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I’ve been experimenting with aniline dyes for the first time and have had problems with coloring open pore woods. I flooded both ash and oak with a water soluble aniline dye when I wipe the excess off the pores don’t take any of the dye. I thought it may be the surface tension of the water so I mixed a small amount of dish soap to cut the surface tension. Same result.
Can anyone offer help?
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Most stains at the store are a combination of pigment and dye. A dye molecue is very, very small and will only color the wood and will not 'fill' in the grain. Excellent on figured woods. Pigment is much larger and does 'fill' in the grain as you wipe off, giving the darkness you are accustomed to... You have one piece of the pie so to speak. To continue on you can seal, then a thin glaze or pore fill or maybe even a gel stain to darken the pores. Seal and finish.
*I've been using aniline water based dyes on ash for several years and find it works fine. I sand, then wipe with laquer thinner to get all the dust out of the pores, apply the dye/stain liberally, and keep wetting the parts that appear to be soaking up the material and looking dull. I keep this up for 15 to 20 minutes, that let it dry. If any areas look like they need it, I go over them again. There is a difference in how much dye various parts of the grain take, but that enhances the grain. I find the ash grain is interesting in an inexpensive wood, one reason I like to use it. I forgot to say I go over the ash first with an application of stain or water to raise the grain before the final sanding. Then I knock down the grain with a light sanding. After that, the procedure is use is as described above. I usually use a water based colorless finish. My preference is satin finish. Just get some nice somments on a table done this way that was in a club show last month.
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