Replies

1. 
   peter28 | Feb 26, 2007 01:51am | #1

   I have a question; are you using the trans tint cut with alcohol or water?

   When wood is wash coated (or pretreated) it will inhibit the penetration of the dye and or stain into the wood.

   I don't see a problem with the dye staying on a pre treated board. If you did use alcohol with the dye I would suggest the next coat of shellac you put on is done quickly and with very little brushing ( spraying would be better.)  You could reactivate the dye and "pull" it. If it was water dye it would be no problem as they ,water and alcohol, are dissimilar.

   Always let stain dry very well on red oak prior to top coating. Since you've wash coated prior to staining, it will flash off a little quicker. Let your nose tell you when it's ready to be top coated.

   You found the crispness of one sample over another to be appealing. That's a good reason for making samples. 

   Personally, I wouldn't wash coat oak first. I would let the dye do it's thing and then follow it with the stain.

   Peter

    

    

     

1. 
   scooteruk | Feb 26, 2007 04:45am | #2

   Peter,

   Thanks for your reply. I made the transtint dye mixture with water (distilled). When I tried the dye without the wash I got a very dark response from the open grain.  When I followed thru on the samples the non-wash looked fine, but to my mind the washed samples seemed better. I was worried, however, that my method might prove out to be too light and that the dye would not set. I will say that the rays did come out when I put on the final stain coat and the open grain was muted. The final coats (amber shellac) go on tomorrow. My wife looked at it and said she loved it (so far!)-I guess there is no other real test, is there?

   I've never done this before and I can see why people become fascinated with the finishing process. I'll be making a hanging wall rack out of white oak and will try it without the wash to see what happens. By the way, is there a significant difference in finishing red oak and white oak?

   Again, thanks for your advice and time.

   Scott

1. 
   peter28 | Feb 28, 2007 01:55am | #3

   Scott,

   For not doing any finishing before you are way ahead of the game. You've tried a couple of samples and made a judgement based on what you saw and liked. Good for you. Far too often in finishing you can hear someone on a soapbox pounding their fist, rhetorically of course, saying that THIS IS THE WAY YOU DO IT..............

   The fact that your wife loved it puts you even further ahead.

   White oak is one of my favorite woods to finish. The pores are much smaller than red oak and the color leans a little to the greenish side. You ought to look into doing a decorative finish. You can do a dye on the wood, wash coat it with shellac and then fill the pores with a different color. You can use a colored wax or a paste filler. An example for would be a golden brown dye and a white wax in the pores. It's subtle and dramatic at the same time.

   Jeff Jewetts book on finishing has some examples you can see on decorative filling. Another great book on finishing is Wood Finishing with George Frank. If you find it, look on page 49 for a great example of what I'm talking about.

   When I teach, you're the type of person I really enjoy having in class. Let me know how you make out with the wall rack.

   Peter