Old time dyes: a How_to

[cowboy316]

TW
hey bud hows it going wanna cup of coffee LOL just wondering bout how long you simmer the coffee ive got bout 12 hours into it right now and bout if i could drink coffee LOL my house smells so good i just wanna have a drink but not up to chewing the brew LOL oh and i kkeep forgetting the nails LOL

Will when you talk bout soft metal in your rust tank what kind are you talkin bout and if you have pics of the look after it has soaked in the rust bath  id be greatly thankfull

     Cowboy316

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Howdy Cowboy316

      All the information is written down for you in the above HOW TOO post, take a few minutes to read through it , I think I have answered any question you might have, 12 hours is a long time , I'm not saying that's wrong, what I posted is how I did it, 3 hours simmering, let coll over night and do the process all over again, just take a look at my post, all your question should be answered in the How Too's I posted, you can also go to the beginning of this thread, Chuck Burrows explains in detail his method.

                                         Good Luck, and have fun, oh yea hows the coffee taste 


                                                                 tEN wOLVES 

[JD Alan]

I have a mature walnut tree in my backyard, but I've not done anything with it. We've only been at this place about 6 months, and I don't know what kind of walnuts they are.

I read that green hulls are used. From past experience with a different tree, I know how messy these things are once the walnuts drop. If you have fresh walnuts right off the tree, can someone tell me what I need to do to them to use them for dye?

Thanks, JD 
 

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[Marshal Will Wingam]

I used the hulls that have split and dropped the nuts already. If you pick them right after the nut falls, they're still green.

[JD Alan]

Thanks Marshall !

[Dr. Bob]

JD,

Wear gloves or join the Mafia! 

[JD Alan]

Yeah, I remember that part real well with the last walnut tree we had. All we ever did with those was give them away. They sure create a mess in the yard. Hopefully I can get some revenge on the walnut family by making some dye. We'll see.
Thanks Bob, I do appreciate the warning. 

[GunClick Rick]

WOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I gotta print this stuff out...

[ChuckBurrows]

Marshall Will - could this post be incorporated into the Natural Dyes a How To thread?

[Ace Lungger]

JD,
 I think there are different ways to use the walnuts! No Disrepect to Marshall Will, I make my dye out of them green! Marshall Will has told me that he makes his dye, after they dryed. i am going to see if I can pick up a few that the people and critters missed that are dry, and make some dye up, and see if there is a color difference? I also plan on doing the same thing with my pecans, because I do have my left over pecans that I made my dye out of last fall.
Later ACE

[JD Alan]

Thanks for that info Ace. I don't believe pecans are grown here in Oregon. Commercially all we do up here is hazelnuts, at least that I am aware of. Can you use pecans that you buy in a store, or are they too processed to be any good for dye?

Regarding Walnuts, do you have to remove the hull from the nut, or can you just through the whole thing in a pot to make dye?

Oh the questions we come up with

 

[ChuckBurrows]

Like Ace I use the walnuts when green (a freined sends me a box every year from Georgia!) and I just cook up the whole thing, nut and all. After it cools I put on some rubber gloves and mash it all up and pull out the solid bits. These later get hulled and then the hard hulls are broken/ground up and thrown back in the pot........

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Marshall Will has told me that he makes his dye, after they dryed.

I've done it both ways. I do understand that the green hulls do better.

Good idea to merge these, Chuck. It's done.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

   Natural COFFEE DYE.

    I wanted to post this here since the subject of coffee dye comes up so often, so here it is,

quot from Marshal Will
How much coffee and how much iron? I may have to make some of this stuff. If it doesn't dye things the way I want, I can always drink it. 

   Will, I use  a one pound can of the DARK ROAST coffee, and about two heaping tablespoons of broken or crush iron, or you could use a dozen or so iron nails, I pour this into a 20 qt. pot filled 3/4 of the way up with water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer for about three or so hours, let cool over night, and then pour into a plastic container of your choice, but one deep enough to submerge your leather in. the dye my last rig was done in , I made a year ago, so it doesn't go to waste. when dying I leave my leather in the dye, submerged for 24 hours, then pull my leather out and rinse off with fresh water, if you're doing a belt place the belt on your bench straight or curved as you want it, when dried it will hold its shape pretty well, same with your holster, but you want to mold the holster to your gun at this time, let dry 24 hours, then condition with Lexoil conditioner, and after an hour , you can start oiling with either EVOO, or Neatsfoot oil, you will find you can vary the depth or darkness of the leather by the amount of coats of oil you apply, when you get it the way you want, let it dry over night, if it still looks the way you like it, you can either use Skidmores leather cream or use another sealer finish or nothing at all, that's open to you, or make it darker by applying more oil.

                         tEN wOLVES  

 
   

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Thanks for the info, TW. Can't be any stiffer than my dad's cowboy coffee he made when we were camping.

[Boothill Bob]

Howdy pards..
I´m trying to get black walnut hulls, but I dont find it here in Sweden.
Can I order it Would be fun to make my own dye, have made black
dye and thats a really nice color

[JD Alan]

BhB, I ordered some ground up walnut shells from a basket company a year ago or so. You put the hulls in a coffee pot, like a Mr. Coffee, and brew a pot. I bought a used Mr. Coffee at a thrift store for 5 bucks, and it works pretty good. The basket weaving people use it to dye their baskets.

This is the outfit I bought it from. The walnut hulls are the last item on the page, below all the Rit dyes.

Good luck, JD

[Boothill Bob]

Have to look that up JD. I live to far north or else I should
Pick them My self, but we dont have the trees here:-(

[Drayton Calhoun]

I posted one about trying vinegar and chewing tobacco. I read an article many years ago about using ammonia and chewing tobacco for a wood stain. I tried it on an old CVA Zouave and the color was a deep, brilliant red. I figured to try it with the vinegar and tobacco and stabilizing it with alcohol. Of course, I had better not get too close to any California lab rats...

[Johnny McCrae]

Here is a Rig I just made as a gift for a friend of mine. The Rig is nothing fancy but the finish turned out reasonably well.

Attached is a slide show showing the dye process I used.
http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/kk81/jvsaffran/Using%20Walnut%20Dye%20part%202/?action=view&current=a42fc8ef.pbw

This rig was immersed in home brewed Walnut Dye for four hours followed by two coats of Neets Foot Oil and two coats of Skidmores. A couple of things I really like about this process is the uniformity of the color and the dye does not bleed off or stain clothing. I have learned how to suspend the work in the dye vat so there are no areas where the dye does not penetrate.

Again special thanks go to Ten Wolves for all of his help in getting me going on Walnut Dye's.