doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Slacum Digest

I apologize for not responding more completely before. You have done a lot of work and brought up many interesting points and additions or corrections to the information I had seen before.

I would like to reply to much if not all of what you've brought up, and I'll start with this later point about 'rose pink'.



Thank you for finding that reference, because I think that it sort of clears some things up for me-- starting with why things get so confusing when the older sources describe colorants and such. But it also finally demystified this one element, and I have now found some sources for buying rose pink, if one were so inclined.


My summary (with additions from other sources) is as follows:

- "Pinks" are a kind of lake, and may be of yellow, green, or red hue.

- "Lakes" are pigments made by precipitating a dye with an organic, inert binder.

- "Rose Pink" is a kind of lake with coarse texture and rose color, e.g. whiting and 'brazil wood' coloring.

- "Brazil wood" can refer to several species, but is most precisely the common name of Paubrasilia echinata, which was previously classified as of the genus Caesalpinia. "Western" Brazil wood, aka pau brasil, aka pernambuco, is prized for both pigments and, more commonly today, bows for musical instruments. The color derived from Brazil wood extract varies depending on the mordant used to make the pigment. The Brazilwood tree is vanishing along with the Brazilian rainforest, which is the only place it grows, so most Brazilwood pigments sold today are derived from the related (and non-endangered) Asian trees of the genus Caesalpinia, aka Eastern Brazil wood or sappanwood.

So, if someone wanted to produce a true Rose pink today, the closest they might come would be using whiting and sappanwood extract. Or one could buy one already made such as this

I've started editing the Slacum Digest to add this info and make corrections.

Some screenshots from the referenced book: