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

[jmoore]

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

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".

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.)

[JBS]

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.

[neal455]

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

[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.

[Edward Horton]

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

[gunner]

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

[neal455]

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

[JBS]

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.

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.

[neal455]

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 !!

[gunner]

Hi Neal,

check your PM

Regards

Gunner