No.4 mk1 Beech Woodwork needs staining to match, any idea's?

I have a full set of new wood for a No.4 mk 1 in slightly difference shades of beech.
I want to keep it blonde, BUT its all slightly different shades of yellow/blonde/white.
Has anyone got a secret dye to bring it all to a consistant (staying blonde)colour?? The butt is the darkest part with the forestock being the lightest. I dont want to just stain it walnut or very dark. If its BLO'ed as is it will look a map of europe (different colours)

Has any one got a walnut forestock for a No.4 MK 1? I need one to complete another rifle !

Thanks peeps !

These two are all I use, mix, blend and apply very thinly until you have a wood color match.
"Color" NOTE: My steering wheel is on the left hand side of the car.

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Someone mentioned that they used medicinal “iodine” to reproduce the “Yellow Jaundiced” factory look of newly dipped beech stock.

But then someone else said that “Quinine” would remove jaundiced look of the stain if you put too much on.

They both may have drinking Gin and been in the noon day sun too long...............:rolleyes:

Try Chestnut Ridge military stock stain. It's alcohol based and works great.

Go to your local hardware shop or B&Q.
I've used a variety of colours from the 'Blackfriar' range of wood dyes.

They go from almost white thru' to very dark walnut.

I actually used "Redwood" to stain a 'new' No1 front handguard, very pale and 'streaky' to start with but keep putting on coats and it came out identical to the 100 year old, greasy, stained Walnut that made up the rest of the furniture.

£3.22 for 125ml at my village hardware.

Still got 9/10ths of the tin left.

* Get a colour much lighter than you think - you can build up the colour. If you start too dark you' snookered.

Mr. Laidler posted the “recipe” for what was used to dye and preserve beech wood stocks in the British military at the old forum.

We need to find out when the British celebrate American Thanksgiving and find out what pub Peter is in and get him to repost the chemicals used to dye the wood.

Copper sulfate pentahydrate keeps ringing bell………..

We British do not celebrate Thanksgiving, unless it is to give thanks that those awful puritans buggered off to America :)

Thanks guys !!
I tried one stain, Beechwood cassidy, thinned it down to almost water and one coat was far too much ! Just want to get all the peices to match the darkest original wood.
Harder than it sounds! My No.5 is almost orange and thats not what i want . . Think Enforcer . . . I have been told before Iodine is good way to go. Where do i get that from, hospital ??

Neal455

Get a small white bowl and put in a half inch of water or alcohol and drip the dye into to bowl one “drip” at a time and just “tint” the water or alcohol. You want to be able to see the bottom of the bowl very clearly, think at least half or a quarter of the tint of yellow-orange shooting glasses.

It is better to put 10 light coats on and get it right than one coat and go “Oh sh*t”.
Doing it this way you can change the “tint” to more red or more yellow after 4 or 5 coats to get the color (colour) correct.

Remember to stay light because the linseed oil will darken the wood also.

http://www.diytools.co.uk/diy/Main/s...-wood-dyes.asp

Wood Dye

Google is a wonderful tool and coffee and tea will dye wood, have you tried the colour Earl Gray :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spinecracker

We British do not celebrate Thanksgiving, unless it is to give thanks that those awful puritans buggered off to America :)

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Don’t worry I’m not a “flat hatter” and you British celebrate several days of “Harvest Festival”, some of you even paint your faces blue and dance around Stonehenge.

Some British might be nervous about attending an American Thanksgiving celebration out of fear that it is a day when we express our hatred for you and your tea-taxing, King-George-obeying ways. Rest assured we would never, ever do that on Thanksgiving. That's what the 4th of July is for.:D

Thanksgiving was started by the Pilgrims, a group of English citizens who, tired of the cold British winters, packed up and moved to Massachusetts. (Sadly, these British Pilgrims were not very bright.) They gave this strange land place names that would remind them of the home they had left behind, names like "New England," or "New Bedford". :rofl:

Edward your a star !

Thanks for that, i followed the link and what a choice !
Tea/Coffee is really quite good aswell i once did all the woodwork in house with a colour called Maxwell House "Really rich Roast" the customer loved it, but years laters always wondered way his house smelt like Star Bucks ! !
I will try a very light colour, I went down the walnut colour thinned route and like you say it went horribly wrong, even thinned it was still too much. (It was on a M1 Carbine so not all was lost) So off to B & Q, or as you guys know it "Home Depot" !

Anyone found me a walnut forestock yet? ? ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spinecracker

We British do not celebrate Thanksgiving, unless it is to give thanks that those awful puritans buggered off to America :)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Edward Horton

Don’t worry I’m not a “flat hatter” and you British celebrate several days of “Harvest Festival”, some of you even paint your faces blue and dance around Stonehenge.


Thanksgiving was started by the Pilgrims, a group of English citizens who, tired of the cold British winters, packed up and moved to Massachusetts. (Sadly, these British Pilgrims were not very bright.) They gave this strange land place names that would remind them of the home they had left behind, names like "New England," or "New Bedford". :rofl:

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Stupidly enough, I'm named after one of those Pilgrims, an ancestor on my mother's side.

As far as staining goes, go easy and let each coat dry before added more colour. (Usually the BLO will remove a wee bit.)

Some good folks will take issue with this method but it has worked for me more times than I can count. When I find I have multiple stock parts all of the same type wood but the wood color does not match I strip the color from all the wood parts and then color them to all match. To strip color from the cells of the wood on the surface I use Sodium Hydroxide. About a 30 minute soak. Wash with lots of hot water and allow to dry for a week. Then I color or oil as required depending on if one wants a blonde or dark finish.

Really does this work ?? It would be the answer as i do really want to keep it as light as possible, the fore stock is VERY light and i personnal like it that way!! If i BLO them afterwards that will darken them anyway but i dont really want to add any more colour if possible. I have a No.5 thats almost orange !
Can this damage the wood? Thanks JBS

On my post of the recovered No4 MkI the replacement stock set was four different colors when I started. I used this method and then stained all the parts to match. If I would have not stained it, it would have come out very lite to almost blonde. As you are working with beech by removing the color from the wood grain you should then be able to color them to match or just oil with a lite oil like lemon oil.

I’m sorry JBS and I do NOT mean to insult BUT sodium hydroxide is what is in “Eazy-Off” oven cleaner and wooden deck stripping solutions. It can and will “eat” wood and cause wood cell damage.

Sorry JBS I spent 25 years as an Inspector at a military overhaul depot and have read too many MSDS sheets.

That slick slimy feeling the wood has after cleaning with sodium hydroxide are dead pulverized wood cells. (wet wood pulp)

Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), also known as lye and caustic soda, is a caustic metallic base. It is used in many industries, mostly as a strong chemical base in the manufacture of pulp and paper, textiles, drinking water, soaps and detergents and as a drain cleaner. Worldwide production in 1998 was around 45 million tonnes. Sodium hydroxide is a common base in chemical laboratories.
Sodium hydroxide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Hi JBS and Ed,

i used hydrogen peroxide ( appr. 14% ) to bleech a stock and it works great. And there was no slimy feeling at the wood . But for using it and flush it away with a lot of water you have to be carefully.

Regards

Gunner

When you say 14% is this mixed with water ?
Edward i guess you are saying DONT use drain cleaner !!

No insult taken, and yes that is exactly what Sodium Hydroxide ( deck stripper ) is and that is why it destroys the color center in the cells of the wood. That is what allows the wood cells to accept the color you want to change it to. You are bleaching the wood to neutral color with it. Gunner’s hydrogen peroxide is another method that can work very well. No insult taken Mr. Horton that’s why I started the first post with “ some good folks will take issue with this method” oh and if used follow all safety instructions on the container the stuff will eat you too. :beerchug:

Note: the lighter the base wood is the less time is required to remove the color. Beech may only take 3 to 5 minutes at most.

We clean 2 stroke motocross exhausts with it, its one dangerous stuff if its mixed too strong !
I have several bits of beech woodwork kicking about i will give it a go tomorrow on a old bit to see the results . .
Thanks all !!

Hi Neal,

check your PM

Regards

Gunner

I have used what JBS stated to use and some other "ideas" that have been posted on the internet. And these extreme cleaning measures can and WILL damage the surface of the wood.

Caveat emptor.

I used the deck cleaner on really beat shooter grade rifles with the understanding the wood will need to be sanded OR the wood will soak up MORE dye or stain.

So I will post the following:

A conservator in a museum uses pure raw linseed oil mixed 50/50 with turpentine to clean the wooden stocks on their valuable collectable firearms they hold so dear. A small section of the wood is cleaned at a time using a heat lamp to sweat the impurities to the surface. And then the area is wiped with a soft 100% cotton lint free cloth.

The metal parts are cleaned with olive oil and a soft tooth brush and then give a coat of non-reactive wax to keep the air from the surface of the metal.

Bubba at his best.

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I personally only use the dishwasher method to clean the excess carbon from my engine valves. :rolleyes:

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If you will allow me I will make a harsh but safe statement.

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The main chemical ingredient is acetone. ;) wink, wink.

Does your dishwasher have the “precleaning” cycle?

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:rofl: :D :rofl: :D:rofl:

Wow Ed !

so clean dishes and the former black dog,great!;)

Regards

Gunner

That is hands down the best “precleaning” cycle dishwasher ever ! :rofl:


I used my old dish washer to clean black powder guns when the wife was not home, (years ago). Just remove the stocks and use the heat dry ! :madsmile:

Neal455

I cleaned the Yugo 59-66 below with acetone first and the deck cleaner second, to me I had very a good reason to do this, three people had carved their initials into the wood. The problem was each new owner burned and destroyed the old person’s initials with a cigarette lighter and the stock was in bad shape.

I dyed the wood and finished with linseed oil leaving as many “honest” battle scars as possible.

(The upside was the rifle had a brand new barrel on it) :D

The initials are now gone.

NOTE: flash changes wood color, 2nd photo is dark but true color

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well i am off tomorrow to get a commercially made "bleeching kit" made by Rustins. Its not to harsh so i will see how that goes. I to use my dishwasher for engine/stocks/dog/anything that will fit (when the wife is at work of course) its been very usefull !! I did find out a Pontiac 455 block does not fit after i slammed the door = big dent. Blamed the dog, who looked guilty anyway!
Nice rifle by the way!!
Beech is a tad bit different to walnut so it should be interest to see!
Once again thank you everyone on here ! Now does anyone know how to fit a pro Charger to a 2002 Trans Am ?? Thats next weeks job !! And in England !!

Acetone worked well on my M1 stock, BTW which had a nazi swastica carved into it!!