.
Robby

[Don Stith]

I have used tannins from strong tea followed by fuming with ammonia to give a beautiful golden coloration with good contrast.  I have seen some Bucks county riflles that this color matches up with.

[rich pierce]

Great tip, Don. That golden honey color is hard to get with AQF. The Marshall rifle has similar tones.

[Jim Kibler]

I remember reading about the tannic acid in Bill Knights booklet years ago.  When staining the burl stocked fowler several years ago,  I was having trouble getting the huge contrast you sometimes see on English guns of this period.  I tried the tannic acid treatment and it worked well.  We put out a blog post on it https://www.jimkibler.net/blog/previous/5  and then started selling the stuff.  This seems like the start of the recent surge of interest.

To be honest, my feelings on using the tannic acid in conjuction with iron nitrate are mixed.   It can create a great deal of contract in the wood figure, but it's quite a bit of work getting there.  It also tends to push the stock color towards the colder tones and it's hard to warm it up again.  I still try to push those just starting out to use the iron nitrate by itself.  It looks great and is easier to work with. 

People love wood figure, though, and it seems the use to the tannic acid is here to stay.

Jim

[Robert Wolfe]

Thanks for all the input. I'll try ferric nitrate alone and if that doesn't get me what I want I'll retry with tannins and ferric nitrate again.

[P.W.Berkuta]

Just the other day I applied Jim's tannic acid power solution then his ferric nitrate acid to a half stock that I am in the process of building and I think it did help show the curl in the wood. The stock was not heavily blushed but enough to be more brown then reddish brown. I have Permalyn Sealer on it in the picture.

[Robby]

Unless they come from the same tree no two pieces of wood will react with any real predictable accuracy, location and conditions affect mineral content and proportions. Mine came out a warm pleasing color. I plan on using the same procedure on my current rifle, the last full stock blank from that particular tree.
Robby