

Put the tea bag in a standard 12oz coffee mug, fill 3/4 or so with water and nuke it in the micro-wave to brew and then let cool. Since a quart size tea bag is more convenient and cheaper than buying tannic acid I use those. Maple for sure does not, and will need treated. Of all the hardwoods I've no idea which contain tannic acid naturally other than walnut and oak. You could simply use a large trash bag, but I always worry about the ammonia gettin' spilt so I use the barrel. The barrel I use is one of the cardboard dry chemical barrels that our plastic colorant comes in at work. A four inch square of say maple will be the same color in it's center as it is on the outer surface. Unlike stain which can be sanded out ammonia fuming is through and through. It's so easy even a cave man could do it.īe forewarned once you fume, it CAN NOT be undone. How do you do the actual fuming process? You mentioned a 'barrel'. I had absolutely NO knowledge of that process at all.

That stuff's for decks and window sills.ĪsphaltCowboy, I really appreciate the information you gave above. The color shift may seem gradual for a while, fifteen minutes later you peek in and your wood could be nearly black.Īs for stains, I'm with you guys. You gotta' watch walnut though, and I mean that literaly. But fear not, once the whisker is removed and the first coats of finish have been applied the nice rich honey colors will come through. You're nice high dollar stock set just turned a nasty yellow/brown mustard yuck color. It's kinda' shocking the first time you use this process. I find it much cheaper to brew up a strong cup of black tea and slobber that on as part of my whiskering stages. Maple, as is the case with my A5 stock, needs to have tanic acid introduced. Some woods, such as walnut and oak, contain tanic acid by nature. Amonia fumming reacts with tanic acid in the wood and force ages it. I know stock makers also steam the wood to do the same type thing.Ĭowboy (or anybody else)please correct me if I am wrong about this. I am not a stock expert but I think the amonia bring out the color in the wood.
