How do you get this color on a Walnut finish?

[webradbury]

I saw this rifle online and I'm just curious because I love the color. Is it a type of stain or just a product of aging? I saw another picture of this rifle (can't find it now) but it looked even more deep red than this pic.115136

[labradigger1]

My guess is red mahogony stain over walnut

[13Echo]

A lot of stocks in the pre WWII ear were stained with an extract of Alkanet root to get a red color. It is still available. Some rifles with black walnut stocks, particularly military, develop a red color and darken over the years when finished with linseed oil - it's the red color of Springfield armory stocks. Today there are any number of potential wood stains available.

Jerry Liles

[opos]

Way back in the day we used a "french red" filler/stain that we got from Herters..and then often finished the stained wood with Leige finish..also from herters...of course there was much sanding, prep, whiskering the wood, etc and then rubbing the finish after all the prep and finishing was done..it made a super beautiful finish and very durable...I loved to work with it as it seemed to be the one really perfect finish for gun stock walnut..we used Fajen stock blanks and sometimes Bishop blanks...not sure if any of that stuff is around any more.

[Dan Cash]

Try orange shellac as a sanding sealer under oil. A bit of Japan dryer in the oil and use the oil like french polish will give that look.

[webradbury]

Thanks...I have a little scrap walnut I'm going to try it.

[bdicki]

http://www.csmcspecials.com/Pre_64_Winchester_Stain_p/f0090.htm
http://www.csmcspecials.com/Red_Stain_p/f0110.htm
http://www.csmcspecials.com/Red_Brown_Stain_p/f0120.htm

[seaboltm]

Brownell's sells a French red stain that will give that look. Brand is Herter's.

[webradbury]

So you stain the wood and then use a neutral oil finish? I'm learnin here...sorry!

[M-Tecs]

I have used this and it works well for duplicating the classic Red-Brown on the old Winchester stocks from the Nineteenth
and early Twentieth Century.


You can get it by e-mailing TexasBear10@aim.com or it's on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Winchester-Restorations-Stock-Oil-by-John-Kay-73-92-94-1873-1892-1894-76-86-95-/121268798999?ssPageName=ADME:X:EAC:US:3160

E-mail Don for his very detailed intructions.

Winchester Restoration Products
Don Hardcastle, Ph. D.
1729 McLennan Crossing Rd
Waco, Texas 76712-3020
254-848-4755
TexasBear10@aim.com

[nhrifle]

I can vouch for the French Red sold by Brownells. It's a little pricey for a can of stain, but nothing else I have tried works as well.

[akajun]

Coincidentaly, I finished a dark walnut table leaf this weekend, and had to make it match the rest of the table which was the exact color of your stock. After testing with a few stains on the bottom, I found that the minwax red oak stain from the local Ace Hardware gave me the best color match. Rub it in, let sit for 10 mins, then wipe off every bit you can. Let dry for 24hrs, then varnish.

[pietro]

.

When I refinish a walnut gunstock, I get that exact color by staining with MinWax stains, mixed together prior to staining the wood: 25% Red Mahogany with 75% Black Walnut.


.

[nekshot]

I refuse to pay 20 some bucks for the real thing so I spent more buying differant stains and trying to get them to work red on walnut. I just finished a dark walnut stock hopefully get you all a picture of it and I found at lowes rust-o-oleum traditional cherry wood stain and I bought 8 oz for 5 or 6 bucks and that really gave the walnut a nice rich red color.

[W.R.Buchanan]

The color is know as "Winchester Red" and it is duplicated by using the French Red stain from Brownell's and having the right color wood to start with.

Turnbull Restoration is the master of this color. goto their website and look at the guns they've done. Most all have new wood that they can control the color of prior to staining it. They individually match butt stocks and fore ends from hundreds of blanks they have in the warehouse.

I have been trying for it with mixed results for several years now.

I just did the Buttstock on my Enfield project the other night and it looks to be very close. The stain did it's work very nicely but the stock was the right color to begin with and that's 90% of problem. The Fore End is a different color and will require some other stain to match it to the Butt Stock.

I have tried every Minwax stain in the vicinity of this red color and had mixed results. Once again, the wood must be the correct color to begin with, and that color is in the dark walnut range.

There is no stain that will work right everytime. The whole art to this is learning what to do to the color of wood you have to work with. Obviously this is the biggest variable.

I have a Marlin .30-30 that has two different colored stocks on it. I have been trying for three years to match them. I'm not even close.

Randy

[opos]

One added thing we always did when using french red and leige finish was to do our final sanding...then wipe and lightly moisten the stock with a damp rag...let it dry...the grain will whisker up...when dry you can take very fine steel "fur" and drag it against the "whiskers" to remove them...don't use sandpaper or wipe with the grain as that will just push the whiskers back into the tiny hole where they raised up...then wipe very clean and stain...the stain will not raise the grain this way and will fill the very tiny divots ...then some more final sanding and staining and finally a finish..a lot of work...not something for just a plinker old rifle..but it does give a beautiful stock.

[bangerjim]

I use Mohawk NGR stains and clear tinting lacquers to match virtually ANY finish/patina I have. Restoring antiques requires the precise exact match to old patinated woods.

Minwax, as ALL other big-box store general public finishes, are a joke and are nothing more than tinted pigmented stain which have suspended pigments in it that clog & hide the grain. Mohawk stains and dies are totally transparent and make the grain JUMP out at you thu the topcoats! If you ever wondered "how DID they do that finish"...........that, my friend, is how!

They have the tools!

Look for a dealer in your area. This product is so far from minwax and other hobbyist finishes, it is laughable. Pro finishes all the way.

I use that exact same tint/patina on antiques I reproach from the early 1800's. It is a beautiful warm red deep color on walnut, cherry, or OLD mahogany. VERY easy to do.....if you have the right tools.

I have absolutely NO idea where you are located since you have not listed that for some unknown reason. EVERYBODY should list at least what state or general location they are in! If I knew, I could direct you to a local dealer.

bangerjim

[webradbury]

I'm in eastern NC

[fouronesix]

Hard to say via a photograph if that is the true color when viewed in person. But, it most definitely appears to be stained and if the photo color is true, then it usually goes by the name of French Red.

As has been covered, the final color/hue and darkness is hard to nearly impossible to precisely predict. A lot depends on the type of wood, if the wood has had prior stains or finishes, the density/porosity of the wood, the chemical nature of and resins in the wood, the colors already in the wood, preparation of the wood, what sealer and finish are applied after the staining, etc. More of and art than science really and will always require some experimentation.

I can usually come pretty close to what I want with wood that has not been subjected to prior finishes or stains and is clean and freshly sanded. I use penetrating, alcohol-based stains. After drying, I wipe the stained surface down with alcohol and a clean rag. If a clear sealer like one of the lacers is used prior to the final finish coats, the basic color will be maintained and the finish will not darken much. But, if only a penetrating oil sealer/finish is used, like Dem-Bart, the color hue will usually remain but will darken quite a bit. I like the Laurel Mtn stains. http://www.laurelmountainforge.com/stain_colors%20v4.htm

[leftiye]

Leather dyes are about the same as your better gunstock dyes in terms of chemical traits (as opposed to water based dyes which penetrate much more poorly resulting in stain rubbing off). But you need to mix them carefully to get the color you want, and test them on scrap wood as close to your stock's wood in color and grain openness as is possible. There are a complete gamut of colors to play with.

[MtGun44]

Brownells has French Red stock stain. Probably do what you need.

OOPS, late to the party, looks like you already have that info.

Bill

[bangerjim]

I'm in eastern NC


Here is the Mohawk site:

http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/catalog_browse.asp?ictNbr=4

I am fortunate to have a dealer 5 miles from my shop!


good luck.

banger