Vinegaroon Question

[Mogorilla]

As a chemist I was wondering if anyone ever tried to make vinegaroon with copper?   The iron forms iron acetate with the vinegar and that is what reacts with the tannins in the leather to form black.  You can avoid the three week preparation if you can get a hold of straight Iron(II)acetate, dissolve in a vinegar and dilute to with an equivalent amount of water.  When I was reading Chuck Burrow's directions he notes the copper impurity found in steel wool pads cause a green tint to the black.  I was wondering what straight copper would do?  Not that I want a green holster, but more curious from a chemist standpoint and rather than try it myself, I was wondering if anyone else had tried it.

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

As a chemist I was wondering if anyone ever tried to make vinegaroon with copper?   The iron forms iron acetate with the vinegar and that is what reacts with the tannins in the leather to form black.  You can avoid the three week preparation if you can get a hold of straight Iron(II)acetate, dissolve in a vinegar and dilute to with an equivalent amount of water.  When I was reading Chuck Burrow's directions he notes the copper impurity found in steel wool pads cause a green tint to the black.  I was wondering what straight copper would do?  Not that I want a green holster, but more curious from a chemist standpoint and rather than try it myself, I was wondering if anyone else had tried it.

You could try it ... the worst thing that could happen would be having a great rig for St. Patties day.   

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Not that I want a green holster,

Heck, I've always wanted a green holster but was afraid to admit it.  

[ChuckBurrows]

Mo - IIRC one of the folks on the leathercrafters forum tried it and basically nothing happened much. Being as it's the reaction between the iron and the tannic acid that gives the color in vinegar black. As for the green tinge I mentioned I've only had that reported to me, it's never happened to me and I made an assumption that it could have been copper or brass.

On the other hand brass and copper do create verdigris when mixed with leather and water giving it a blue/green cast, so who knows.......