Charcoal Stain

[mwosborn]

Read where Pat said he uses ground up charcoal as a stain - I liked the idea so I did a little experimenting this morning.  Started a fire in my pit and got some chunks of charcoal.  Ground some up and mixed in a little paint thinner and rubbed it on a piece of scrap.

 

 

Then I tried just rubbing it on dry and then rubbing on some tru-oil. (one on left)

 

I will let them both dry and give them another coat.  See which one I like better.  I have a 60" ash with curved tips just begging to be finished!

Thanks for the idea Pat!        

Anyone use charcoal and have a good method down?

[Roy from Pa]

I like that a lot...

[PEARL DRUMS]

You couldnt find a better color for an ash bow either. Good little experiment. I love experiments.

[Osagetree]

I wanna see more of this!

[karrow]

that does look good. good info thanks

[JGL]

im gonna have to try that

[Drewster]

That would be a great look on some ash arrows with white cresting & turkey fletchings.

[Kyle Patterson]

That looks great. Cant wait to see it on a bow.

ps, your wifes gonna kill you for using kitchen utensils to mix your charcoal!

[mwosborn]

Haven't had time to try it on the bow yet - maybe this week.

Kyle - have permission to use that old spoon - or you would be right!   :eek:

[Pat B]

I love hand rubbed charcoal on a whitewood selfbow. I use bear fat, veg oil or even water as a carrier. I like how it gets down in the grain and only slightly colors the rest. Any dry pigment colorant will do the same.

[fujimo]

thats a good idea drewster- might make them hard to find, geuss you just gotta make sure you hit your target.
i am going to try this on a hickory stave i have, matched with some spruce arrows.
great thread!!!

[JamesV]

I read somewhere that some of the oldtime gunsmiths (early 1800's) used charcoal to stain gunstocks. It really looks nice on your test strips. Thanks for posting and would love to see the finised product.

James

[Osagetree]

Come on,,, do it, post it!  

[red hill]

I have considered doing this with osage dust on hickory backings. Thought it might blend the hickory in a little more. But I like the charcoal. It would appear to be a better camo cover-up.

[mwosborn]

Ok - tried the charcoal on the ash bow.  First I rubbed in the charcoal dry.  I then rubbed on some tru oil.  The tru oil kind of smeared the charcoal around a bit and made it hard to even out - but I got through it.  Let it dry and then put on a bit more charcoal in the light areas.  The back has little grain and did not take the charcoal that well.  Then gave another coat of oil.  Ended up with a couple of places where the coal smeared and a couple of runs I missed but not bad - it will do.

I might practice on a scrap piece and try incorporating the charcoal with some vegetable oil or something and then using the tru oil.  Also I think next time I will do it in sections - belly of one limb (let dry) and then back of that limb (let dry) then move to the other limb.

Before -
 

 

After-
 

 

 

[psychmonky]

That's really pretty, and it looks like it will flat out disappear in the woods.

[karrow]

thats a great looking stain. very cool  

[JGL]

love that have to try it

[DGF]

mwosborn- That turned out great!

[Osagetree]

From here it looks great, thanks for yhe follow up!