I would like any suggestions and opinions on a project that I am working on. I have utilized the method described by the user Sitka Deer of using D2 epoxy and oil on one Claro Walnut stock with great success. In short what I did was dye the stock a shade of reddish orange, applied the D2 as he prescribe and then added about 15 coats of Minwax Antique Oil.
What I am working on now is a Black English Walnut stock (I hope this is the correct classification) with a big streak of sapwood running through it. I would like to add Bone Black to darken the pores in the hope of enhancing the sapwood and additionally I plan to add a small amount of dye to get that reddish huge in the wood.
Since I am carving the stock from a blank I have extra pieces of wood to experiment with, but any advice and suggestions are welcome. This is what I have been thinking of as a possible solution. First mix some of the bone black with oil and message it into the wood and sand it down to wood or just use steel wool to remove the top layer of oil. The problem is that I don�t think the epoxy will penetrate as well afterwards and some of the oil will boil out when I heat the stock in the oven in preparation of the epoxy. I have thought of adding it to the epoxy and do a double coat. The first I will rub off with lint free cloth against the grain and when hardened sand the stock down to the bare wood and stain it. I will then add an additional coat of D2 epoxy without Bone Black before continuing.
I know I can achieve this with Rottenstone mixed with the Bone Black and Permalyn, but I am not interested in going that route. I would hate the have to checker a stock with Rottenstone in it.
