LittleCalm
NES Member
I have a set of brown wood grips. They do not appear to have any coating on them (like a lacquer). I would like to stain them black or near-black. Anyone have suggestions as to best way to go about this? Thx.
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Staining Wood Grips - 1911
- Thread starter LittleCalm
- Start date
Little Clam:
In the past, I have stained wood to use as a fingerboards on banjos. I used Miss Clairol hair dye. That was many years ago, sometime in the 1970s. The last time I wanted to dye a light wood black, I couldn’t find Miss Clairol hair dye, so I bought another top shelf brand; it didn’t work as well as I remembered Miss Clairol did.
YMMV
Heavythumb
In the past, I have stained wood to use as a fingerboards on banjos. I used Miss Clairol hair dye. That was many years ago, sometime in the 1970s. The last time I wanted to dye a light wood black, I couldn’t find Miss Clairol hair dye, so I bought another top shelf brand; it didn’t work as well as I remembered Miss Clairol did.
YMMV
Heavythumb
Aniline dye - http://woodworker.com/jemosers-water-soluble-lt-gold-oak-aniline-dye-mssu-843-924.asp?search=aniline dye&searchmode=2
TBalls
NES Member
Even without any sort of "lacquer" finish on the grips, if they're stained at all (which is a bit unclear from your "brown wood" description) you may not have much success trying to re-stain them. I would imagine just about any stain that would have been used would have some varnish component to it, even if it's not significant. If they're completely unfinished you should be able to just pick any "Ebony" stain or similar and just follow the directions.
I am not an expert, but am I missing something here?
I am not an expert, but am I missing something here?
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Strip them and start again.
i would strip them as mentioned, the analine dye (prefer alcohol analine)
will definitely do it, this will get them to the black you want for sure.
i would recommend a "finish" of some sort to protect what you did.
just be careful with gun cleanerxs.
will definitely do it, this will get them to the black you want for sure.
i would recommend a "finish" of some sort to protect what you did.
just be careful with gun cleanerxs.
LittleCalm
NES Member
Thanks gents. They look like any typical textured grip you'd get for a 1911 but are not glossy at all. What compound would I use to strip? And after re-staining with analine dye, what "finish" would I apply?
Given such a small project and thin wood I would skip the "environmentally friendly" strippers because they are water based, slow and may warp the wood. Here is what I would go with: Klean-Strip 18 oz. Stripper $6.28 at Home Depot
I would also get a scrap of plywood and carefully screw the grips to it so that they stay flat and are easier to handle and scrub.
Tung oil, Danish oil or an oil based satin Poly - tends to have a harder finish than thewater based.
I would also get a scrap of plywood and carefully screw the grips to it so that they stay flat and are easier to handle and scrub.
Tung oil, Danish oil or an oil based satin Poly - tends to have a harder finish than thewater based.
Last edited:
Billsail
NES Member
There are many modern wood stains that are very dark, almost black. Sometimes the local hardware stores sell 2 or 3 oz samples real cheap. If not, you can probably find a half pint size that is inexpensive.
