dennador - Posted - 02/28/2011:  20:12:24

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In a previous forum somebody mentioned how people would melt iron filings in sulferic acid to figure and harden maple all at once. Is there a bottle of this i can buy somewhere, or a similar approach?

TheBanjoDoctor - Posted - 02/28/2011:  21:36:38

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this may be what you are lookin for... next time you could probably just google it. thats what i did and this was the first thing that came up haha. well hope i was of some help. good luck!

Vwardsci.com/product.asp?pn=IG0...Aodf3MSUQ

JohnGP - Posted - 03/01/2011:  03:59:12

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I really would not recommend using sulphuric acid, particularly concentrated sulphuric acid, unless you have the correct safety equipment and a good understanding of what you are doing. Sulphuric acid is vicious stuff.

steve davis - Posted - 03/01/2011:  05:25:30

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Why not just get old,figured maple?

uncle.fogey - Posted - 03/01/2011:  06:45:23

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They used the acid and iron filings method in the 1700s on Pennsylvania rifle stocks because they had no safer alternatives. I think it would be unbelievably dangerous to try - you could burn yourself with the acid and mess up your lungs with the fumes.
I would never attempt it.

blm10jn - Posted - 03/01/2011:  07:47:17

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Ferrous sulfate, Ferrous nitrate and Ferrous acatete have all been used to make blackish inks and dyes. None of these are "light safe" or permananent and will fade. Nor do you want to use a "black" or dafk color to bring out the curl. To achieve a gorgious look use a yellow wash then the red browns. This gives the curl a clean "golden chatoyence" as opposed to the dirty speckled look. Also remember that you can always go darkler but you cannot go lighter as easily.

steve davis - Posted - 03/01/2011:  07:52:50

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I used potassium dichromate to enhance the figure in my maple banjo.

JohnGP - Posted - 03/01/2011:  09:18:06

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quote:

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Originally posted by steve davis

I used potassium dichromate to enhance the figure in my maple banjo.

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From Wikipedia: Potassium dichromate is one of the most common causes of chromium dermatitis[7]; chromium is highly likely to induce sensitization leading to dermatitis, especially of the hand and fore-arms, which is chronic and difficult to treat. It is also toxic, with doses of approximately 100 mg/kg being fatal in rabbits and rodents.

As with other CrVI compounds, potassium dichromate is carcinogenic and should be handled with gloves and appropriate health and safety protection. The compound is also corrosive and exposure may produce severe eye damage or blindness

Take care out there boys and girls.

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Edited by - JohnGP on 03/01/2011 09:21:00

theonly1hardway - Posted - 03/01/2011:  11:52:12

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I've been experimenting with a vinegar and steel wool solution it does some nice things to figured maple....but I soaked a small piece in the solution for 24 hrs or so.....don't know how it would work as a wipe on???
harrisonbanjos.com

5stringJim - Posted - 03/01/2011:  13:30:43

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quote:

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Originally posted by dennador

In a previous forum somebody mentioned how people would melt iron filings in sulferic acid to figure and harden maple all at once. Is there a bottle of this i can buy somewhere, or a similar approach?

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There is no need to use dangerous substances nowadays, with the wealth of newer, safer materials, and the amount of information (including pictures) of how to do beautiful figuring on flame/curly/quilted maple.
Use the search functions, or Google, but most of all, common sense.

uncle.fogey - Posted - 03/01/2011:  14:18:33

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I have built a lot of stone walls and repaired stone masonry restoring historic structures. In order to make the new work blend in, you have to clean it with muriatic acid, which is hydrochloric acid. The dilution used to clean masonry, is not all that strong, but nonetheless, It's all done outdoors, I have a hose right there, use a long handled brush, wear gloves, and EVEN THEN, I have a sore throat at night from the fumes. It's very dangerous stuff, and sulfuric acid would be stronger, I'd imagine. We don't know what the apprentices of the gunsmiths in Lancaster County PA in the 1700s suffered from, but I'll bet there were problems. Nobody cared about health care or safety for the people doing dangerous work. I'd be scared to mess with it today.

Quickstep192 - Posted - 03/01/2011:  15:55:22

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Little Timmy took a drink,
But he will drink no more,
For what he thought was H2O, was H2SO4

Safety first. I'm with Jim - too much (relatively) safe stuff out there to fool with strong acids.

dennador - Posted - 03/01/2011:  16:11:46

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i looking at it because it figured and hardened the wood at the same time. there isn't some kind of repacement stuff that will do the same thing now?

desert rose - Posted - 03/01/2011:  16:44:21

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You dont need to harden the wood in any way. Necks are made of Eastern sugar maple, called hard maple in the trade and is the hardest traditional neck wood for musical instruments. Properly seasoned it should outlast your grandkids

Today there is absolutely no reason to be using the known harmful things

Simple powdered analine dyes mixed with ethanol are harmless and permanent, consistant

Some of the old methods like walnut shells soaked in ethanol etc are nice to experiment with and educational but again there is a reason why they are the old ways

Scott

blm10jn - Posted - 03/02/2011:  07:09:50

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vinegar + steel wool = Ferrous acetate