doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Does walnut darken over time?

We've all seen darkened stocks, which seems to normally be attributed to dirt and oil. However, I recently did some reshaping of one of my own stocks and noticed the new wood was noticeably lighter in color than the old. This was English walnut finished with tung oil/urethane (waterlox sealer/filler and benmatte topcoats, pores completely filled, and was only about 2 years old.
So do you attribute this darkening to the wood itself, or to the finish?

I've seen cherry wood darken from the sun.

The new wood will be below the penetration of the red oil used to darken the wood and enhance the figure prior to application of finishing oil. Further darkening is down to an accumulation of sweat dirt and oil.

Walnut does get lighter with age. Check an old dresser that is not oil finished or covered with a dark wax.
bill

I wood say that all "natural" wood(s) darken over time, finished by whatever method. OIL type finishes seem to age quicker than say urathane, stained or not. I think this is caused by oxidation / UV degration, of course dirt, sweat and oil etc. certainly darken wood but I've refinished stocks that are "clean" but once touched by sandpaper a fine darker layer is removed and a lighter colour comes to the surface. This is one reason if I can get away with removing old finish with a stripper and steel wool thats the way I go, it all depends on the situation. JMHO - FWIW --- John Can.

Fresh cut walnut if full of water and darker. It gets lighter as it loses the water. Exposure to uv light will lighten it more. I have some unfinished walnut that has been exposed to sunlight for several years and it has lightened some.I have some that has been exposed for 20 years and I can't see that it is any lighter after a lot more exposure than the preceding example.I just looked at a 120+ year old walnut dining table. The top has been 'scrubbed" of any original finish and it is a sort of light brownish-gray in color. The legs,with their original finish, are a nice reddish color. This table has been exposed to light for the last 75 years that I know of.Get under the surface wood a few thousanths and you will lose the appearance of age and sun exposure.I have thousands of feet of walnut and dozens of pieces of walnut furniture to examine at every stage of finish and exposure and do so frequently in order to get the "right" look.Fascinating.

Smallbore, there's no red oil in this stock--there is no stain whatsoever in it, just the finish, both of which are tung-oil based. Chuck, I've used a lot of cherry in other woodworking projects, and that's kind of what I'm refering to, as the wood itself gets much darker after prolonged exposure to sunlight no matter what finish is used.
Whether it's the wood or the finish changing color I'm not worried as I just duplicated the exact same finish on the exposed portion so whatever the agent of change is, in a year or two it will have blended back in quite well I think...but I still am very curious about what exactly was the agent of change in the color, the wood itself or the finish.

I find it interesting that you guys said walnut gets lighter with age, because in this case the freshly exposed wood was noticeably lighter than the older wood. Does that mean that you guys think it is likely the finish that has changed color, not the wood itself?

This touches on a question I've had for sometime - sorry, no solutions. I've an old gun (1860) in its case. The wood that is "on top" when you open the case is a pleasing dark walnut. Flip it over and the wood is much lighter, almost a "blonde".

I've wondered if once, for decades, the gun was displayed in a rack of some sort and the blonde side was exposed to sunlight, could that have lightened the wood? Or the inverse, the darker side was exposed. The uneven effect is somewhat disheartening, especially because the wood has such beautiful figure.

I have never had walnut go lighter over time (doesn't mean it can't happen). KK; my guess would be that the under side of the stock is the true color and the top has aged in some way - I would strongly suspect oxygen but it could be any active atmospheric agent. DF; I have soaked stocks in acetone for days, I think that the finish after soaknig is almost non-existant, but if you remove that fine "crust" lighter colored wood is exposed. My observations are the same as yours in a year or two the colours again match up. --- John Can.

I think the finish is what changes color ,especially linseed oil and varnish,more so than the wood does. Sunlight is very powerful stuff and will do a number on anything with pigment in it given enough time with some pigments much more stable than others.We've all seen a stock brought back to life with the artful use of modern finishes and pigments.