Acid Recipe for curly Maple

Meridian Blades

Moderator - Knife Maker
Lot of folks have seen this before, but I am reposting it for those who haven't. This was originally passed onto me from Stuart Willis. :D

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Heres the Acid Maple Recipe. I have used it on Curly Birch too. Works well.
3 parts water (About Pint Size Parts)
1 part muratic acid
ALWAYS ADD ACID TO WATER just remember 3A's DO ALL THIS OUTSIDE AND DON'T INHALE THE FUMES!!!!!!! WEAR EYE PROTECTION!!!!!
I then pull a pad of 0000 steel wool apart and add to the mixture. Let mixture dissolve the steel wool usually takes about 2 days. It is then ready for use.



The finer and slicker you get the wood the better the stripes will pop out. I apply sparingly. It will turn the wood a yellowish color. you will think you have ruin it. Apply heat with a heat gun or torch till blackened. Don't burn it just turn it black. Again you will think you ruined it and by this time you be hating me. Rinse with baking soda and water mix almost a paste but still a liquid as you wash it will turn brown. Steel wool again after drying and add you favorite finish.
Every piece of maple will be different try a small scrap piece before doing the actual piece. if it doesn't suit you you can always add a little leather dye to get more reds or browns
 
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OK now for a couple of questions. Is this stablized maple or do you stablize it after this? The reason I am picking up a huge amount from a friend and this would be great. Would it work on walnut? And when I try this can I post the pics as you said "hating you",:D the whole time till finished?:)
 
OK now for a couple of questions. Is this stablized maple or do you stablize it after this? The reason I am picking up a huge amount from a friend and this would be great. Would it work on walnut? And when I try this can I post the pics as you said "hating you",:D the whole time till finished?:)

James,
This would be an "alternative" to stabilizing. You would use this on raw curly maple or curly birch, or other light colored woods. It wouldn't work on stabilized woods, because those are impregnated with resin, and couldnt absorb the acid, or dye, etc. I have used this on curly maple, quilted maple, and curly birch, and it really looks good in my opinion. Pretty hard to screw up....maybe thats why I like it :rolleyes: Try it on some scrap pieces you have and see if you like it.

Larry
 
How long do you leave it in?
and thanks, this will be fun. I bought a beam of walnut (6"x12"x12') and while the owner was out his father sold it by accident. So to make it up to me he let me pick a pile of maple and some walnut and the pile of maple is about three feet tall 12 to 14 inch wide and 8 feet long. And the walnut is 1 foot by 8 inchs and 3 feet long.

This will work great on the maple and then I can complete my pile for WSSI. Larry thanks for the post.
 
How long do you leave it in?
and thanks, this will be fun. I bought a beam of walnut (6"x12"x12') and while the owner was out his father sold it by accident. So to make it up to me he let me pick a pile of maple and some walnut and the pile of maple is about three feet tall 12 to 14 inch wide and 8 feet long. And the walnut is 1 foot by 8 inchs and 3 feet long.

This will work great on the maple and then I can complete my pile for WSSI. Larry thanks for the post.

James I would just wipe the acid stuff on with a rag, and make sure you wear gloves and eye protection and mask and all that. Then use the heat gun etc, until it gets as dark as you want it.

WSSI --> My 2 cents is to pick out your best stuff and send it. It can get pretty spendy, cuz he charges by the pound, but Mike does a great job.
 
Larry, you say Muriatic Acid, but I've heard Potassium Permanganate for Curly Maple.

What's the difference between the two?
 
Larry,

Thank you for sharing this. It has been very informative and I can't wait to make a blade nice enough to warrant testing it out.

Murph
 
I have used Potassium Permanganate on horn and bone, but not wood. I have used vinegar and steel wool for black leather dye, but not wood . I guess you learn something every day. If your are lucky :rolleyes:

Paul
 
few different recipes out there

Mack,
I think there is a few different variations out there, and some are for bone, and antlers etc. This is just one that I know works for those woods. You guys should experiment and then post pics. It would be interesting to see your results.

Heres an example I did with quilted maple. Got to scroll down to my post with the file knife.

http://knifedogs.com/showthread.php?t=893

Larry
 
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Using nitric acid as a stain was re-discovered by Wallace Gustler (former Williamsburg master gunmaker). He showed me how to use it decades ago. Wallace suggested using old cast iron instead of steel wool. He also suggested you allow the stain to dry overnight. This being done, I steelwooled the finished wood and gave it a coat of oil finish. "The oil will bring out a darker gold/blackish brown color" .. depending on how strong the acid mixture was. As a side note, the solution should be kept out doors and allowed to age for two weeks . The sol. should also be swirled around at least a few times a day. This will cause fresh acid to be in contact with the iron & kill the acid sooner. You want to be sure and give the acid enough time to kill itself eating the iron before applying to the wood.
 
Thanks Ken

Ken thanks for the info. I knew that there was an "old gun" recipe like this and thought it was done on black powder gun stocks a lot, but wasn't sure.

I also wanted to tell you that your work is phenomenal, and I hope you post pics of that coffin handle bowie when its done....

Thanks Larry
 
Using nitric acid as a stain was re-discovered by Wallace Gustler (former Williamsburg master gunmaker). He showed me how to use it decades ago. Wallace suggested using old cast iron instead of steel wool. He also suggested you allow the stain to dry overnight. This being done, I steelwooled the finished wood and gave it a coat of oil finish. "The oil will bring out a darker gold/blackish brown color" .. depending on how strong the acid mixture was. As a side note, the solution should be kept out doors and allowed to age for two weeks . The sol. should also be swirled around at least a few times a day. This will cause fresh acid to be in contact with the iron & kill the acid sooner. You want to be sure and give the acid enough time to kill itself eating the iron before applying to the wood.

Hey Ken, I knew I had heard about using nitric acid to make a stain for wood. Your the man! I asked for information awhile back on another forum and most thought I was nuts. Please tell me how to make the mix. Would old window weights be the right cast iron?
 
I use chromic acid from RWWilson. Does the same thing as the other acid mixes. I believe they react to the cellulose or sugar in maple to give the striped affect. Another tip I picked up from Anthony Palazewski was to use mahogany stain or PP as a first coat, sand the highlights then procedd with the acid. It will give a more red hue to the finish.
Thanks for starting a great thread. I love maple!!
 
Some of the guys on the muzzleloader forums use the "aqua fortis" finish on their curly maple stocks, which is apparently the old nitric acid solution. It may be available "pre mixed" Supposedly, the advantage of the acid finish is that you get more of a "3D" effect in the grain/figure than you do with dyes or stains.
 
Mr. Ray ---- using smoking nitric, mix 10% acid to 90$ dist/rain water. This mixture should be placed in a large gal maonaise or similar glass container (outside away from other metals). Using old cast iron, carefully lower into the mix & leave to perculate. Every few hours or so stir or shake carefully the jaw so as to keep a fresh solution to work against the iron. The reason is without some agitation, the acid will soon kill itself where it lies next to the iron therefore, keeping it constantly mixed will help acid kill itself earlier. The acid solution needs to set for a few weeks to kill itself --- don't rush it. I never force dried it on the wood but once it appears to have dried on the surface, keeping it in a warm open shop will be beneficial. I would lightlt polish wood with degreased steel wool & apply finish . FWIW
 
Nitric acid

Ken, or anyone else, where can you buy nitric acid? Does it have a common usage like muriatic acid does? I have wanted to find some for slow rust bluing (I use just muriatic now). And I have been trying to find the best way to bring out the shimmer in figured maple, so this gives me another thing to try.
Thanks for the info.
Alden
 
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