This talk of Eltang's finish reminded me that I wanted to give a go at a finish of my own that was similar, but not the same as, the Golden Contrast.
Initial results were promising, and if I amp things up some, I think I might be on to something. It is, however, a bit of a "cocoa contrast". At best it's reminiscent of Eltang's finish, and in no way could be confused with his.
Anyone else been experimenting with dangerous and/or delicious chemicals?
Researching, yes. Experimenting with, no. My mother-in-law is a chemist, and, with the safety of her grandchildren in mind, so far has nixed everything I've come up with as being either explosive, carcinogenic, or otherwise destructive to human cells. Most of the recipes date from a time when lead was a common ingredient in cosmetics. As she put it, we know better now. I corresponded for a while on the subject with a friend, an amateur clarinetist, who is head of organic chemistry at a state university. When I asked him about formulations for one of these preparations, he asked, "Are you out of your f*****g mind?" I'm not telling anyone what to do, other than to read the MSDS first. There may well be a food-grade process that creates an insoluble, uncompromising black but I haven't found it yet.
Jack, having small kids in the house, the most dangerous thing I have around is a jar of ferric chloride. I use it to etch knife blades, but I'm not certain that I want to use it on pipes. It's a "dangerous" chemical, but only so far as if you drink it. Skin contact has the disconcerting effect of turning your fingertips gray.
Frank, the vinegar recipe is well known, as is using tannin to create a contrast in wood. This is what I'm experimenting with - ungodly strong tea boiled and reduced, and vinegar. Results are promising, but I want more. I'm thinking that straight tannin from the homebrew store would allow me to get a much better contrast - and since I'm headed there today to pick up some lager yeast and a couple pounds of grain, I might as well grab some.
Y'know, I keep nitric acid (68 baume ), hydrochloric in the form of muriatic acid, ferric nitrate, and ferric chloride handy around the shop for various metal and wood finishing jobs, and I have been a bit gunshy about using them on briar.... Maybe I'll try the ferric nitrate on a scrap and see what happens. It's what I use to bring up the stripe in curly maple tomahawk handles and so on.
I've been meaning to make some ferric acetate (aka vinegaroon, aka vinegar and iron filings) to use on oak handles and leather, but the ferric nitrate turns oak black on contact so I haven't really needed it yet. Dunno how briar tannins will react, guess I need to do some mad scientist-type experimenting soon...
IIRC (This was over six years ago), I got a really dark, rich brown color just by leaving a stummel in a sealed box with an open bowl of ammonia for some time, though I can't recall how long. I remember it as being attractive, but the ammonia smell permeated the wood so badly that it smelled terminally like a swimming pool for about a year afterward.
Well, the ferric nitrate was a disappointment. Got a nice deep reddish-brown like a curly maple gunstock, but buffing it down to get contrast took it all off. Back to the mad scientist's lair...
), hydrochloric in the form of muriatic acid, ferric nitrate, and ferric chloride handy around the shop for various metal and wood finishing jobs, and I have been a bit gunshy about using them on briar.... Maybe I'll try the ferric nitrate on a scrap and see what happens. It's what I use to bring up the stripe in curly maple tomahawk handles and so on.
Back to the mad scientist's lair...