Walnut stain?

[Jbell]

I have a ton of walnuts fallin in my yard. How do I make a stain out of em?  Do I just let em get mushy then use it straight from the walnut or do I need to add somthing? Oh yeah I forgot to say UG! after every sentence.  

[Coo-wah-chobee]

              Take one and when gets mushy rub on bow. Oh yeah WEAR rubber gloves unless ya want hands a shade of brown. Rub on bow till ya get shade ya desire..........oooga-booga ! .bob

[Calendargirl]

Ugh! "Oooga Booga Non", what other things do you use as stain?  Onion skins can make a great color, so can purple cabbage all should be boiled in water.  Has anyone tried kale or mustard greens?  Do you need vinegar for it to set?  i bet you could make a decent camo type pattern w/ walnut, greens, and yellow onion.   
I now release the ceremonial burp!  ahhhhhh!

[GregB]

Pardon me if my neanderthal vocabulary is lacking...

I know from my wine making experience that elderberries would have to make a good stain. They will stain anything they come in contact with.

[Dane]

Any plant that leaves a stain on your hands can be used as a wood stain. I would recommend you put your shells (or whatever, beets, blackberries, raspberries, onion skins, etc) in a saucepan, cover with water, and boil, then let steep. The more materials and the longer you let it steep, the more intense the color. It will not be light fast, and will fade over time, but not enough to worry about.

Strain through cheesecloth or muslin, and apply with a brush or cloth. Sand lightly and put on more than one coat, and then seal with oil or maybe a wax finish.

Calendargirl, you don't need vinegar for plant colors. For some applications, you do. I did a two-part stain for my last bow using black tea boiled in water, and cider vinegar I had soaked a ball of steel wool overnight in for the second part. I brushed on the tea water, let it sit for a few minutes, and then brushed on the steel wool / vinegar mixture. The wood began darkening immediately, and looked great, a rich brownish-gray.

Dane

[Hhop]

You can obtain a very dark stain from walnuts. I discovered this method quite by accident when our kids were little and posted it on the old site's primitive skills section about 8 years ago.

I had collected a garbage bag full of walnuts with the hulls still on and placed them in the garage, in the classic old Radio Flyer metal wagon, and kind of forgot about them for a few months. I noticed them one day.....the hulls had rotted and a VERY dark liquid was in the bag. The liquid had also seeped out into the wagon and all of the enamel it came into contact with had peeled off. So, not only do ya get a great, dark stain, but a nice primitive paint remover!
Harold

[jamie]

poke berries with give a decent purple pink color. did one bow with it but quickly covered it up cause it made me want to were a tutu. grass and yucca or anything green will eventually fade to a brown just takes more time and many applications. walnut is my favororite. ive used em right off the tree. peace

[Kegan]

Throwing them in the fire help with those that are a little less willing to give up their color, at least for me .

[Coo-wah-chobee]

  Calendergirl ..................Ugh ! I also use avacado and mango skins. Use coffee beans from plant(they grow here) crush em on a rock put in stone pot with H2O and put on fire pit ta boil  over hot coals. When water evaporates pretty far down ya have a nice dark brown almost black stain. Besides ifn ya need a caffeine fix ya can always lick bow. Ifn I want ta lighten it up some I add dirt , more an more (ya dont wanna lick bow then I dont think) comes out a grey color. oooga booga....... burp !!!! .....non

[Calendargirl]

Me curse Pokeweed.     Me plan to destroy pokeweed army that decided to take over cave!  Ugh!     Caveman Jamie need landscape Nashville cave! 

[jamie]

many moons to walk, 16hr drive in gas horse. 

[Jbell]

Oh Yeah! Sounds like my possibilities are endless. Thanks my protruding eyebrow friends! Neanderthals rule!

[DBernier]

Calendargirl, you are right about the onion stain. I use it to stain some of the powder horns I make and it works fine. I boil the skins first and then boil the horn in the mixture. The mix gets thinner as you boil it and the stain becomes darker. See photo.

Dick

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[Hillbilly]

I do like Bob, and just rub the hulls on the wood (wait until they turn black, and moisten them a bit.) Works good on bows, arrow shafts, hands, and small children.

[DBernier]

Hillbilly, I had a bag of wallnuts and like Hhop they were in a "Little Red waggon". Can you boil the shells and save the dye or just let nature take its course. I gotta tell you that the stain in the waggon was thick and dark. I should have saved it in a glass jar or something. I am going to try the "wait till they turn black and then moisten them and rub them".

Dick