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walnut stain - mike4244 - 08-19-2021

I have a walnut tree that is loaded with walnuts. Several years ago I tried to make a stain from the green husks. I place some husks in a jar of alcohol. The jar mix turned almost black. The jar was strained and the husks toosed out. I thought i had a walnut stain. I tried it out and the stain was very light. Added 3 more coats and the stain did not appear to get darker.
I'm thinking that mineral oil may be better than alcohol. The reason for making the stain is just to see if I can do it. 
thanks mike


RE: walnut stain - Rob Young - 08-20-2021

(08-19-2021, 06:51 PM)mike4244 Wrote: I have a walnut tree that is loaded with walnuts. Several years ago I tried to make a stain from the green husks. I place some husks in a jar of alcohol. The jar mix turned almost black. The jar was strained and the husks toosed out. I thought i had a walnut stain. I tried it out and the stain was very light. Added 3 more coats and the stain did not appear to get darker.
I'm thinking that mineral oil may be better than alcohol. The reason for making the stain is just to see if I can do it. 
thanks mike

I have a vague recollection of reading that boiling the husks to concentrate the tannin/pigment works. Probably want to dry and crush them first to maximize surface area for extraction.


RE: walnut stain - jteneyck - 08-20-2021

I could be wrong but I think you let the husks turn brown first and then soak them in ammonia.  After a week or two you open the jar and let the ammonia smell evaporate off, leaving you with a less stinky and very dark walnut stain.  I'm sure FWW had something about this year's ago.  

John


RE: walnut stain - mike4244 - 08-20-2021

(08-20-2021, 12:25 PM)jteneyck Wrote: I could be wrong but I think you let the husks turn brown first and then soak them in ammonia.  After a week or two you open the jar and let the ammonia smell evaporate off, leaving you with a less stinky and very dark walnut stain.  I'm sure FWW had something about this year's ago.  

John

John, thanks I'll give it try.
mike


RE: walnut stain - Scoony - 08-20-2021

You can make vandyke crystals from processing down the husks. Not sure of the process, and can't remember where I read it. Once you have the crystals, you can mix with water to create a nice brown dye. Actually works nice on oak if you dilute it down a bit.

There was a old barn rebuild back behind the property I grew up on. It is part of a museum/park. They rebuilt the barn back in the 1980's using 18th century techniques. What was really interesting is the finish they used. Said it was an old time finish used on barns. They use the dye from walnut husks, mixed with linseed oil and ammonia and use that as a sort of finish for the barn. What is even more interesting is where they got ammonia from back in the day.