Dyes & Stains

Re: Dyes & Stains

Jim in Burlington On

>Given it's spring time there's a nice free source from Black walnut tree's.

Re: Dyes & Stains

Dave Thompson

>Hi Ted, Woodworker's supply has a very good selection of stains and dyes. Their website isn't that great, but they do have a very nice hardcover industrial version print catalog that covers alot of stuff that the other wood worker hobbiest stores don't cary.

good luck,

Dave

Re: Dyes & Stains

Dave Anderson Chester, NH

>Hi Ted, I'll echo Dave T, Woodworkers Supply dyes are quite good and I've used them for years. One caveat about "lightfst" though, it's only a relative term. All of the dyes I've ever used including the newer liquid Transtints will fade if exposed to direct sunlight for any length of time. The only ways to prevent fading are to either use a stain or something which is chemically reactive with the tannin in the wood. I've had great luck with lye on mahogany, oak, walnut, and cherry. It does not work as well on woods with low tannin levels like pine, maple, birch, etc.

I hope to be able to make it to 5 Barns this year and see you there.

Lockwood *LINK*

Christopher Schwarz

>Ted,

The J.E. Moser dyes at Woodworker's Supply are actually W.D. Lockwood dyes, a company which has been making these dyes and colors for 110 years. You can deal directly with Lockwood, if you prefer via the link below.

The most colorfast of their dyes are the water-based. But you do have the grain-raising issue. The alcohol-based are nice because they dry so dang fast and don't raise the grain. But they are not as colorfast.

The W.D. Lockwood color pallete is *excellent* for reproduction work. I have personally used them for about eight years. Love them.

Chris


W.D. Lockwood

Re: Lockwood

Frank Bessette

>Hello Ted and Chris,

I hope you gentlemen are doing well this week. Franklin, Indiana is a great place to meet awesome woodworkers.

Dye is something I need to learn more about. I will keep reading and paying attention.

Good evening,

Frank

Thanks...

Ted Owen, Pittsburgh

>for the responses, everyone. I've relayed the info to Marshall, and he'll take it from there.

Best, Ted

I prefer their fiber reactives... (rambling)

David Barnett - SW Florida

>as I mix my own. Although there's a wide range of imitative colors (forget the names -- rely on your eye), I find it best to fine tune. Most of their dark browns, such as the dark 'oak' stains and even some of the lighter maples (honeytone, for one) have more green component than I prefer in certain lights and color temperature profiles, so I tweak them somewhat. As for non-wood colors, I think the 12 ultra is a better indigo than their 6589 indigo which is green enough to lean towards teal when dilute. A few drops of 19 violet offsets ambering (or worse; oranging) from certain long oil varnishes, esp. on walnut, without overcooling it.

I like 327 ebony a lot although I think it used to be browner and a bit richer, so I mix in a bit of 16 depending on the wood that's getting ebonized*. You can get a very strange but pleasing effect on red-toned woods with the ebony, some dark brown and a bit of 7339 olive, which surprisingly seems less greenish at times than some of the water soluble dark oaks. 92 grey's a winner at almost any concentration. It also makes a great toning wash when used sparingly for special effects, such as deepening moulding shadowlines. A very pale wash of 462 grey enrichens and softens white or bleached woods for paneling and cabinets, awesome in late afternoon light and esp. so in rooms with stained glass windows. It's like a warm grey made from white and umber -- no blue to it at all.

Everyone wants light-fast dyes, but I actually prefer some fading and oxidation effects. To me the wood looks more natural, less strident and monochromatic, sometimes a problem with dying. In fact, applying very dilute gradient color washes can allow the wood to age gracefully and with pleasing complexity. At least that's how I see it.

I suppose everyone knows how to bring out the grain in highly figured woods; curl, pommelle, birdseye, by dying, sanding, and then lightly redying. This works on more subtle wood, too, to bring out stripe (violets in walnut, again), for example. You have to be careful and experiment, though. You'll have lots more garish failures than successes but it's fun and fascinating at any rate.

Lately, I've been working with two-part bleaching, white glazes, pale turquoises, teals, peacocks, celedons against pale peaches and rose salmons for a nouveau-Florida furniture and renovation project. There won't be a stick of highly-figured or natural wood to be seen -- quite a departure for me. It's gonna be a real challenge to update the retro without lapsing into utter kitsch (a little's okay, though). I'm hoping low saturation turns the trick, along with white LED architectural lighting and color-shift** cast glass tiles and objets d'art (as soon as I get my new kiln).

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*Walnut ebonized with this stain looks really 'Deco' when you stain and 'burn in' with a soft gas flame (stove or torch). Don't get it hot enough to smoke the wood. Steam's okay, though. This raises the grain so you can de-whisker it (a gunstock maker's technique particular to walnut). When no whiskers reappear, seal with something like Waterlox used as a wiping varnish, burnish, then wax. This worked really well on a series of AD clocks I made years ago (I didn't want to silver foil over genuine ebony details).

**Neat stuff. Rare earth elements give a 'rhubarb' shift depending on proportion of incandescent to fluorescent light sources.