curly maple

[tmr]

has anybody used potassium permanganate to dye curly maple........i have some on order from amazon and could use any tips on using it.....i am not satisfied with the stains i have been using as i would like the grain to pop out better

 

[Bruce McLeish]

Have you tried what the muzzleloader gun makers use? That would be aqua fortis with a heat blush. AF can be purchased from Track of the Wolf.

 

[fitzo]

Try liquid shoe polish in your color of choice. Light brown on unstabilized maple worked better than all the other messing around with aniline dyes and oxidations.

After you get the wood treated with the oxidizer, remember to scrub it down with bicarb to neutralize the permanganate. Nasty stuff in concentrated solutions. Gloves, long sleeves, goggles if you're unused to working with chemicals.

And, if you happen to spill some permanganate on the sidewalk and a little glycerin (pharmacy carries it) accidentally falls on it you get a really strong, almost like a volcano, reaction. Very geek fun. If you put some magnesium or titanium shavings in there it gets really interesting. Fun with chemistry.

 

[Owl]

I have never tried potassium permanganate, but I have had very nice results using Majestic Maple stain sold by RW Wilson. It is chromic trioxide.
A little goes a long ways, so try it out on some scrap first.

 

[vlegski]

For any figured or curly type maple. If you have a Tandys leather nearby try mixing some Fiebings Pro dye in a mahogany color with alcohol. I use an old aspirin pill bottle to mix. Put in a quarter inch of Fiebings, then add about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of alcohol to it . Shake well. Use rubber gloves and a cloth to apply. Get a test scrap as Owl mentioned. Apply a coat, let it set for a couple minutes.. Then rub down with straight alcohol to remove excess oils. Light sand or steel wool to knock down any feathers or raised grain. The light sanding helps remove excess dyed wood. To darken just apply another coat or add more Fiebings to mixture and retest. In my experience it doesn't take much to make the grains pop out. To finish I use Tru oil. 5 or more light coats with light sanding to remove any defects in finish.

 

[tmr]

I . like to order the aqua-fortis stains but for some reason they don,t ship to canada.......i would guess it would be MSDS regulations......if there are any canadian members watching this please share if you know where to get in canada........also if there is some one who uses potassium permanganate with good results please chime in.......i know that there are people who have had good luck dyeing weathered antlers to natural colors using the potassium permanganate........not much info online about the knifemakers methods of using it on curly maple.......FITZO i will try the liquid shoe polish.......if it gives a good stain should i use teak oil or tru oil to give it some gloss

 

[tmr]

vlegski......thanks for the leather dye suggestion ........i will try it also......thanks

 

[fitzo]

I . like to order the aqua-fortis stains but for some reason they don,t ship to canada.......i would guess it would be MSDS regulations......if there are any canadian members watching this please share if you know where to get in canada........also if there is some one who uses potassium permanganate with good results please chime in.......i know that there are people who have had good luck dyeing weathered antlers to natural colors using the potassium permanganate........not much info online about the knifemakers methods of using it on curly maple.......FITZO i will try the liquid shoe polish.......if it gives a good stain should i use teak oil or tru oil to give it some gloss

I used to use stuff Sheffield Knife Supply sold as "Danish Oil". No other info to ID it, but it was some sort of tung oil based stuff with a hardener.
A couple coats of that on the thoroughly dried handle will do it well.

A coat of good wax every so often helps, too.

I was looking at the knife that has inspired what I've mentioned here today, a very simple blade of L6 which I forged in my forging training with Tim Zowada. Looks like a kitchen utility to some extent. It's about 45 years old now. It cleaned a bunch of deer, lived in a wet sheath hunting in the rain, etc. The blade looks like crap but was still shaving sharp. The handle has a dink that wouldn't have happened on stabilized stuff, but this one's so good you can't even catch the ferrule edge with a fingernail. I'm pretty happy with the old girl.

 

[jmforge]

Fiebings British Tan spirit based leather dye. Wipe on, wipe off until it is dark enough for you, then oil finish.

 

[Shieldon Knives]

Fiebings British Tan spirit based leather dye. Wipe on, wipe off until it is dark enough for you, then oil finish.

I agree with it. My workshop also works like it on some G10 handles.

 

[jmforge]

I agree with it. My workshop also works like it on some G10 handles.

I knew about the British Tan early on and forgot, so I spent a few years trying to figure out what color works best. I settled on lighr brown for a while, but could never get that cool slight reddish orange "toasted" color like you see with the traditional acid finishes. Turns out the light brown was too dark and probably didn't have enough yellow. Fortunately, someone reminded me that the BT works quite well. With most of the red to brown colors, if you use enough, the wood will get eventually get fairly dark brown.
PS. If you look at the "amber stag" on the little cowboy bowie in my avatar, that was also done with Fiebings.