I typically work with hard wood maple and would like to get into applying water based dyes because I feel that I can control the final colour.
After reading several publications, including Flexner and Dresdner, I am still confused on a couple of points: (a) As a beginner what are the basic colours I should be looking at and how do they affect one another (is there a colour chart out there?) (b) What is a recommened finishing system? I have come up with a 5 part system but would like some input. The system is:
1. Raise the grain of the wood of water (distilled or tap?) then rub out the hairs.
2. Apply the dye stain (again, I need help with colours, I prefer dark rich colours)
3. Apply boiled linseed oil.
4. Apply a couple coats of shellac (is there a recommened type)
5. Apply a topcoat, such as varnish. (typically the pieces I make have moderate wear)
Any help is appreciated and if there is another way of doing this I am certainly open to suggestions (I am guessing that everyone has a favourite method of finishing their projects).
thanks,
Sheldon
Replies
Sheldon - I deleted my first post after re-reading your post. I missed the part where you said you were finishing maple.
For some pretty detailed information on maple finishes, go to http://www.homesteadfinishing.com and first look at the Early American Maple finish in the articles section of the website. Then go to the forum and go down to the "recipes" forum and take a look at the maple finish one of the posters provided. This will give you a good idea of the colors and steps to get a nice finish om maple. You can substitute the colors of your choice for the different coloring steps in the finish.
Look at the samples at the bottom of the Early American maple finish article. Using a colored finish, like one of the grades of shellac, will produce very nice results all by itself. If you want to experiment a little, you can add dye to shellac (or other finishes) to make any color you like. And you can use a colored finish over dye for even more flexibility. There are an endless number of options.
Do some experiments to find a finish you like. Then add more options or color choices to the finish as you feel the need.
There's a good article on color theory at this link - http://www.liberonsupply.com/ColorTheory.html
Paul
Thanks for the help.
Sheldon
I use a sinluiar system except for the linseed. Unless you have a reason for using it I think you could skip it. After raising the grain I hand sand with 220-330 grit. I follow with a coat of super blond shelac, then the top coats sanding lightly between coats. So far as colors, there are a number of "mixed" colors available, in addition to the base colors. Since I use mostly Mahogany and Birch I find that the Mahoganys and cherry colors do nicely. You can control the colors somewhat by the strenght of your mixture and the number of coats you put on. Hope my limited experience helps.
Svleck,
If you call Woodworker's Supply, they will mail you a free color chart of their Analine dye stains. (800)645-9292. GP.
I recently took the plunge and bought a finisher's color wheel and 11 colors of transtint waterbase dyes. I mixed up 8 oz. of each in labeled squeeze bottles. Now using the wheel I can match pretty much any color I need in a matter of minutes as opposed to hours of screwing around. My first use of the kit was for sap wood in a large piece of air dryed walnut. If I didn't know where it was I wouldn't be able to find it. I bought my 'kit' at Rockler for about $150. BTW 8oz uses 1/4 of the dye powder so I'll not be restocking anytime soon.
John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
I would prolly skip the Linseed oil step as well. I played with linseed oil on some scraps of walnut, and it seemed to give me a reddish hue to the wood. Maybe its just my eyes playing tricks on me, but compared to a piece done with natural danish oil, the linseed oil looked redder..
ANYWAYS, as for the shellac. You want a non-wax shellac. I bought some shellac flake from Rockler, and mixed it up myself. Did a very nice job for me... was very happy with it...
Natural Danish Oil? What's that? Is it rendered fat from Danes?John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
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