Tinting a scratch built trestle

[JohnT14808]

Holiday greetings!! For a current club project a new trestle is needed and I want to try to match the creosote coloring I see on my local trestles. Some club members have suggested using India Ink, but no one seems to remember the formula for the creosote shade. Anyone have a comment on a mixture of water and india ink to arrive at a creosote shade? Is there some other formulation that can be used to get a cresote shade? Thanks. [:D]

[cacole]

MicroMark sells a stain, catalog number 81721, called Railroad Tie and Bridge Stain that is supposed to represent creosote. I have had varying degrees of success with this. How well any stain is going to take depends on the type and hardness of the wood you're using. I've actually had better results with Formby's Dark Walnut Wiping Stain, which can be purchased at most home improvement stores such as Home Depot, in the furniture area.

[CNJ831]

JohnT - There really is no set ratio of India Ink to alcohol (a much better choice than mixing with water as water is more likely to warp the wood). Start off with a few drops per pint of alcohol, dip some test pieces of wood in it and add more ink (a drop at a time) if it doesn't come out dark enough for you.

I find that India Ink solution will produce a medium to dark grey coloring on most woods that I personally don't regard as particularly close to the look of creosote-treated pilings or trestle-work but it may depend on just what the prototype looks like in your area. The MicroMark bridge and tie stain is too greeni***o me to serve but, again, you have to see how it compares with what you have locally.

I tend to agree with cacole that some of the dark walnut stains work fairly well for the purpose in question and are worth a try.

Above all, be sure to do all the wood staining before assembling the parts...stain won't penatrate glue.

CNJ831

[JohnT14808]

Thanks, cacole and CNJ831 for thereplies. I was tryingt to find a way to do this 'creosote' color without additional purchases, since I have some ink at home. However, if it comes out "grey-ish" or too light, then I may have to try the Formby's wood stain suggested by cacole. Thanks for the fast replies. JohnT. [;)]