I may have found an answer already but wonder if anyone can confirm this….
I’ve been reading about aniline dye’s and would like to try them (understand they provide much better clarity of color than pigmented stains…Is this an accurate statement?).
My main question is whether I can use an oil based top coat finish (oil based varinish) over the aniline dye? What about home brew wipe on finish (BLO, mineral spirits, varnish) as a top coat?
Also wonder what differences, if any, result from mixing the dyes with water vs alcohol (what kind of alcohol would I use). I think i understand that using alcohol prevents raising the grain.
If it matters, I’m considering different finishes fo several bookcases and cabinets I’d like to build.
Replies
Karltl,
To the best of my knowledge there is no finish that will not go over these dyes. As for dissolving in alcohol - like every stick I know, this one has 2 ends. The problem with alcohol is that it dries so fast. On large pieces it can be difficult to avoid overlap marks where the dye you applied a minute ago already dried. But the fact is it can be done with practice. Try it on small surfaces first.
DR
There are different kinds of aniline dye stains. Some dissolve in water, some in alcohol, and some in oil. I've use both the water and alcohol. By far the best I've found are the water soluable. The color is very easy to control. I found the alcohol soluable were hard to apply without lap marks, they dry too fast. Also the water soluable are by far the most fade resistent. As far as raising the grain from the water; I've raised it with water before staining and then lightly sanding then stained and I've just stained and then lightly sanded. I find no difference if you sand carefully. As for a top coat I've always used lacquer but any finish will work over the water and alcohol soluable. I have no experience with the oil soluable.
Joe
HI Joe, thanks for the info. What grit sandpaper do you use after staining (assuming you use the waterbased dye)?Karl
I sand very lightly with 220 wet & dry paper but sand dry. I've forund that if I do sand through the stain I can touch up those spots with a very small brush and very little stain. I try to just hit the sanded through spots.
Joe
Karltl,
I just did my first piece with A-dye (TransTint) on white oak. Then I pigment stained it with Bartleys gel. Looks great.
Mark
Not the greatest picture and I hadn't waxed the bench yet, but here is the result:
View Image
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
Hey Mark,That did come out great! I'm confused though...you say you used transtint dye then a pigmented stain. I thought the dye was the colorant...whats the pigmented stain for?
It's a technique I read about for matching mission style furniture. Dyes darken everything, Stains (pigment) darken some things more than others (like the rays in white oak). Mission furniture has a consistent background color and dark rays... Want to learn more? Check out http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00139.asp by Jeff Jewitt (a regular in FWW).I considered Fuming instead of the transtint dye but it's a pain, and my experiment with it didn't darken the oak enough...Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
I'll take a look at that link. I jut read a book (cant recall the authors name) about fine furniture finishes and he talked about, in the old day's, folks would do fumed oak finishes, then apply a black or brown wax to fill the pores with and get a high contrast effect.Your solution would be more permanent I guess.Was it tricky to get the effect just right with the pigmented stain?Karl
Not tricky, but my finish did come out a bit darker than intended (fortunatley the bench is a practice piece).I will dilute the dye down some and also wipe down the Bartleys sooner (I won't let it sit on the wood as long).I'm in-process on the "grown-up" version of the bench. I'll probably start finishing that piece in a week or so.Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
Stains have micro particles of color that lay on top of your wood. Dyes actually penetrate and color the wood. I use Lockwood's water soluble dyes often. They are light fast and the clarity comes from the lack of particles on the surface. The water dyes don't penetrate the pores of some woods like oak very well. A combination of dying first, then staining can help with certain species. Once the dye is dry, you can top coat with your choice. The dye can bleed into the finish but this doesn't cause problems.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
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