I was at Lee Valley today and was wondering about these analine water stains. Does anyone have any insight to using this stuff. It sounds like a great product but i dont really know. any hints on using it would be helpful too. sealers, top coats, ect.. im thinking of using it on some kitchen cabinets.
thanks in advance.
Ty.
Tmaxxx
Urban Workshop Ltd
Vancouver B.C.
cheers. Ill buy.
Replies
I use Jeff Jewitts dyes and love them (Homestead Finishing Products) Dying is a whole new world compared to the old pigment stains. I would suggest reading Jeffs book on finishing to gain a little insight about the dying. Dye strength can be easily adjusted to give a faint tint to full blown colour.
Just remembered, My first experience with dyes was the pits, namely poor mixing. Ended up with little green, red and yellow dots all over the piece being stained. Older and wiser now. Read the instructions carefully along with Jeff Jewitts book
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Edited 4/29/2007 2:42 pm ET by BruceS
I use lee valleys water based analine dyes and really enjoy them. They are more work than the traditional stains, but when a customer is willing to pay the extra, the results are worth it. I tend to sand close grained wood to 320, wash with water, resand lightly to cut the raised grain, go to the next grit and sand again, wash with water, opps let it dry and cut the raised grain. Then stain with the dye, let it dry a day and cut the raised grain with whatever was the last grit used. For a top coat, a solvent based product tends not to bleed out the dye as much.
To make the mixes, boil water and add the whole package while the water is hot. I use quart mason jars with the old time glass lids, as metal is suposed to alter the colour. Once you have a colour at full strength, you can cut it with water to lighten it , and mix different colours to find your own unique colour.
Application can take some practise, as I have found if a patch dries and you run over it when applying to another, the dye soaks in again leaving a darker spot. As long as it doesnt become to dry you can use wet rags to lighten spots and the like. Best is to play with it, experiment and you will get to know all what you can do with dyes.
bushman1000 said..."They are more work than the traditional stains, but when a customer is willing to pay the extra, the results are worth it. I tend to sand close grained wood to 320, wash with water, resand lightly to cut the raised grain, go to the next grit and sand again, wash with water, opps let it dry and cut the raised grain. Then stain with the dye, let it dry a day and cut the raised grain with whatever was the last grit used. For a top coat, a solvent based product tends not to bleed out the dye as much"
Wow! That does sound like a lot of work. IMO most of it unnecessary. Try this. Sand to the grit you would normally use, apply the dye to the wood. DON'T SAND. Apply your first coat of finish thinned as a seal coat. Then sand as normal. You will have taken off all the raised grain and sealed the wood so no further grain raising will occur.
Rob
And I don't do the boiled water thing. I just use distilled water and mix it good. I can't see any difference.
I also don't have the lap over problem. I pre-adjust my dye strength so I can work it wet. For me, this technique works just fine.
blewcrowe,
I meant to mention that also. If you mix the dye to the correct strength you can flood the entire surface with the dye using a sponge, then wipe up the excess at your leisure and squeeze it right back into the dye container to be used later.
To the original poster: The main drawback with any dye is that they will fade over time. If they are in direct sunlight they will fade quite quickly, if they are in fluorescent light they will fade slowly, and if they are in indirect light they won't fade much if at all. Some dye fades more and quicker than others. I haven't tried all of them of course, but I have good luck with the trans-tint and trans-fast dyes from Homestead Finishing.
Rob
I also use a mohawk product that is alcohol based and it is quicker and easier. For this product the topcoat used is water based, agian so that there is less bleeding out of the colour. It seems to be colour fast with good penetration, and is also easy to mix and blend custom colours.
Alcohol based dyes are quicker, but for most of us so much quicker that they are best applied by spraying.
I use them all the time. I've largely replaced my pigment staining with dying. IMO, it works so much better and the ability to tweak a color is much greater.
One word of caution. When you apply them, they will dry to a much lighter tone. Then, when you go to finish them, the wetting will darken the look a lot. So you need to try them.
When working with a new color, I'll make two strengths, just a teaspoon (sized batch) of each, one fairly strong, and one about half that value. I'll apply them to a scrapboard, let 'em dry, light sand, then apply a fingertip's worth of finish. That will give me an idea of what the outcome would (or could) be.
Edited 4/27/2007 10:32 am ET by blewcrowe
My understanding is that watersolvent aniline dyes are the most colorfast - that is resistant to fading. I myself wet the bare wood, allow to dry, then sand before I apply the dye.
I have found that after the dye has dried and the color seems a bit dark, I can take a clean wet rag and 'pull' a little of the color off the piece.
Good Luck,
Malcolm
http://www.shellacshack.com
Jeff has some excellent info on his site, as well as great product.
FAQ page: http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/faqs.htm
More detailed info: http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/pdf/TransTintTDS%206-2006.pdf
My first experience with the TransTint dyes was a good one:
http://www.woodworking.org/InfoExchange/viewtopic.php?t=10869
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I have used these these aniline dyes and been pleased with the results:
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=139
I have turned Maple into dark Walnut/Mahogony tone and also used them for ebonizing.
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