Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on February 20, 2013 at 6:55am

Dan,

Ask pick; he's got some magic elixir he uses on the SwampWitch, that darkens when you expose it to heat.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on February 20, 2013 at 7:57am

Dan,

Have a look at this: http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/ebonizing-woods?xg_source=activity

Chestnut tannin can be found at home winemaking shops. You could also try walnut hulls.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Wade on February 20, 2013 at 2:27pm

I like amber shellac

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on February 20, 2013 at 3:37pm

yeah  the vinegar  and steel  wool  will  turn  red oak  almost  black  .  (unless you     do  a short  soak  .. about 2 hours )     your  best  bet  is a brown  stain  and rub some  off.  .     even let    it  dry  and sand some areas  off   .   you  can also  use  tea . 

  i  like to  also  highlight the grain  with a small  torch  or  lighter  . 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on February 20, 2013 at 4:59pm

Stain + sandpaper
Or..
Fire + wire brush + sandpaper...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by jim on February 21, 2013 at 4:17am

Minwax jacobean stain. A nice look with them old redwood bodies I think. What does old wood really look like anyway? Yep

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on February 21, 2013 at 4:35am

It looks like regular wood, just older... :-)

I will look for some jacobean at Home Depot.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tom Drommond on February 21, 2013 at 7:21am

Dan - red oak has tannin in it that will react with the acid in your sweat.  Leave it unfinished and play it for a few weeks.  You find it gets a nice patina.  If you want more of a brownish effect, you can "fume" it with ammonia.  Take a big trash bag and build a tent, put your oak in the tent with a cup filled with ammonia and seal it up.  Let it sit for a few hours and have a look, keep going until you get the tint you want. It usually takes a day or two for mine to turn.  This is how arts and crafts furniture is "stained".  What's cool is that it darkens the harder grain, where as stain darkens the softer.  It's sort of a mirror effect on staining.

Here's more info; http://www.codesmiths.com/shed/workshop/techniques/oakfuming/

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on February 21, 2013 at 7:37am

Interesting...I will have to check it out!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Uncle Toad on March 30, 2013 at 4:33pm

I wonder if you could save up old wet coffee grounds, pack it around your neck inside a garbage bag for a week or so.   The coffee itself will mildly stain your wood on own.  But I know here is something in the coffee that breaks down into ammonia (I learned this after getting an involuntary lung-full of the garbage can after a few days away from home - nothing in it but coffee grounds - sheesh!)  I figure it would be a milder form of the ammonia fuming process.

 

... that and a couple of whacks with a rat-tail file and some sandpaper to simulate the various mishaps that happen over time.

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on April 1, 2013 at 3:56am

Beat the tar out of it with a heavy chain.  Then finish as desired.  If you leave it unfinished and play a lot it will take on a vintage look pretty quickly.  I also use Howards Feed-N-Wax that I picked up at the hardware store.  Slather it on and let it sit a good long while then wipe it off.  You don't want to get any on the strings, so do this as a last finishing step or remove them first.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dooder on April 2, 2013 at 11:45pm

I have used a few different tricks, depends on the look you want.  For adding age to oak, I find that taking cheap craft store acrylics and heavily watering them down then liberally applying can help, without the gloss or obvious application lines of commercial stains.  I have also done the "board walk", gives my neighbors something to wonder about.  We have sidewalks in front of our house, I simply tie a thin rope to the board, and drag it behind me on the sidewalk for a few.  I have also done "industrial aging"  I keep a bucket of old nuts, bolts, and fittings in a small dish on the workbench.  Take a few and put them on the wood, then give them a whack with a hammer, instant embossing.  Another variation is to heat them with a torch and drop them onto the wood.  Another possibility is to just heat the wood gently just below the point of scorching with a torch.  Try a few test pieces and see what you like.

• ▶ Reply