OK, I just tried Behlen Solar-lux for the first time. Mixed at 8tsp/Qt.(nutmeg) reduced with denatured methanol/ethanol. Using it on red oak just to give a little more mellow aged look. Terrible results, it dries splotchy in little coloured rings. What’s the secret for Behlen Solar-lux? Yes, I mixed very well.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Replies
Bruce,
How did you apply it? Alcohol based dye is really meant to be sprayed. It dries to fast to apply by hand, even when spraying it helps to have someone coming behind the sprayer and immediately wiping up the excess.
Water base dyes are much easier to work with.
Rob
Solar-lux, especially reduced with alcohol, dries too quickly for anything but spray application. Spraying should be done with light even coats that don't need to have excess wiped off. (When applying by hand--rag, sponge or brush, wet coats that saturate and then have excess wiped off work well.)
On open pore woods, excess that gets into the pores is pulled back out as the material on the surface dries.
You may be able to wipe with solvent to remove the rings. Try the alcohol first, though it may need to be gycol ether, if you can find it, to really remove the excess dye. You can always deal with the worst by bleaching the dye with chlorine bleach (swimming pool strength), followed by sanding. Bummer.
No bleach needed, I always experiment on like scrap lumber. Learned that a long time ago. I was using a flooding application but not to the puddle stage. Have since tried a wrung out rag and it works much better.. You are correct about the drying pulling the dye up while drying, especially this red oak. Thanks
In the past I've always worked with water base, thought i'de try something new.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Edited 5/2/2007 6:20 pm ET by BruceS
I'll echo most of what Steve said. My experience has been that reducing with Acetone greatly minimizes the issue with the pores on Oak. Mostly because it flashes faster. But I think it also has less surface tension than alcohol. Whatever the reason, it does work and it works well in my experience.
Really there is a nearly endless variety of ways to reduce dye. Water and Acetone are 100% miscible with each other (dissolve fully into each other...) and I believe the same is true for methynol and possibly ethanol... with each other and with water or Acetone. So you can take a dye that's only intended to be liquified with water or alcohol and do that, but at a high strength and then you can thin it down with Acetone because the initial water or alcohol is still there to keep the dye in suspension.
Then if you really want to get exotic you can play around with adding glycols to further manipulate the behavior of the dye on wood. But I don't. I just use Acetone... for everything.
Personally I prefer universal dyes because they can be reduced with water, alcohol, Acetone or any one of several other solvents without the need to first dissolve into the primary solvent, as I illustrated above, before reducing with the solvent that you want to use. Which is a real asset for a small shop because you don't have to stock separate dye types for different applications.
That was a great post Kevin. Keep them coming.
Rob
Thanks Rob. I'll try but most of the time you beat me to it and cover the subject matter very thoroughly, leaving me nothing to say. Which is great really. One of the things that I really love about Knots is the breadth of experienced finishers who comment regularly here.
Back to the "lab" for more experimenting, Thanks!Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
I'll just add that while the universal dye concentrates that I prefer are made by Sherwin Williams, they are expensive and only come in quarts. Jeff Jewitt (and others) carry universal dyes (transtint?) that are available in much smaller quantities and as far as I can tell have the exact same chemistry as my SW dyes. No sense in mortaging your home just to buy a certain brand when the chemistry is what matters.
Lucky me, Jeff Jewitts outlet is only about 30 miles from home.Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
You are lucky to live that close to him. He'd probably get tired of seeing me if I lived that close too. ;-)
Bruce:I recently ordered some dyes from Watertec Finishes (1-800-293-5249). They will do small sample sizes as well larger quantities. Their prices were the best I found. (Don't think they have a web site!)Very helpful and knowledgeable about finishes.Hastings
I've only used Solar-lux a little and I've found it pretty well-behaved if you wipe it on straight. I find cutting any dye with alcohol leads to disaster on oak, at least when wiped on. It may work when sprayed, don't know.
Pete
Try saturating a rag w/alchol and wipe part of your project. While it is still wet follow wiping dowm with some paper towels. Repeat as many times as you want. The wood will look like mud. Now try some mineral spirits to get an idea what it will look like with a topcoat. You may find the results acceptable or end up with something you like. Good luck!
It's interesting that you should say that the way you did because it reminds me of something I just recently discovered. Which is that Naptha will remove some dye on wood. At least it will with universal dyes. Not a lot, but it is noticible. Might be a good way to moderate an existing dye job without being as aggressive as alcohol or one of the other primary solvents would be.
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