How dark to stain walnut stock English fowler

[Lone Wolf]

I am building a Chambers English fowler walnut stock and plan to use LMF Walnut stain.  Will this be too dark or should I thin it?

[J. Talbert]

Color is of course a matter of taste, but walnut stain on black walnut would probably be too dark for my taste.
An English fowler would have been made from English/European walnut which would typically be lighter than Black Walnut which I presume is what yours is.
You can sample the stains in the barrel channel to help with your decision.
My guns usually end up with 2 or 3 colors combined.  I’d probably start with Honey Maple or Nut Brown (which ever is lighter) then add the other if the stock is still too light after the first color.
Try it and see…
Good luck,
Jeff

[LynnC]

On black walnut stocks i have only used three finishes. Real Double boiled linseed oil, tung oil varnish or beeswax melted into the heated stock.  All gave a pleasing walnut brown color without any additional pigment.  I have never found any need for stain of any kind.

[Fly Navy]

I've used honey maple on black walnut and it gives the wood a very nice color with gold undertones. I think it fits in the not too light and not too dark area.

[LynnC]

I should have mentioned that English walnut is a bit lighter in color than American black walnut. I think Smart Dog has a formula to make our native walnut look more like European walnut

[Lone Wolf]

I remember seeing a post by Smart Dog on here a while ago where he said that many english fowler stocks were stained.  How much will the walnut darken naturally on its own over time?

[smart dog]

Hi Lone Wolf,
An English fowler would most likely be stocked in English walnut.  To be clear, English walnut is Juglans regia and is the same species as European, French, Turkish, Circassian, Armenian, and Italian walnuts.  I suspect your stock is American black walnut (Juglans nigra), which is a different species.  Black walnut tends to have cold purple-brownish tones and I prefer not to darken it but warm it up to look more like English walnut.  Here are some examples of black walnut stained to look more like English walnut.





















The trick is simple, just paint the black walnut with a yellow dye.  That wipes out the cold color and warms it up a lot.  I use yellow aniline dye dissolved in water and I start painting the stock with the water-based color as part of the whiskering process.  It helps show up scratches and rough spots and I scrape or sand it off completely each cycle of whiskering but it embeds in the grain.  Then after whiskering is done, I paint on a coat without scraping it off and then finish.

dave

[Ron Scott]

As you can see from these photos, English Walnut has an immense variety of shades. You might post a photo of your stock and indicate what you want your Fowler to look like: antiqued, light wear, new ,etc. I will use Alkanet tinted oil finish, but not actually stain English Walnut.






alphabet polonais français

[Lone Wolf]

Thanks.  What is a good place to source aniline dye?  And does the water-to-powder ratio matter?

Below is a photo of my stock.  I'm sure the color is off based on my phone camera, but it does seem to have the purplish hue that Smart Dog described.  Since it came from Chambers I believe it is American, it has some nice figure on the top of the butt.  I don't have any original examples to follow, just going by what I have seen in books.  I would say I'm going for a look like the last two pictures posted by Smart Dog.  The barrel will be white, the stock with minimalistic adornment.

[Daryl]

As you can see from these photos, English Walnut has an immense variety of shades. You might post a photo of your stock and indicate what you want your Fowler to look like: antiqued, light wear, new ,etc. I will use Alkanet tinted oil finish, but not actually stain English Walnut.






alphabet polonais français

Now THOSE are EXQUISITE eye candy!

[Daryl]

:Lone Wolf- follow Smart Dog's directions and you will not go wrong.

I have stained black walnut with walnut die and it turned almost black.  I then sanded that off, then oiled the stock(a number of coats) and came up with this(cased picture).

[Jim Evans]

Thanks.  What is a good place to source aniline dye?  And does the water-to-powder ratio matter?

Below is a photo of my stock.  I'm sure the color is off based on my phone camera, but it does seem to have the purplish hue that Smart Dog described.  Since it came from Chambers I believe it is American, it has some nice figure on the top of the butt.  I don't have any original examples to follow, just going by what I have seen in books.  I would say I'm going for a look like the last two pictures posted by Smart Dog.  The barrel will be white, the stock with minimalistic adornment.

Can you take a photo of your stock after you wipe it with water?

[DanL]

Unless Barbie Chambers has changed the wood choices on the Chambers' English fowler, It is probably English walnut.

The wood options still listed on their website is English walnut (or cherry). My Chambers' English fusil/fowler, purchased 21 years ago,  is English walnut.

I believe that I only used Chambers' oil finish with no stain. Unfortunately, I do not have a pic available. 

Kindest regards,
DanL

[smart dog]

Hi,
If it is English walnut, a really good choice is to stain it with alkanet root.  Ron mentioned this above as a tint in his finish.  You can get alkanet root powder online.  I use it 2 ways.  I make a stain by putting a couple of table spoons of powder in 4-5 oz of mineral spirits.  I let it sit for a week or so and then strain it with a coffee filter and use it as a stain before finish.  The second way is I do the same thing but use my tung oil finish instead of mineral spirits, let it sit for a week or so and then strain it with cheese cloth (not a coffee filter). 

Here are examples of English walnut stained with alkanet root.




























dave

[Lone Wolf]

Wow, those pictures are gorgeous!!

[Bob Gerard]

Those are crazy beautiful guns.

[Fly Navy]

Very beautiful!

[godutch]

  Wow, those are beautiful !   Those pieces show why English walnut goes for the extra money, even though our Black walnut is no slouch.  Re: the alkenet  root stains mentioned in above posts Brownell's sells a beautiful brand called Pilkington, one of which is English Red. I've used it for background/highlight color in the past. Very expensive and just as clear as a bell. I might very well be an alkenet root based stain (?). 'Might be worth a look.   

[flatsguide]

Dave, that is beautiful work. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers Richard