I repaired some "chew" marks on a set of sheds with so Epo-Grip Quick Repair Putty.
I'm now trying potassium permanganate for the first time....and even though I like how this stuff works, I'm struggling with with the color where the repairs were made. The Epo-Grip stains darker than the antler....making the repairs stand out like a "tird in a punch bowl".
I've read in the archives where some guys say you need to paint....and some say pot. perm. is fine by itself. I'm thinking that I'm going to need a combination of both...just not sure how to go about it....or with what.
Also, I mixed a small amount of pot. perm. in a glass jar with rubbing alcohol. After about 10 minutes, I started hearing a weird noise. The product was bubbling in the jar and the jar was too hot to touch.
WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?
Thanks
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Potassium permanganate (KMNO4) reacts aggressively with glycerides. In fact, that's a very good way to make a bomb. If the jar was washed in a detergent that contained glycerides and wasn't rinsed properly - duck.
As far as the Antler Repair Putty, did you make the entire repair from the putty? I never do. I always repair with Apoxy Sculpt. When it hardens, I sand it down aggressively. THEN I cover it with the Antler Repair Putty and stain it. That thin layer is just like what you'd see if you cut a real antler across the tip. It's gray-white inside and darker along the skin.
....how can I prevent the blotchy look from the repair area staining much darker than the antler? Should I feather out the putty beyond the original repair?
Forget staining.Stains are transparent.You are trying to cover two different texture and color materials with something transparent and it will never work.Mix a color for your airbrush that matches the base color of your antler.Every one is different.You might try ivory,neutral gray etc..Lightly airbrush the repaired area to blend it so that you can't see where it stops and starts.Then use some artist's acrylic tube colors(Liquatex etc.)and an artist's bristle brush to blend the rest of the way to match your antler.One of the most useful colors is raw umber.You might have to tone it with a tiny amount of black,burnt umber etc..Often the raw umber works by itself.Again,every antler is different,that's why simply wiping a stain type material doesn't work in a situation like this.Experiment with different ways of applying the umber till yiu find what matches best.One way is to thin the umber and dab on with a Scotch Brite pad.Done right,this can work very well.You can also try dabbing it on with a tooth brush,just a tiny amount on the brush.The surrounding antler is your reference.Just keep experimenting with different techniques till you find what matches YOUR antler.One tip about puttying.I always bevel the sharp broken edges of the boken antler part,using a dremel and sanding drum.This makes a more gradual,feathered transition of putty to antler.I also choose a putty that has a color closely matching my antler base color-even if I have to mix two different puttys together.Sculp Epox is a pretty good color for whitetails.If you do this right,your customer won't be able to find the repair.Good luck with it.
Either I don't know how to paint or you don't know how to stain. Stains are hardly transparent. Stir some off the bottom of the can and you'll see. But they work by coloring or "staining" the cell structure. I've yet to see a set of antlers painted that didn't look it.
I would have said that I haven't seen a set of stained antlers that didn't look it.Staining and wiping off leaves stain in the valleys and not on the high spots,which often makes them a little too man-made looking to me.A lot of color in antlers is that way,but not all of it is.This is especially true with elk and mule deer.Elk have a lot of pitch that sometimes is also on the high spot and the color sometimes doesn't feather out like oil paints or stains,but abruptly starts and stops.The acrylic can replicate this exactly.I'm going to email you 2 photos of a 6" tine I recently built this way on a non-typical WT.Let me know if it looks painted.It's titled: Morton Antler Repair.
Painting is the way to go. I have made replica antlers for a long time. I would never stain them. the paint looks more real and you have more control over the coverage. Also, like Jim said, you can get the high spots as well. Not all antlers look dark in the valleys and light on the higher spots.
Stain usually soaks into the putty and makes the repair look totally darker than anything on the antler.
It really does help to start with a neutral color like the ivory or white to grey. Make it look like the anlter without color and then lightly paint it in and rub it till it looks right.
Check the MSDS for a particular compound before mixing homemade brews. KmnO4 is a strong oxidizer. Look at the excerpt from a MSDS (found online). Alcohol is on the list, any alcohol...it's organic, it oxidizes..What's wrong with plain old water? Works well for me.
...Stability
Stable, but contact with combustible material may cause fire. Substances to be avoided include reducing agents, strong acids, organic material, combustible materials, peroxides, alcohols and chemically active metals. Strong oxidant....
I'll not use those words again. That photo was great. Thanx.