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well, I'm gonna give a new contrast stain process a go. has anyone had experience using the tannic acid method of dyeing wood? Not just mild tannic acid, chemistry grade.

the acetic acid I got is a 17 molar solution (it will burn your face off, light you on fire and dance while you burn). This will be fun. But it will take the iron into solution very quickly and at a high concentration, which should allow for a very deep penetration of the black that will precipitate. Needless to say, goggles and plenty of ventilation (no pets or children allowed). I'm gonna try this on scraps first.

after seeing some of Eltang's gold/black contrast work I've gotta give this a go.

I just have to remember to dilute the acid so I don't melt the wood

does anyone know what he uses for the yellow/gold?

the iron acetate method doesn't really work that well, at least not in my experience, I was just left with a brown stain with little penetration, the true contrast stain is the best method I think.

I have no clue if that would work, Andrew. However I would love to hear your findings. In my opinion, nothing is quite as good looking on a pipe than a contrast grain.

Trever and I played with the acetic acid thing a while back, and I also dabbled a little with ferric chloride. The problem I have isn't that it doesn't work, but that it takes much more time than my contrast staining method just using leather dye.

It is fun though. No doubt about that.

Still wondering what is the thing that Tom uses in his pipes...

KurtHuhn wrote:Trever and I played with the acetic acid thing a while back, and I also dabbled a little with ferric chloride. The problem I have isn't that it doesn't work, but that it takes much more time than my contrast staining method just using leather dye.

It is fun though. No doubt about that.

Are the results worth the time?

I'll post pics of what I get. They way I'm gonna do this shouldn't take too long. We'll see....

UberHuberMan wrote:Are the results worth the time?

Maybe. For me, no. It adds considerably to the time it takes me to make a pipe. It involves heating the stummel, adding the various chemicals in layers, heating between, waiting for it to dry, then carefully sanding off with a very high grit. It is stunning, but IMO it doesn't add enough for me raise the price high enough to justify the additional time investment.

YMMV, as usual. If you're not worried about the time it takes to make a pipe, for whatever reason, then I would say go for it!

KurtHuhn wrote:

UberHuberMan wrote:Are the results worth the time?

Maybe. For me, no. It adds considerably to the time it takes me to make a pipe. It involves heating the stummel, adding the various chemicals in layers, heating between, waiting for it to dry, then carefully sanding off with a very high grit. It is stunning, but IMO it doesn't add enough for me raise the price high enough to justify the additional time investment.

YMMV, as usual. If you're not worried about the time it takes to make a pipe, for whatever reason, then I would say go for it!

Maybe after I've finished a few more.

Andrew, I can't wait to see your results! Good luck! I hope you keep your eyebrows!

Fortunately I was born with substantial eyebrow volume , so if I lose a few it won't be a total loss

Leus wrote:Still wondering what is the thing that Tom uses in his pipes...

I think that's what's killing me. I just keep looking at some of those gold/black contrast jobs and... well my brain just stops working.

this is the one image that just floors me:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eltang/2212581321/

AHA !!!! I found his secret !
In the photograph found here, http://www.flickr.com/photos/eltang/221 ... otostream/
You can clearly see an Easy button.

Edward wrote:AHA !!!! I found his secret !
In the photograph found here, http://www.flickr.com/photos/eltang/221 ... otostream/
You can clearly see an Easy button.

You are killing me, literally killing me....

Yeah he tried to hide it behind that bottle of epoxy, but I'm cleverer than that.

Edward wrote:AHA !!!! I found his secret !
In the photograph found here, http://www.flickr.com/photos/eltang/221 ... otostream/
You can clearly see an Easy button.

That's the secret?! *orders an "Easy" button. Makes a million making pipes.*

I don't think the stain he uses is a secret, it's just not easily/legally obtained due it's toxicity. I'm not sure what it is chemically, I just know its "the stuff that makes laboratory tables black." Thus it's common name among pipe makers: laboratory stain. Tom has a license to make it himself. I know of at least one American pipe maker that has also made some, though I don't know if he uses it much (or was even successful).

One of the disadvantages to successfully pulling off Tom's method is, it will obviously be a rip-off of Tom's look. That's why I suspect you don't see the "big boys" replicating it much. They know how, it's just the look is already "taken." I'm speculating with that assertion, of course, but I think that's the reason it's not more common.

For those of us that are just dabbling, it makes for a fun and mysterious pursuit. If it was easy, it wouldn't be as fun!

A handful of pipemakers know exactly what's in it. But, as Tyler mentioned, you don't see it being done out of respect for Tom's effort, time, and de facto trademark. Those that know are also not likely to share.

Similar effects can be had with this acetic acid recipe, or with a similar recipe based off ferric chloride. The orange in the method differs, but is pretty easy to attain. One thing to keep in mind, since one of the reactive ingredients is tannic acid, you want to be sure that you're using briar that has been processed very well to boil out the naturally ocuring tannins.. None of that cheap stuff is going to fly here, otherwise you end up with a uniformly brown (or purple ) pipe.