Staining is the process of imparting to the surface of wood a color different from its natural one. It consists of two varieties, surface-staining and body-staining. In the former, as the name implies, the staining is effected by various compounds in the nature of pigments, laid upon the surface like paint, and forming a thin opaque coating, which does not, to any considerable degree, affect the fibre of the wood. In the latter the changes are chemical, the stain being usually applied as a thin wash, which, entering the pores of the wood, colors it to some depth below the surface. Staining requires no preliminary preparation, the stain being applied directly to the wood. As most stains raise the grain of the wood to a considerable extent, it is necessary before applying the varnish, to sand-paper the wood enough to render the grain quite smooth; this sometimes renders a second coat necessary, after which the sand-paper must be again applied.

A Good Black Stain

1. Gall-nuts coarsely broken, 2 ounces; rain water, 1 quart; boil until reduced one-half. 2. White vinegar, 1 pint; iron filings, 2 ounces; antimony (powdered) 2 ounces; vitriol, 1 ounce; logwood, a small handful. Infuse in bottle eight days, tying the cork down. To stain a piece of wood, give the wood a coating of No. 1, which acts as a mordant; when nearly dry put on No. 2; let it dry quite, and then brush it over again with No. 2.

Another

Boil 1/2 lb. of chip logwood in 2 quarts of water, add 1 oz. of pearl-ash, and apply it hot to the work with a brush; then take 1/2 lb. of logwood, boil it as before in 2 quarts of water, and add 1/2 oz. of verdigris and 1/2 oz. of copperas; strain it off, put in 1/2 lb. of rusty steel filings, and with this go over the work a second time.

Another

Boil the extract of logwood in water, and to it add slowly a little of the yellow prussiate of potash. Brush on hot.

Another

Boil 1 lb. logwood in 4 quarts of water; add a double handful of walnut-peel or shells, boil it up again, take out the chips, add a pint of the best vinegar and it will be fit for use; apply hot. This will be improved by applying over the first stain a solution of one ounce of green copperas in a quart of water.

Other Black Stains

1. Drop a little sulphuric acid into a small quantity of water; brush over the wood and hold it to the fire; it will be a fine black and receive a good polish. 2. For a beautiful black, on wood, nothing can exceed black japan. Apply two coats; after which, varnish and polish it. 3. To 1 gallon vinegar, add a quarter of a pound of iron rust; let it stand for a week; then add a pound of dry lamp-black, and three-quarters of a pound copperas; stir it up for a couple of days. Lay on five or six coats with a sponge, allowing it to dry between each; polish with linseed oil and a soft woollen rag, and it will look like ebony. 4. Vinegar, 1/2 gal.; dry lamp-black, 1/2 lb.; iron rust sifted, 3 lbs.; mix and let stand for a week. Lay three coats of this on hot, and then rub with linseed oil, and you will have a fine deep black. 5. Add to the above stain nut-galls, 1 oz.; logwood chips, 1/2 lb.; copperas, 1/4lb.; lay on three coats; oil well, and you will have a black stain that will stand any kind of weather, and is well adapted for ships' combings, etc. 6. Logwood chips, 1/2 lb.; Brazil-wood, 1/4 lb.; boil for 1 1/2 hours in 1 gallon water.

Brush the wood with this decoction while hot; make a decoction of nut-galls, by gentle simmering for three or four days, a quarter of a pound of the galls in 3 qts. water; give the wood three coats, and, while wet, lay on a solution of sulphate of iron (2 ozs. to a quart), and, when dry, oil or varnish. 7. Give three coats with a solution of copper filings in aquafortis, and repeatedly brush over with the logwood decoction until the greenness of the copper is destroyed. 8. Boil 1/2 lb. logwood chips in 2 quarts water; add an ounce of pearlash, and apply hot with a brush. Then take 2 quarts of the logwood decoction, and 1/2 oz. of verdigris, and the same of copperas; strain, and throw in 1/2 lb. of iron rust. Brush the work well with this, and oil.