Vinegar iron stain results

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

I am testing my vinegar iron stain on a piece of the maple that I made the pistol stock out of. I made up the stain in April of 2017 with distilled cleaning vinegar and mild steel cuttings from my band hacksaw. One application of the stain and the maple looks like I covered it with cocoa and almost completely obscured the grain. Do I need to rub it back with steel wool? Here are a couple of photos.





The lighter spot on the left end is where I rubbed it with a paper shop towel.


Thanks, Mark

[Mauser06]

Looks similar to how other acid stains do when applied. 


I'd heat a portion with a heat gun and see if it will "blush".  Then I'd get my favorite finishing oil and test it on the blushed area and see what happens.  Some wood and stains need more rubbing back than others.  The last stock I finished, I didn't rub back at all. I wanted a darker stain...and barely got it with double applications of tannic acid and iron nitrate both.   First one I finished with 1 application of both and I had to do a bit or rubbing back. 

[yellowhousejake]

I am not the expert here by any means, but I played with vinageroon and AF for months while I built my last rifle and the really beautiful curl never showed itself until after I applied the oil.

After blushing with the heat gun.


After applying the first coat of thinned oil.


I would apply some finish to the test boards before I decided anything. Your color is beautiful! I wish my vinageroon looked that good.

DAve

[Curtis]

Dutchman, you won't be able to tell how it will look until you put some finish over it.  You might try wiping some hydrogen peroxide over the vingaroon if you like a redder tone.  I used several coats of vingaroon with peroxide for this gun: http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=48647.msg481383#msg481383

Keep experimenting!
Curtis

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Thank you all for the replies. I used 00 steel wool and went over all the stained area. My plan is to use Waterlox and Spar Varnish for the finish. The Waterlox is on order so I tested with the Spar Varnish alone. I varnished a section without blushing. I varnished a section that I blushed with a heat gun and I varnished a section that I wiped down with hydrogen peroxide. I had previously applied Truoil over the stain without buffing with steel wool and the grain was still obscured, so I didn't try that again with the varnish. I believe I like the varnish over peroxide the best. There is only one application of stain and a single light coat of varnish.


Unblushed with varnish.



Unblushed with peroxide and varnish



Blushed with varnish. This shows more black than the unblushed area, although the photo makes the unblushed one look more black.
Thanks again, Mark

[rich pierce]

Excellent

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Thank you, Rich.
Mark

[SingleMalt]

That really looks nice.  Good color!

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Thank you, SingleMalt.
Mark

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Here are a couple of shots of the finish on the William Antes pistol stock. I used the vinegar iron stain and 4 coats of Water Lox.








Thanks, Mark

[Daryl]

Mark- this Water Lox is interesting - how long between coats, and how long before it's tacky?
nice job, btw/.

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Daryl, The Water Lox is very liquid. I flooded the stock with the first coat until it quit soaking it in. I waited 24 hours between coats and rubbed it down with 0000 steel wool between coats. On the second thru the forth coat, I painted it on liberally and waited 15 to 30 minutes then wiped off the excess.
Mark