How do you candy cane stripe a ram rod?

[bowfish]

Hello all was building a underhammer kit and wanted to stripe the ram rod . How is this done ? Thanks for any inf. you can give me on this.......

[johnt]

Get sum "wet" rope or heavy cloth, affix it to one end  and "spiral" wrap it around the rod keeping the helix evenly spaced,affix to opposing end. Then go after the exposed wood with a torch.
 Practice on sum scrap if ya can, ta get the feel for it, You'll figger it out, just don't set fire ta nuthin or burn yerself  :lol:

[John Traveler]

Hi Bowfish and all!

The traditional method of tigerstriping a light-coloured wood stock or ramrod is to use a soft, fibrous string or strip of linen, soak it in tar or pitch (modern asphalt roofing tar works) thinned with paint thinner or turpentine, and wrap it around the wood while wet.

Set fire to it!  Let it burn enough to give good colour and contrast to the wood, and then extinguish.  Remove cloth or string.  Sand the wood to give the colour and partially expose grain, and apply finish.

You can also use strong, BLACK tea or potassium permanganate to stain the wood, and selectively sand off parts like above.  Apply finish to suit.

HTH
John

[bowfish]

Thanks guy will pick up some dowel rods at the hardware story and try out both methods..

[HWooldridge]

Using a lathe or drill, spin the rod slowly and run a black Magic Marker or Sharpie down the bare wood so you get the candy cane look, then go over everything with your choice of stain.  It will usually smear a bit and leave a nice blend of color.  Smooth with steel wool and oil for finish.