doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com aquafortis

what is aquafortis? is this a stain and where or how do you get it? thanks bugsy

Nitric acid (HNO3). In dilute form it will stain (oxidize) many organics, including your skin to brown. In full or strong concentration it is an extremely vigorous, oxidizing acid.

Hazmat laws, fees and liability concerns make it hard to get stuff like this. Bryant Labs in Berkeley CA sold this and worse stuff, delivered -- for very high $ -- but only to "legitimate businesses." My consulting practice qualified (I the purchases up in person and just gave them a card.)

If you know anyone in a plating firm, chem lab, university lab, etc. --they might help you. I wouldn't be surprised if you can order more dilute forms, that will probably do what you need done. Try Google.

Nitric acid that has had lots of light steel or iron dissolved in it. The old-timers way was to dissolve nails in it till it would not take anymore.

Track of the Wolf has it ready to go they are online. IT makes a great Stain for curly maple but you will have to heat the wood after treatment and then neutralize unless you want it to turn black over the years. I would keep it away from walnut as it will become BLACK and show no figure.

If you are wanting to brown steel pass on it and get Laurel Mnt brown as it will be simpler to use and more controllable.

Years ago I thought I wanted to rust blue barrels, this was the best concotion to use according to Howe. WARNING don't mix the nitric acid and nails inside!!! Fortunatly I did it outside, the cloud of orange smoke must have extended 500 feet straight up. After the smoke disapeared and the disaster forces failed to arrive, I decided there were pleasanter ways to kill myself Jim

If you can get ahold of nitric acid, take a few ounces and start dropping wads of steel wool into it, letting the wool disolve completely before adding the next wad. When you reach the point that another wad produces no visible reaction with the acid, you've got aquafortis that some people (not me) can apply to a stock without gloves.
I believe it's mainly applicable to curly maple, brings out the stripes quite well.
Be sure to boil the steel wool in water and dry thoroughly first. It should remove any soap or rust preventative that's on the fibers.

Pete

Or you can buy a small quantity of ferric nitrate crystals and dissolve in water. Dampen the wood with this solution, heat it to get the colors to turn to red/brown, neutralize and finish.

Also you can use white vinegar to dissolve iron (no alloys please) like old barb wire or old nails. This takes awhile (like a couple months) until no more iron will dissolve and the whole concoction looks like an orange gunky mess. Then use it same as aqua fortis with iron dissolved in it. Again not for walnut unless you want a black stock. This is the sort of stain procedure that the muzzle loading boys use on Curly Sugar Maple and Red Maple to bring out the curl. If you get other metals like chromium dissolved along with the iron the colors can be perfectly hideous (often green) so test your solution on a piece of scrap from the stock first. (Give it several months to stabilize before using it on your gunstock.)

Better solution is to use alcohol based stains which can be mixed to get whatever color you like and it is easier to overcoat and blend to your taste.

This stock is stained with aquafortis. It's darker and more brown that some but each peice of maple reacts a bit different. AF often has a red hue to it.


Cody

Absolutely beautiful piece of work Cody !! Ken

Interesting that the ancient term for nitric acid is used interchangably for a ferric nitrate solution.

Ferric nitrate should be much easier to obtain than nitric acid (altho it's not innocuous -- similar in that way to ferric chloride, that dissolves Cu off printed circuit boards).

I too would opt for more modern dyes, unless total authenticity were a major goal. One reason is the potential corrosive action of residual "dye" (I'm thinking of Brownings and salt wood, for example).

I appreciate the kind comment Ken. I build it three years ago.

Thanks
Cody

As you might guess Cody, I tend to looking Real close at whatever I'm interested in at the moment. All your line work flows with the lines of the piece and all scroll is period correct & works with the overall appearence. If only it was mine ! Congrats buddy, you da man . Ken

Fred, the aqua fortis used on maple is not a problem with respect to metal corrosion later. I have rifle I built about 10 years ago which has shown no sign of corrosion to date. After you heat the wood stained with Aqua Fortis and get the color shift, the wood gets neutralized with baking soda solution (some use ammonia). Not sure that having dissolved all the iron possible in the original solution any significant acid content still present anyway. I have gone to the vinegar/iron lately just because it may be even more authentic. If it fails me I correct it with the alcohol based stains.

One comment, without trying to go beyond my technical knowledge, but Aqua is water, Aqua Fortis is essentially "Strong Water". This was the old term used for Nitric acid & had nothing to do with having dissolved the iron in it. It was Aqua Fortis prior to the iron being being dissolved. Aqua Regia was "Royal Water" & was a mixture of Nitric & Hydrochloric acids & was so called because it would dissolve the "Royal Metals" IE Gold & Platinum. These words I believe are Latin derivitives.
Miller

And how does that old rhyme go?

"Jimmy liked to drink
But he will drink no more
For what he thought was H2O
Was H2SO4"

Mike Doerner

2-Piper is correct. Aqua Fortis is "strong water" in Latin and it refers to nitric acid, HNO3. The term has nothing to do with being reacted with iron or anything else for that matter. Nitric acid is highly regulated these days because of environmental and safety concerns although you could google it and find a lab supply house that will ship you a small quantity for stockmaking. Be sure to order the "technical grade" as apposed to the "reagent grade". You won't need reagent purity so why pay the premium to get it? Silvers

WOW ..THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REPLYS.. WHAT DO YOU FELLAS THINK I SHOULD USE ..IRON OR STEELWOOL AND WILL THIS AFFECT THE COLOR...ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR HELPING A NEWBIE OUT...GREG

WOW ..THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REPLYS.. WHAT DO YOU FELLAS THINK I SHOULD USE ..IRON OR STEELWOOL AND WILL THIS AFFECT THE COLOR...ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR HELPING A NEWBIE OUT...GREG

Cody, good job on the Muzzleloader. I have Used
Nitric acid with steel wool dissolved in for several muzzleloaders. It is traditional and you get the right colors although some of the aniline or alcohol based dyes get close.
I also use it for Baker bluing solutions and Gaddys browning solutions. It is indispensable for us 19th Century Gunsmiths.