Problems with stain, need advice

[druid]

Almost always I use walnut stain for bows. Sometimes there is a problem: it is made of walnuts boiled in water and that water (base of stain) makes beautifully polished bows somehow sandy, and spoil its smoothness. What is some other natural stain I can make for bows, any advice?

[PEARL DRUMS]

The water is probably raising the grain Druid. Try using some 0000 steel wool or 400 grit sand paper after staining but before sealing.

[druid]

There would be no colour left after sanding.

[DarkSoul]

Indeed, the water is the problem (not the stain itself). You could try and see if alcohol maybe works as well, in extracting the color (do not boil alcohol! highly flammable!) You could also, as suggested, sand the bow after the stain, but before the final finish oil/varnish. If you use 600 or even 800 grit, you will only sand the raised grain, and not the stain itself. You could also try to sand the bow AFTER the first coat of oil/varnish. The finish has then, hopefully, protected the stain, and only the raised grain without stain color will be sanded off.
Another option is to moisten the bow with tapwater, PRIOR to staining. Use a wet towel and moisten the entire surface. Let it dry, and sand with 400 grit sandpaper. Repeat a second time. Then, after the water and sandpaper have removed all the grain that could potentially be raised, you apply the water based stain.

Experiment a bit on some scraps of wood. One wood species probably react differently than another species.

[bubby]

Darksoul nailed it, wipe with water sand and repeat untill no more raised grain, then stain, but i have done like PD said as well and it worked fine, i'm to lazy for all that fine grit sanding, Bub

[k-hat]

I had the same problem using water-based stain.  Thought i had it smooth as silk, applied the stain, then bummer.  did the steel wool/stain/steel wool cylce a couple of times, then said enough and put the poly on.  The poly really evened it up and made it nice and smooth.  Think i'm gonna switch to an oil based stain next time though.

[druid]

Thank you very much for these advices my friend but I was hoping for some recipe for natural stain of some other type?

[PEARL DRUMS]

You could try making a batch of your stain darker than usual, that way when you lightly sand it or steel wool it it will leave color in the wood.

[coaster500]

My last Osage bow had poplar tips and in the process of sanding the bow for final finish the poplar picked up the yellow color of the osage. In essence it was a sort of dry stain? How hard would it be to boil some walnut to the point of total dehydration (powder dry) and try a dry wipe with the walnut dust? I may be nuts but after witnessing the osage dust applied to a somewhat porous poplar it started my wheel turning with your question? Might be worth trying a dry application experiment?

[k-hat]

What if you cookd the walnuts in oil instead of boiling.  Possibly even grind it up, cook it with low/med heat, then filter through some cheesecloth?  Maybe linseed oil or tung oil would pick up the color?  I've been wanting to experiment with this and coffee beans (don't ask ).  Somebody who is knowledgeable in stains is probly reading this and getting a good laugh

[druid]

Well, it seems that of these advices I am able only to try boiling walnuts with oil.

[dragonman]

Druid, the water raises the grain, you need a spirit based dye. Smash up the walnuts and soak them in 'white spirit'(we call it over here,in uk) or turpentine, maybe its called mineral spirits in usa?   You may have to leave them there for days to get a strong colour, then sieve through a cloth, and apply to wood. I have never tried walnuts, but it should work....let me know if it does