Thanks, Chuck.
Oxalic acid's main use in my experience was bleaching wood floors in old homes. It is relatively inexpensive and widely available. Most paint and hardware stores carry it. I think I paid about $8 for a pound of it in a plastic bag inside of a cardboard box. It is usually found in small crystals that look similar to salt. I have a life long supply now.
I put a pea size amount in an ounce of warm water in a paper coffee cup and mixed it until the crystals dissolve. I took the advice above and used a Q-tip and dabbed it on the black area. I renewed it to keep it wet (Watch out it will bleach other things, like carpets) and it took 2 to 3 minutes to lighten and then completely bleach the dark grey area. I noticed the wood grain coming through so I took a chance and did the rest of the stock using an 1 1/2" paint brush. You saw the result. I would have never guessed it would be that nice.
The whole process took about ten minutes total from start to finsih including rinsing the stock, brush and even the cup in warm water. I let the stock air dry which does not take long during heating season here.
I used it on an old Birmingham shotgun stock and it worked great. I tried it on the Husky I am working on and it did nothing at all. I am guessing that the Husky stock was not stained but had nitric acid applied to get the brown color. I was able to sand the color off and apply my own. I am pretty sure the Husky stock is not walnut but that has nothing to do with the coloring.
Best,
Milt
Last edited by builder; 01/15/07 11:45 PM.
