natural stains & dyes ?

[bubby]

I want to stain or dye a rawhide backed hickory bow thats for my father-in-law,he's into primative and I thought I'd use a natural stain. Any ideas, been trying tea but results seem mild. Thanks for any help,Bub

[Pat B]

fruit or berry juices, nut hulls(like black walnut), onion peels(yellow) or mineral pigments like red ocher, verdigris(from copper), charcoal and others. Very strongly brewed coffee should work better than tea.

[Dano]

Terry Petco used a stain he call Juan Valdez I think it was. Expresso strength coffee with stain anything.

[4est trekker]

I use a custom mixture of black raspberries, waterproof/lightfast calligraphic ink, and denatured alcohol.  I mash the berries thoroughly, then strain them through a coffee filter to extract just the juice.  I add just a touch of ink to darken the mixture, then cut it with alcohol.  The alcohol helps it to penetrate the wood, as it acts as a carrier.  It also helps the stain to dry very quickly (within minutes.)  I usually will scrape and sand the entire bow with steel wool and then burnish it will a piece of smooth antler to lock the fibers together and produce a very smooth surface.  I then coat the bow with the stain, trying to keep a wet edge.  However, if the stain does dry in one spot before you have a chance to wipe it, simply reapply more stain in that are.  The alcohol will bring the old stain "back to life" and allow you to work it.  Be sure to rub the entire finish for several minutes to make sure you blended it as much as possible.  I then   put a few coats of sealer over that (you could use lacquer, shellac, sanding sealer, etc.) to lock in the pigments.  I then rub in several coats of mink oil (used for conditioning and waterproofing leather), letting each coat dry and buffing it to a smooth finish.  This not only looks good but is super at repelling water.  In fact, the water just beads up and runs off.  You can carry a little with you in the field when hunting and reapply as needed should you get caught in wet weather.  Hope this helps!

[4est trekker]

Forget to tell you...depending on how you mix and apply it, the color comes our very, very deep purple to black.