Help needed!

D

DOC-CANADA

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Apr 14, 2006
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OK, a question for everybody - We're coming up to the time of year when the nuts fall off of Black Walnut (Juglans nigra). Now as most of you know, Black Walnut is useful in many ways - a fish poison, an edible nut, excellent wood for making bows, edible oil (from the nuts), the oil mixed with bear grease makes a good mosquito repellant (take note for the next time you have a glut of bear grease around the house) and as a dye. It is in this guise that I use it the most. I wait till the nuts fall, and then turn black - I gather them and use them to stain my arrow shafts.

Myarrows2.jpg


The problem I'm having is that when I keep them in a can for any length of time, they get mouldy. I've tried using vinegar in the can, but it didn't work. The question? Does anybody have any techniques that work?

Doc
 
I keep them in a onion net bag in the garage. They just dry out. The thick outer covering turns crumbly as it dries. 'Course, I am just keeping them to plant next Spring. I presume the pigments are still there.
 
Perhaps vaccum sealing would do it. There isn't much meat in them so why leave the shells on? For dye why not remove the shells, bag them up(squeezing out the air)and throw them into the freezer.:thumbup:
 
Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies.

Thomas Linton: I keep them in a onion net bag in the garage. They just dry out. The thick outer covering turns crumbly as it dries. 'Course, I am just keeping them to plant next Spring. I presume the pigments are still there.
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You're right about the pigments when dried, but I use the whole nut with the husk as it starts to break down (and it's very juicy). I take the falling-apart, juicy nut assembly and rub it up and down the arrow shaft, and it makes a beautiful job. BTW, Thomas, have you been successful planting dried out nuts, before?

mewolf1: Perhaps vaccum sealing would do it. There isn't much meat in them so why leave the shells on? For dye why not remove the shells, bag them up(squeezing out the air)and throw them into the freezer.
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The dye doesn't really come from the nuts, but rather from the husks. If you remove the husks from the shells and nut meats, they seem to dry up faster. Your suggestion is a great way to store the nut meats though. They can go rancid quite quickly, so freezing them makes them last a lot longer. As far as "not much meat in them", once again you're correct, however, the nut meats in Black Walnut are much stronger tasting than English/Persian Walnuts (J. regia) and so, if you're using them for baking, a little bit goes a long way. They're also very healthful.

doc
 
You can put the husks in denatured alcohol and let them sit for awhile. It helps to smush them up to release the pigments. When the solution looks right, strain the mixture through some cloth or filter paper.
 
The dye doesn't really come from the nuts, but rather from the husks. If you remove the husks from the shells and nut meats, they seem to dry up faster. Your suggestion is a great way to store the nut meats though. They can go rancid quite quickly, so freezing them makes them last a lot longer. As far as "not much meat in them", once again you're correct, however, the nut meats in Black Walnut are much stronger tasting than English/Persian Walnuts (J. regia) and so, if you're using them for baking, a little bit goes a long way. They're also very healthful.

doc
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I realize that the dye comes from the hulls, that is what I meant by saving the hulls,dried, in ziplocs to keep them from molding. You can also cook the hulls in water then put in jars like canning; it will seal when cool. I have some dye that has lasted for years.:thumbup:
 
scooby: You can put the husks in denatured alcohol and let them sit for awhile. It helps to smush them up to release the pigments. When the solution looks right, strain the mixture through some cloth or filter paper.
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And then just store it in a container?

mewolf1: I realize that the dye comes from the hulls, that is what I meant by saving the hulls,dried, in ziplocs to keep them from molding. You can also cook the hulls in water then put in jars like canning; it will seal when cool. I have some dye that has lasted for years.
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Sounds good. I'm definitely going to try it.

Thanks guys,

doc
 
scooby said:
You can put the husks in denatured alcohol and let them sit for awhile. It helps to smush them up to release the pigments. When the solution looks right, strain the mixture through some cloth or filter paper.
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Yes, just store it in a tight container. I would use alcohol instead of water. Water based stains will raise the grain of the wood and possibly add some warping to your shafts. Alcohol will penetrate the wood better and not raise the grain.
 
DOC-CANADA said:
. . .
BTW, Thomas, have you been successful planting dried out nuts, before?
. . .
doc
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At first, I thought the germination rate was low. Then I found the &#%! rodents were diggin most of them up. I started sprouting in pots the next Spring and setting out the seedlings in the Fall. I get about 70% success. When I ran out of likely spots (As you probably know, they emit a chemical that interferes with some other plant species.), I started "adopting them out."

And the arrows look very nice indeed. :thumbup:
 
I agree that it would be good to try drying the nuts. I dehydrate quite a bit of stuff and the process works well.

Nice arrows.... pity they don't have hunting points.
 
Thanks Thomas.

Coote, you might notice that the bottom 2 arrows have Versa point adapters (or whatever they're called) so it's a simple matter to unscrew the field points and screw in the broadheads.

doc
 
Doc ? I too have some homemade stain . I never got a satisfying dark color as you seem to .

I put the husks in a blender with a couple of cups of water . Dark as black coffee . The stain didn,t seem to take as well . I ended up with a nice dark tan color . Any ideas on making it darker ?

I do heat the stain in a mason jar which may help to keep the mold down .

I think I will try it in alcohol as has been suggested . ( I still think it will make the Scotch taste funny . ) L:O:L
 
I've only used walnuts to make a dye once, when dying some cloth for broadfall pants I made for a reenactment. I let the walnuts sun dry, then put them in a bucket of water. I stirred them until the husks fell off, then lifted out the nuts. After a few weeks in the bucket, I poured off and strained the liquid, added some vineager as a mordant, and dyed the cloth. I didn't try to keep the dye beyond this use, but it was plenty strong, and using the mordent to set the dye, it lasted on the cloth well thru many washings.

Codger
 
Kevin the grey Doc ? I too have some homemade stain . I never got a satisfying dark color as you seem to .
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Kevin, I take the whole walnut (including husk) when it's turning/turned black, crack it open a bit so that the juices are front and centre, and rub it up and down the shaft. I then take a rag and wipe it off, let it dry, and then, usually, seal it with Tru Oil.


coote What sort of wood did you use for the arrow shafts Doc?
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I'm not sure, but probably all the ones in the picture are made from Ramin dowels (from the lumber company). If I want to make them more primitive, I use Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea), Wayfaring tree (Viburnum lantana)- this is the material used by Otzi, the Iceman to make his arrows. It is not a native shrub to Canada, but it has been planted ornamentally and has escaped from cultivation in some areas. Luckily, there are quite a few bushes around here. I've also used Gray Dogwood (C. racemosa) [seems to warp fairly easy], Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosa) [makes a very nice, light weight arrow shaft that stays straight - when I say light weight, I'm referring to the actual weight of the shaft, not the spine. I have one shaft that spines at 70#], Pagoda Dogwood (C. alternifolia) [a good shaft material, also a good material for atlatl darts]. That's about all I can think of at the moment. There are other available materials, apparently, that work quite well, but because all of the foregoing are readily available, the lazy person inside of me has not done that much experimenting.


Codger_64 I've only used walnuts to make a dye once, when dying some cloth for broadfall pants I made for a reenactment. I let the walnuts sun dry, then put them in a bucket of water. I stirred them until the husks fell off, then lifted out the nuts. After a few weeks in the bucket, I poured off and strained the liquid, added some vineager as a mordant, and dyed the cloth. I didn't try to keep the dye beyond this use, but it was plenty strong, and using the mordent to set the dye, it lasted on the cloth well thru many washings.
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Codger, I've never used Black Walnut to dye fabrics, but I understood that it didn't need a mordant. Did you find that it was necessary? Interesting that you used Black Walnut for reenactment clothing,as I've read that Black Walnut's first cousin - Butternut (Juglans cinerea) was quite often used by the Confederate army to dye their uniforms and that, because of this, some times the Confederate soldiers were referred to as 'Butternuts'.

Doc
 
DOC-CANADA said:
How can you tell?

doc
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I think I can hear Rob Roy turning over in his grave and a rusty dirk leaving its sheath . L:O:L

I am currently using some hand scraped tapered ash shafts 23/64ths center 11/132nds either end . It takes about 12 hours to scrape them down with a butcher knife . Thank goodness for television or I proabably couldn,t have done it and I proabably won,t do it again . I tapered them to save weight as they were way too heavy . 700 plus grains for a 45 pound bow . Good for flu-flus terrible for regular arrows . Dive like a cormorant after 20 meters .

Hand stained with aforementioned light results .
 
Am I the only one here who can SMELL this post? We used to use black walnut to boil our traps. Reading this post brought that smell right back. Mac
 
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