Experiment in various tannic acid/aqua fortis applications

[Ridgerun]

Hello, i thought you might be interested in an experiment I did with Kibler products....
I took a piece of fancy maple, sawed it into slabs, and applied tannic acid (as per instructions)and aquafortis in different proportions....heres what I got

Picture 1 top.....one application of aqua fortis + heat.....note reddish tones

Picture 1 bottom....one coat tannic acid solution + 1 coat aqua fortis....changed overall color tobrown with end grain much more evident....

Picture 2 top....two coats tannic acid, one coat aqua fortis...not much change...

Picture 2 bottom...two coats tannic acid, two coats aqua fortis, then heat....brought back reddish tones along with very dark end grain...

Just thought builders might like to see it...also realize that results would vary from stock to stock....Mark Natale, Montana

P.s. pieces also have Tried and True varnish oil on them....

[jerrywh]

You should try potassium permanganate.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I think potassium permanganate is NOT colour fast (affected adversely to UV sunlight)  But it makes natural fibre (and skin) jet lack) for certain.

[rich pierce]

I experimented with potassium permanganate in combination with AQF. Not sure if the acidity helped make it colorfast but it turned the tone more deep red toward purple.

I’m not a fan of seeking maximum curl contrast on early guns. Personal preference.

[Ridgerun]

My experience with potassium permanganate is that it tends to be purple-ish....tough to get what you want...just me...

[Taylorz1]

Thanks very much for posting this. I find these posts to be really helpful. All the best

Zack

[BillF/TRF]

Be careful with KMN04.  It is a strong oxidizer ("chemical burning") and irritant to eyes and skin.

[Eric Kettenburg]

I have never found pot perm to be colorfast in any way and it is very sensitive to other chemicals used in the finishing process.  Admittedly, it can create some great color and figure contrast ***at first*** if you play with it a bit when first applied but I have never, ever found it to remain stable.  I'm not a chemist and don't know why, because manganese oxides in pigment form (i.e. manganese brown pigments) can be very useful in 'aged' finishes and do not change color even over multiple years and conditions.  However, every time I've played with pot perm, it changes colors fairly rapidly and especially when exposed to sunlight which is pretty much a necessity when using oil based finishes.

[Pete G.]

Has anyone tried making their own tannic acid by boiling Oak leaves?

[Eric Kettenburg]

Yes.  I have a lot of dead or nearly-dead white oaks up on the highest point on my land.  I hack off sections of bark and kind of chop them up into walnut sized pieces, stick them in a big pot full of water and let them sit on my wood boiler (water jacket, so not full heat) until the water level reduces by maybe 1/3.  Then I add maybe @ 2 cups or so of 91% isopropyl alcohol to keep mold and bacteria at bay and I just let that sit in a big 5 gallon bucket in the shop.  I use it for a whole lot of things but it will definitely darken up aqua fortis in the same way a more commercially or extract prepared tannic acid solution will do so.

I don't buy anything I can make myself for no $$$ outlay!

[Metalshaper]

We have a wine and beer brewery supply store here in the area.. more than one actually. went and bought some oak tannin powder from them.
haven't used it yet, but did mix up a solution, for future use. think it only cost me $3-5 for more than I will ever use on gun stocks..

Respect Always.
Metalshaper/Jonathan

[Mad Monk]

Potassium permanganate as a wood stain has questionable durability. After it works to color the wood it is still water-soluble.  It will move in and out of the wood with changes in the moisture content of the wood with changes in the weather.  Eventually over a period of about 20 to 30 years  the wood will be stained a fairly light brown color.  I have a deer antler hat rack here in my room dating back to around 1990 that I stained with it. First few years I had the color changes with humidity changes and then eventually it just stayed light brown.  It did not yield black curl.

[45-110]

Still have a "plains" style rifle I built in 1970 and stained with potassium pemanganate. The color is still fine ( a little light maybe) on the curly maple stock. Probably would never use it again, but back then we did several stocks with it, and was a common well known method of  staining.
kw