Free oak galls, natural wood stain and Easter eggs

[Cyclingrelf]

I am currently carving a spoon shaped as a snake wrapped around a stick

I'd like to stain the stick and the snake's eyes a darker colour. I tried painting them with coffee and tea, but that washed out...does anyone know any natural wood stains and how to apply them?

Thanks!

Susannah

 

[Harvestman]

You could try walnut juice - that famously stains dark, and has a reputation for not coming out. I've no experience of it though. I've got some old walnuts that I intend soaking to see if I can get a stain out of them as soon as I have something to dye.

 

[Cyclingrelf]

I forgot to say that - I tried crushing some old walnut shells and boiling them up, but just got dark looking water that didn't stain. I think you need the fresh green husks to get the really dark dye?

 

[nuggets]

me grannie used to use onion skins to dye -white eggs -brown !!! Not sure if it would work on wood ?? Give it go !!

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Thanks nuggets - onion skins are usually known for yellow dye, but I guess it's worth a try.

 

[John Fenna]

Crushed Oak Galls mixed with rust and vinegar make a fairly robust dark brown. Add Gum Arabic or pine resin to thicken. I all needs a bit of reducing on a low heat to meld the resin etc and to "reduce" the mix.
If you need Galls I have loads around here

 

[tommy the cat]

me grannie used to use onion skins to dye -white eggs -brown !!! Not sure if it would work on wood ?? Give it go !!

Why would she want brown eggs?
I'm sure it's for a good reason.
F

 

[John Fenna]

We used to do that at Easter - wax resist a pattern on the shell of a white egg (draw it on with a candle instead of a pencil) then boil the eggs in a pan of water and onion skins
Ta Da!
Patterned eggs for Easter!

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Crushed Oak Galls mixed with rust and vinegar make a fairly robust dark brown. Add Gum Arabic or pine resin to thicken. I all needs a bit of reducing on a low heat to meld the resin etc and to "reduce" the mix.
If you need Galls I have loads around here

Thanks John, that sounds like the stuff. I've got oak galls, rust and vinegar (I guess the rust acts as a mordant?). Haven't got gum arabic or pine resin - what do they do? Is it vital or can I get away without using the resin?

 

[John Fenna]

Thanks John, that sounds like the stuff. I've got oak galls, rust and vinegar (I guess the rust acts as a mordant?). Haven't got gum arabic or pine resin - what do they do? Is it vital or can I get away without using the resin?

OK - recipe time!
get a ball of wire wool, a dozen or so Galls and a coffee jar of Sarsons Malt Vinegar (or similar).
Burn the wire wool to obtain Iron Oxide (rust) or just pop it into the coffee jar. Half fill the jar with vinegar and allow the vinegar to rust the wire wool and rust it naturally or to mix with the Iron Oxide. Leave until the mix will stain Veg tanned leather to a pitch black...this may take a long time...my current mix is about 12 months old.
Alternatively mix vinegar with Iron tablets from the chemist.......

This mix so far makes a great leather dye for veg tanned leather - but it neads neutralising with bicarb if you use it on leather or the acid from the vinegar will eventually eat the leather and or corode any metal you have in contact with the leather.

Take your Oak Galls (high in Tannin - which veg tanned leather is also) and crush them to a fine powder.
Put the vinegar mix and the Gall powder into a metal pot and simmer together.

This is when you can add the Gum or resin if you want though it is not realy needed for a stain...it makes a better ink though. Resin may "clump" and need more heat to emulsify it. If you use the stain with resin apply it hot.

Test the strength of the stain on scrap as it reduces in the pot - make more than you think you may need and stronger than you think you want it.

Apply the stain with a brush or cloth (less wastage with a brush). Give several coats to build up the depth of colour - it will fade a little when first washed but is theresfter quite robust and long lasting.

 

[nuggets]

Why would she want brown eggs?
I'm sure it's for a good reason.
F

We used to do that at Easter - wax resist a pattern on the shell of a white egg (draw it on with a candle instead of a pencil) then boil the eggs in a pan of water and onion skins
Ta Da!
Patterned eggs for Easter!

exactly the reason john !! cheers -

 

[Cyclingrelf]

You star John! That's really helpful Making dye is now in process.

I picked an entire carrier bag full of oak galls, as they aren't doing my mother's oak trees much good so I figured I'd remove them from the trees. If anyone wants any to play with, let me know and I'll send some over!

Incidentally, regarding the eggs, you can get a pretty pattern by wrapping leaves around the egg, followed by the onion skins, followed by newspaper. Then boil them and unwrap.

 

[Toddy]

What John said, but you can use Ribena or red wine instead of the vinegar and it'll work fine

I have loads of natural dyes. Very few stain wood very well
Madder root will, but it needs time and contact. Walnuts will give you the same colours that the oak galls do. Bright, fast yellow can be gotten from purging buckthorn bark. If you press elder berries into the eye sockets and leave them there for a while they will leach out a purple/brown colour, but a better result can be gotten from fermented elderberries that produce a lavender fungus on top of the liquid. That fungus is full of the cyanins from the elderberry skins and stain really well.
Wayland does a red kolrosing process on his carvings, very effective

I'd love some of the oak galls but I'm too far away

atb,
M

 

[Cyclingrelf]

I confess I didn't exactly follow the quantities in the recipe, but I seem to have made a successful black dye, so thanks for all your help John. I ended up putting a heap of rust and old nails I found in one of the sheds into an old aluminium pan with a load of vinegar, then filled the rest of the pan with squashed galls (I'd only just picked them so they were still wet and wouldn't powder), added a little water and threw in the walnut shells I'd been playing with before, then boiled it down until I had half a jam jar of dye left.

Here is the spoon now - I painted dye on and let it dry, then repeated. I then washed it so that when I oiled it the dye wouldn't run, then oiled it with sesame seed oil:

Thanks for the info about the other dyes Toddy - I'll bear those in mind for future projects. Looks like plenty to play with

 

[John Fenna]

That looks like it has come up realy well!
As to amounts in the recipe - I just use guesswork myself!

 

[v-ness]

That turned out really well!!! Love the idea of the snake wound round too

Does anyone have a list of what natural dyes make what colour and how the dye is made? I think that would be a good resource posted on the forum for the future

Cheers
Ness