red vs. sugar maple staining

[StevenV]

My post is two fold , one to show a gun I am currently working on. I like pictures and plenty of you out there post pics so here is some that you can view. The other purpose is to ask if staining with nitrate of iron (aquafortis) on sugar or red maple yields similar results. I have used aquafortis on several guns with great results ( all sugar maple). Yet when trying the same aquafortis on red maple the results are less then desirable, grayish , greenish. The curl does not get "pulled out". Is there a different nitrate of iron necessary , one for red and one for sugar? I have tried other stains, but the number one for "pulling out" the stain is aquafortis. And as you can see lots of curl in this gun , I would like to accent it when staining.  Thanks in advance for your comments , great site!!!!
 

[rich pierce]

If anything, red maple often takes AQF staining better, perhaps because of better penetration.  Radiant heat is better than a heat gun or flame- a hot bed of coals will do a nice job in turning AQF completely.

[smallpatch]

I have to agree with Rich, commonly red maple takes AF better than sugar.  All wood is different, If you want to know how it's going to react, you just have to try a scrap or something  and you'll know for sure.

The only way you'll get green or gray, is if the AF is not blushed properly with heat.

[alyce-james]

Good morning Sir;  Very nice work on your gun. (Carving). Would like to see after the gun is stained and know your chose of heat method. Thanks, Jim

[Curtis]

Looks like your carving is coming along nicely, Steven.  How about some overall pics of the gun?

Curtis