# how to get walnut to look like WALNUT



## nev (26 Jan 2013)

I'm contemplating making a pen to match the interior of a car (dont ask!) 
I have Walnut blanks (cheers Mark :wink: ) of varying shades and would like to know if there is anything i can do to lighten/ darken/enrich ? whatever i need to do, to get somewhere near the required colour/ finish , see below, or is it purely down to selecting the right bit of burr walnut in the first place?
maybe a red tint in the lacquer, perhaps?

The bit with airbag written on it is apparently real walnut.


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## Sgian Dubh (26 Jan 2013)

A single light application of boiled linseed oil will get you near the colour followed by your film forming finish of choice.

Another approach is to make up a fairly weak Van Dyke Brown (aka walnut) dye as the base colour plus a bit of tinkering with red and yellow dyes added to the mix to get the colour you want. Follow that up with your film forming finish, again of choice, and you might find you want to adjust the colour a bit by toning one or two of the film finish coats.

All the above assumes you're planning to use a film finish of course, eg, shellac, pre or post cat lacquer, varnish, etc. You may even be thinking of polyester finish if you're looking for a really high gloss similar to the dashboard image.

In the following image the American black walnut was dyed as per my second description, then varnished with alkyd varnish.





In this second example, American black walnut again, it was given a light coat of boiled linseed oil followed by pre-cat lacquer. European walnut has somewhat different characteristics, but the suggested techniques will have a similar effect, although you may have to tweak the regime a bit. Slainte.


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## marcros (26 Jan 2013)

nev,

you could try tru-oil. works really well on walnut. the car finish will be oiled then lacquered, i would guess. If i can find a suitable receptacle, i will send you some tru-oil to try. I havent used it on burr walnut though. I want to try tinting it, but haven't yet found any complex metal dyes (eg transtint) over here (uv light fast), but i think it could work. the alternative is a dye below the tru-oil. again, haven't tried it, but on something like walnut it wont lose the subtlety that you might it a maple, for instance (that was what i want the coloured finish for). Guitar finishes may be useful, they seem to use a lot of staining and dying techniques at times.

i will get the tru-oil in the post monday.

hth
Mark


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## nev (26 Jan 2013)

Cheers Mark, most kind





Very interesting about the van dyke brown, never heard of it before, and the choices! http://www.winsornewton.com/resource-ce ... yke-brown/ 

It is good to know that staining is a viable solution, gives me something to try tomorrow, (although I'm out of rubber gloves so my fingers are gonna look like I smoke 60 woodbines a day by teatime  )


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## Sgian Dubh (26 Jan 2013)

nev, you're link took me to artists pigment colours, which aren't the same. I was pointing you towards Van Dyke brown wood dye which is made from the husks of walnut shells, as for example, here: http://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/pro ... e-crystals Slainte.


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## nev (26 Jan 2013)

Sgian Dubh":3amv93y9 said:


> nev, you're link took me to artists pigment colours, which aren't the same. I was pointing you towards Van Dyke brown wood dye which is made from the husks of walnut shells, as for example, here: http://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/pro ... e-crystals Slainte.



 
and cheap enough to take a punt on 8) Thanks for that, just ordered a small bag  
"lechyd da"


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## Keith 66 (27 Jan 2013)

Gunsmiths use red oil, this is boiled linseed oil that has been infused with Alkanet root, it gives a prounounced reddish tint that does not fade.


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## Sgian Dubh (27 Jan 2013)

nev":3uqv6gjp said:


> and cheap enough to take a punt on 8) Thanks for that, just ordered a small bag  "lechyd da"


If you've ordered the water based dye that my link sent you to, here are a couple of extra tips you may find useful-- I'm guessing your experience of wood finishing is perhaps limited, but I may be wrong.

** 1.* Sand the walnut to an appropriate grit, 220 or 240 is plenty fine enough. Then raise the grain with warm water applied with a well dampened cotton cloth-- not sopping wet, but well damp. Let the wood dry and gently sand back the raised grain with the finest abrasive grit you used to prep it in the first place (220 or 240 grit).

** 2.* Add a couple or three drops of liquid detergent to the mixed water based dye-- this applies to all water based dyes, not just Van Dyke brown. The detergent reduces the surface tension of the water somewhat allowing the dye to flow better into the open grain of the walnut. Doing this helps in achieving an even colour change in the wood because the detergent helps to prevent the water bridging across the gaps you see in medium textured woods (walnut and mahogany for example) or coarse textured woods (oak, ash, chestnut, etc). Slainte.


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## nev (27 Jan 2013)

Sgian Dubh":1ohet8ja said:


> nev":1ohet8ja said:
> 
> 
> > and cheap enough to take a punt on 8) Thanks for that, just ordered a small bag  "lechyd da"
> ...



All suggestions more than welcome  
I've ordered the Liberon Van Dyck Crystals. All my finishing experience has been cellulose based really so the tips are greatly appreciated.
cheers


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## nev (28 Jan 2013)

Round one.
post746232.html#p746232






round two to follow


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## marcros (28 Jan 2013)

that isnt far off at all, particularly if the car was as buffed up as when it left the factory.


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## psm (3 Feb 2013)

marcros":2v9mjyvb said:


> nev,
> 
> you could try tru-oil. works really well on walnut. the car finish will be oiled then lacquered, i would guess. If i can find a suitable receptacle, i will send you some tru-oil to try. I havent used it on burr walnut though. I want to try tinting it, but haven't yet found any complex metal dyes (eg transtint) over here (uv light fast), but i think it could work. the alternative is a dye below the tru-oil. again, haven't tried it, but on something like walnut it wont lose the subtlety that you might it a maple, for instance (that was what i want the coloured finish for). Guitar finishes may be useful, they seem to use a lot of staining and dying techniques at times.
> 
> ...


not keen on tru-oil i think its a bit of expensive varnish ,dont know why its called oil, i use this on gun stock and wasnt impressed with it


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## MIGNAL (4 Feb 2013)

It's called Oil because it_ is_ Oil. Probably mostly Linseed but it does contain other types of Oil. For an Oil it acts very much like a Varnish i.e. it's a little easier to build coats than something like Danish Oil. It is supposedly super heat treated and therefore acts like it contains resin. I've used it and it's a perfectly good finish given the limitations - you wouldn't expect it to build or protect like a modern plastic type coating. It's well regarded by the Gun stock people. It is expensive.


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