New boy again - wood dyes, what's your opinion

[jim0505]

I bought some Chestnut wood dyes in wood colours and rainbow. Does anyone else use them? I sometimes feel that some wood looks bland or needs a bit of a lift and apply some. I feel I've sort of cheated a bit and moved the wood away from it's natural look. I have used the rainbow colours on Acacia Burl only , and the effect can be quite interesting. What do you use to get the best from you wood, if anything, and do you you think using dyes is going too far?

 

[Jim]

Jim, i am at the minute playing with dyes myself, though powder dyes .. I have had some excellent results and yes it changes the properties, but for the better in some occasions .. So, no i don't believe it is going to far at all .. Nothing wrong in being creative my friend ..

 

[Buckeye]

I have tons of dyes and play with them now and again, sometimes just for a hint of colour for example in turned fruit. There is nothing wrong in using dyes.

Peter

 

[Bigblackdog]

i play once in a while, but they are transient rather than chestnut. Probably similar.

I like laying on a dark dye to something rippled, sanding and then a light dye over the top. technique from various guitar makers on youtube doing sunbursts.

 

[Neil Lawton]

Nowt wrong with using a bit of colour to accent the grain.

 

[bluntchisel]

Jim,

I tend to use white spirits to wipe off the dust and to "pop" the grain. Very often this brings out features in the wood that were invisible prior to doing it.

Bob.

 

[Penpal]

A few good hints look to our wives they tend to use colour well. Timber can be transformed one in particular American Maple even rippled gains favourably many members of the forum like Paul livened us all up some time ago Jim followed with some outstanding results also Woody and sorry I started naming so many others with great success.

Peter.

 

[Dalboy]

I use to think that wood should be left natural in colour but have come around to playing with different colours. I use the chestnut ones as well as other paints fr0m car spray paint to artist acrylic. The chestnut ones can be mixed as well. One thing to be aware of is that they will soak in so may encroach onto areas that you want to keep as clean wood. The Experiment that I did in forming the bubble bowl was to seal first with sander sealer this prevented the stain from soaking into the wood. I still like to leave some wood showing and remember that you can lightly stain as Neil has done with his pens or you can go heavy.
The possibilities are endless just take a look around some of the woodworking/woodturning sites for ideas

 

[Lons]

It's your individual work and your decision whether to use stain or anything else you like. If you're happy with the result you shouldn't really be concerned what others feel, we;re all different and as Jim said "Nothing wrong in being creative".
I use white spirit after sanding like Bob but would have no hesitation using dyes if I thought it would enhance my work.

 

[Buckeye]

I use to think that wood should be left natural in colour but have come around to playing with different colours. I use the chestnut ones as well as other paints fr0m car spray paint to artist acrylic. The chestnut ones can be mixed as well. One thing to be aware of is that they will soak in so may encroach onto areas that you want to keep as clean wood. The Experiment that I did in forming the bubble bowl was to seal first with sander sealer this prevented the stain from soaking into the wood. I still like to leave some wood showing and remember that you can lightly stain as Neil has done with his pens or you can go heavy.
The possibilities are endless just take a look around some of the woodworking/woodturning sites for ideas

When I lived in Norway, I soon found out that they colour wood but never with paint. They use linseed oil with colour added, so that you still see the wood grain. It is a great system, no rubbing down or burning off cracking or flaking paint, just a quick clean down and add more of the same colour, all the houses are coloured with the same base which is linseed oil and a colourant of their choice.

Peter

 

[bigbob]

Thanks Jim for bringing the subject up as a newbie I had never thought of staining will give it a go now.

technique from various guitar makers on youtube doing sunbursts

Mark tell me about it I would hate to think about the amount of money spent over my lifetime on Gibson Les Paul tiger matched burst finished guitars.

 

[Lons]

When I lived in Norway, I soon found out that they colour wood but never with paint. They use linseed oil with colour added, so that you still see the wood grain. It is a great system, no rubbing down or burning off cracking or flaking paint, just a quick clean down and add more of the same colour, all the houses are coloured with the same base which is linseed oil and a colourant of their choice.

Peter

That's very interesting, what do they use as pigment Peter? Most likely wrong but I always just assumed that spirit dyes won't mix or did they use oil paint?

 

[Terry Q]

I add colour all the time. Blanks were pretty unassuming before treatment.

 

[Johnwhitlock]

I have yet too try it too, been a bit scared in case I make a mess I think

 

[wm460]

I haven't used colour yet but am thinking about it.

 

[Buckeye]

That's very interesting, what do they use as pigment Peter? Most likely wrong but I always just assumed that spirit dyes won't mix or did they use oil paint?

I don't know what the pigments are, but I will make enquiries, I know there is a limited colour palette.

Peter

 

[Penpal]

Thanks Terry love em mate.

Peter.

 

[Winemaker]

Still playing with colours I am using some water based paints at the moment

 

[Bill Mooney]

Hi Jim, as you've seen colour is a great enhancer without taking away the grain pattern. At the end of the day it's what you want to do, not what others say you should do. Experiment & enjoy your colouring & lets see your results.

 

[jim0505]

Hi and thank you all for responding.

I can see how colour can enhance our work, however I still have this feeling that wood should stay as natural as possible. I tried acrylic and got some lovely results but it was still a little to bright for me. It may be just my conservative attitude. I have attached a couple of photos of some pens I did, and they did sell, but took a while to be bought.

I am going to try a few more, however I will tone the colour down by putting a base of black, sand back and the apply the brighter colour, so that it does not glare.

Once again thanks for the response, I will keep a n eye open to see if any mre ideas are forthcoming from you guys.

Regards Jim