Mixing Mordants or Quantity Adjustments?

I’m looking at a 9 year old article in FWW (SEP/OCT 2002) by David Salisbury, a Colonial Williamsburg cabinetmaker, about “A Versatile 18th-century stain.” I have an early 1700’s ‘Corner Chair’ that a friend has asked me to restore (It was her great-grandmothers.) The article gives a couple Recipes for Red or Black. The recipes call for brazilwood extract for the stain and alum or copperas for the mordant. What I want is more of a “Dirty Red.”

Ok … you knew I’d get around ‘TUIT’.

So … Do I weaken the black (copperas) mordant or should I mix … say … an 90/10 mixture of alum/copperas.

Or … Is this a NO-NO … mixing mordants … as in an IED!

The actual color I’m looking for is a wee bit darker than his ‘finished’ example … Maybe even some sploches. G

Francis Coppage – Edwardsville, IL
“Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.”

-- "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." ... Albert Einstein