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John,
recipe.... hmmmm..... well .... therein lies the difficulty
I 'think' I started with 3 teaspoons of black ink in a pint of alcohol, but that was a year or so ago..... when that started getting depleted I added some alcohol to top up the jar and squirted in some ink, probably 8 or 9 of the little squirter things that came in the bottle. Since then I have found half bottles of A&I (no idea of the mix) from some time ago and just added these in as a top up was needed, if it didnt colour quick enough I'd just add more ink to speed things up (have I ever mentioned I'm impatient), if things came out too dark I would just take the next batch of wood out sooner.
Generally I guage my mixture by the time it takes to stain balsa or bass, I try to get a good colour after a 5-15 minute soak, if it takes longer than 30 mins to colour balsa I add more ink to the jar and try again until it works 'right'.
The balsa/bass needs to be thoroughly dry before the grey tone appears. Even with a strong mix it can take up to an hour or two to stain the birch ply, I have left birch shingles in the jar over night on occasion. I usually also take out about half or a third of the pieces at a time and spread them out to dry, that way by the time you go to get the rest out they have had a chance to soak a little longer which gives more colour/tonal variation.
When starting a build such as this I cut one dimension of wood and throw it in the jar, while it is soaking I will cut another dimension, then remove the first batch from the stain in 2 or 3 lots as noted above, throw in the second batch of wood into the stain and either cut some more or make some windows, then when I realise its been about 10 mins I take the next lot out to dry.
I like the variation I get from not having a specific method or time, I certainly dont have a timer beep when the wood is 'ready', very random with a controlled basic, ie the stain. This makes it easier (for me) to replicate the colouring for some extra pieces if needed.
Start with the 3 teaspoons in a pint and go from there, they will come out brown but turn greyer as they dry, make sure they are totally dry before evaluating the colour and adjusting your soak time or mixture if you think necessary.
I hope this rambling narrative helps, if not just ask again, or, someone else who knows what they are doing....
Karl.A
recipe.... hmmmm..... well .... therein lies the difficulty
I 'think' I started with 3 teaspoons of black ink in a pint of alcohol, but that was a year or so ago..... when that started getting depleted I added some alcohol to top up the jar and squirted in some ink, probably 8 or 9 of the little squirter things that came in the bottle. Since then I have found half bottles of A&I (no idea of the mix) from some time ago and just added these in as a top up was needed, if it didnt colour quick enough I'd just add more ink to speed things up (have I ever mentioned I'm impatient), if things came out too dark I would just take the next batch of wood out sooner.
Generally I guage my mixture by the time it takes to stain balsa or bass, I try to get a good colour after a 5-15 minute soak, if it takes longer than 30 mins to colour balsa I add more ink to the jar and try again until it works 'right'.
The balsa/bass needs to be thoroughly dry before the grey tone appears. Even with a strong mix it can take up to an hour or two to stain the birch ply, I have left birch shingles in the jar over night on occasion. I usually also take out about half or a third of the pieces at a time and spread them out to dry, that way by the time you go to get the rest out they have had a chance to soak a little longer which gives more colour/tonal variation.
When starting a build such as this I cut one dimension of wood and throw it in the jar, while it is soaking I will cut another dimension, then remove the first batch from the stain in 2 or 3 lots as noted above, throw in the second batch of wood into the stain and either cut some more or make some windows, then when I realise its been about 10 mins I take the next lot out to dry.
I like the variation I get from not having a specific method or time, I certainly dont have a timer beep when the wood is 'ready'
, very random with a controlled basic, ie the stain. This makes it easier (for me) to replicate the colouring for some extra pieces if needed.Start with the 3 teaspoons in a pint and go from there, they will come out brown but turn greyer as they dry, make sure they are totally dry before evaluating the colour and adjusting your soak time or mixture if you think necessary.
I hope this rambling narrative helps, if not just ask again, or, someone else who knows what they are doing....
Karl.A
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