I'm refinishing a BRNO 21 H stock and I'm trying this stuff for the first time. I've mixed 1 part bone black and 3 parts rottonstone with Permalin Express Oil and mashed it into the grain. So far the results look stunning! The finish isn't on yet, but the black pours againt the raw wood look very nice.

Anybody else ever use this stuff? Does it finish out nice?

Thanks,
Terry

TC1,

I’ve used bone black before but never thought of using it for stock finishing the way you descibed...Great idea, post a picture if you can.

Will do

Terry

I ve seen it in the catalogs and want to try it. Seems like it might give a antique look to the wood.

Why did you mix rottenstone??? Why would you want rottenstone filling the pores of the wood?

I thought you mix bone black in with your spar varnish when sealing the grain.

Rottenstone is basically just fine silica and I have heard of people mixing it in with sealer to help seal the pores of wood.

I’ve used it a few times mixed in with tung oil sealer to use as a wetting agent when sanding out a Spar Varnish finish and it didn’t seem to hurt anything and actually seemed to help cut the mud and smooth the finish a bit quicker. It’s just messy as hell is all, and it ain’t real good to breath the dust.

quote:

Rottenstone is basically just fine silica and I have heard of people mixing it in with sealer to help seal the pores of wood.

Seems like it would dull checkering cutters.

Bone black works great as a pore filler...so does rottenstone. Rottenstone is hard on checkering tools...mine aren't carbide.

quote:

Originally posted by Glen71:

quote:

Rottenstone is basically just fine silica and I have heard of people mixing it in with sealer to help seal the pores of wood.

Seems like it would dull checkering cutters.

I’ll bet it sure would...but since I don’t checker stocks I ain’t gonna worry too much about that.

It is very rough on cutters. I tried to use that method to fill pores way back when I was using hand tools to checker and I went through a number of them on that stock. The bone black sounds nice, will look forward to seeing it.

quote:

Originally posted by GSP7:
Why did you mix rottenstone??? Why would you want rottenstone filling the pores of the wood?

I got the idea from a book, Professional Stock Making by David Wesbrook. He say's the rottonstock is important for the staining process, but he doesn't say why. I'm planning on staining this stock so, I figured what the hell, if it's good enough for him I'll do it too.

As far as the checkering goes, I never thought of that, but this is a refinish so it doesn't matter anyway.

Terry

I've started wet sanding this stuff off and this will give you a good idea of how it's going to look. I'm planning on tinting the stock a dark crimson color with maybe some ox-blood tint mixed in. I think that's when the black grain should really look nice.

I've still got more sanding to do to get it out of the crevasses and I haven't decided if I want to mix a super thin slurry and brush it in the checkering or get what I've got in there out.

Terry

Looks Good... I have a old rifle and sxs shotgun that someone must of used bone black or baklite powder on.

I used to wonder how they got the grain black like that. I thought they might have done a brake job on there truck then rub their dirty black hands on the stock wood..

I have used black finger print powder. I think it is carbon black. That would basically be lamp black or soot if I got it straight. I used it on a Spencer that I was trying to make look old. I was trying to make walnut look like 130 year old gumwood. It worked out well.

Terry,
. where did you get the bone black (fine activated charoal, btw)


jeffe

midway has it

Yep, I got it at midway. About $6.50 I think.

Terry

Most of the finishes such as Truoil, Linspeed, and others that have filler in the finish use Rottenstone as the filler ingreditant I have been told....I have watched James Corpe use Rottenstone and Alkanet root as a filler/dye with very nice results indeed....

I have mixed ebony sawdust in epoxy to fill pores.

TCI,

I an not sure I like the black on that stock. Perhaps I do not understand.

Here is a 22f that needs help with it's finish. The look of this rifle is worse than the pictures with the dark areas on the outside edges being oil soaked wood with no finish.

My smith wants $300 to refinish it.

In the old days rottenstone was used as a cutting compound when finishing the finish. We all know to sand wood to finish the wood but many people don't realize that the finish has to be finished also. I made come cabinetry a few years back, gave it 6 coats of polyurethane between each coat I wet sanded first 2 layers with 400 grit wet/dry then, 2 more layers with 600 grit wet/dry. The final 2 layers were buffed out with rottenstone and water wow, it felt just as smooth as glass and was very impervious to damage. If doing a finish like that you have to make sure that you don't wait too long between coats because the sanding produces such a fine "tooth" that succeeding layers of finish won't stick. In otherwords if you wait too long you are depending more on a mechanical bond between layers than a chemical bond between fresh layers of finish. And yes rottenstone was also used as filler although many other things were too, this was very common with french polishing. There is one other finer grit polisher than rottenstone- pumice...hmmm or is it the other way around, jeeze my memory failes mebut you get the picture.

the chef

That certainly came out nice - not too dark, just right!

i have a bit different method. I use the piece of stock that is sawed off the butt when adjusting the lop. I sand the cut off piece on a 600 grit belt & capture the fine sawdust in a large bowl. Then mix some dust with the finish & mineral spirits in a small container then rub it into the stock with your fingers. Doesn't take long to fill the pores & you are filling those pores with the stocks own wood.

Well, I put the stain and the sealer on today. I think the black grain fill helps this dull as dishwater stock.

Terry-

That looks great!! Please tell us the formula you used for your stain. Did you mix it with the finish? I have done something similar to this using rosewood dust that I generated from shaping grip caps.

Thanks in advance.

It's a witches brew of water based minwax stain (American Walnut and Rosewood) Mixed with a bright red dye I got from someplace off the net. They were supposed to send a MEK based dye but a water base is what I got. After a weeks long wait for it get here, I didn't feel like sending it back. I said the hell with it and went this route instead. So far I like the results.

Terry

Terry,
I like it!! looks like shelac!!! (tree R version)

Seriously, I like it a bunch.. got 3 pieces of <barely tanned> blonde english in the air return .. might need a thing like that

jeffe

Thanks Jeffe, The oil goes on in a few days. I might be sanding it all off after that I usually screw that part up. I'm gonna take it slow and easy this time.

Terry

Oh what the hell, one more