doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Alkanet Root - Reddish Stock Look

bugsy,
Sometimes alkanet will give other than red undertones such as but not limited to violet, yellow, brown. Once you start applying an oil finish, these will mute and blend, but not always to the red you may desire...depends on the wood. If you look at pictures of old guns, you'll see a range of color. Modern English/Scots as well will show variations on the theme (McKay/Brown comes to mind) Start applying your finish and see how it shakes out, you can always put a blood red wash over it and rub that out to taste.

To answer salopian and cody: any of the Behlen products will penetrate oil type finishes including Tru Oil, Permalyn and the like (not urethanes or varnishes). The penetration will not be 100% and subsequent rubbed oil will remove some of the surface pigment. In cody's case the Tru Oil may have some surface pigment suspended in it. If it is too red you can apply a lttle of the other behlen colors to tune it to your satisfaction. I have local access to the entire Behlen palatte and if anyone needs me to shop for them, drop me a line and I will be happy to help. BTW new 426 stock is coming along nicely and I will post some 'so far, so good' pictures tomorrow a.m. (it's wet now). Good luck y'all.

Bugsy-
I tried I think 4 different formulas with Madder root and never could get one to truly take the color. And the color it did give me was what I would call a shade of orange, not a true red color.

Alkanet on the other hand works fine every time.

Cody-- Regarding taking "the pink out"... My experimenting with Behlen's Blood Red by itself and with a bit of mahogony stain was if it was not red or deep enough i just applied more. I also did a project with Behlen Blood Red but because I wanted it DARKER I first put on a couple of layers of Mahogony Stain with very light sanding in between.

The result: Not pink. Nice and deep; a dark rich red. Thus far I like about 7 layers of the Behlen Blood Red with 2 mahogony stain layers under it. Then 3 layers of Linseed Oil and then high gloss Wax. Buffed up. (Note the Behlen dries within minutes so several layers is NOT as time consumming or labor intensive sounding as several layers of other materials.)

just a bump....

just a bump....

Yogi and Hansli, how about some pictures?

I received some Behlen's Blood Red and I would benefit from your experimenting, as similarly to Cody, it is not as if I can run to the corner hardware store to get more.

BTW I also got some Danish Oil; couldn't find Minwax Antique Oil online.

If help is needed in posting photos, email them to me.

JC(AL)

JC & co.,
Here are some thumnails(double click for larger picture,then click photo at imageshack for an enlargement... saves Dave some bandwith I think) of a stock that is nearing completion. The wood is Turkish walnut and has been oil sanded with boiled linseed oil with a strong 50/50 blend of tincture of alkanet and Behlen blood red. The 20+ topcoats are salopian's English oil finish. Not as red as I expected but quite pleasing to me nonetheless. The stock is for a 1965 Beretta 426.


[url=]imageshack[/url]

hansli...nice job...what would you do different to get the more reddish tint that you are looking for?....were you pleased with the salopian finish and did it dry out well to the touch...looking forward to hearing from you....bugsy

Hansli,
That is beautiful! The coloring looks like the older Winchester/Browning style red-brown. Really fine work, and the shape design is perfect for a rounded frame SxS.

bugsy,
Re: More red:
Perhaps a wash with alkanet tincture(not blood red...too concentrated) prior to oiling but then again, maybe not. I think it relies strongly on the nature of the wood and how it reacts to the finish. This piece is turkish with a yellow brown undercast and it has several other shades in the finish not captured by the photo. As mentioned in a previous post, I've had alkanet bring out yellows and purples in other stocks. I have not used it on english walnut, which is the choice of many gunmakers. I suspect english might reveal more of the red than what I show. Doesn't matter to me, each project is one of a kind and I like what I turn out...mostly.
The salopian finish has far more richness than oil alone. It dries slowly and I use a drying box on cool or humid days although open air is my preferred means for drying. You can generally recoat in 24 hrs. but sometimes it needs 36. I have added about 1/2 oz. of japan drier to a qt. of finish and I think it helps a little. Every application builds on the one before, don't get in a hurry. The luster and depth are gratifying and I've never liked the 'top finishes" despite any acclaims I've heard. Have used Permalyn and Tru Oil(too glossy and unworkable) and always ended up stripping or masking them with oil finishes. Now I use them as end grain sealer only.To each his own I guess. Good luck to you on your project. I'll be starting a 1953 Zoli Vulcano sidelock in a couple of weeks and will post that when it gets further along.
Yeti, I've seen your work and it is top notch, thanks for the compliment.