I am a novice woodworker and I am just starting to learn about mixing stains, dyes, and finishes. I have read a few books on finishing. What gets me the most is when these authors say things like “you should add a very small quantity of black or red or some other color to the stain in 2% or 3% incrememts.” I have a difficult time mixing stains in large quantities. I understant and use cups, ounces, teaspoon/tablespoons as measuring devices, not %. Lets say I want to make a cup of stain and want to add black in 2% or 3% increments. Can anybody translates this 2% or 3% into sometime that I can use a cup or teaspoon/tablespoon to measure?
Is there a formula for making these small quantities?
Thanks.
Trevor
Replies
I don't build much furniture but I refinish a ton of antiques and fix a lot of newer stuff. a 2-3 percent change in color is not a real exact type thing. Add a little color, test it and adjust it. Look at it in a few different types of light to make sure it is what you want, and if you have time you can put some on a scrap and finish it to see the final result. Usually If I am using an oil based stain I just put some mineral spirits over the "sample" and the approximation is good enough.
To me trying to get things to match up is half the fun.
Good luck with your project!
Chris
You're thinking like an engineer, when you really should be thinking like an artist.
If you are mixing a stain for a single project, and being able to duplicate the stain down the line is not important, then you can just add "a little" here and there until you get what you want.
When I am mixing something that I might have to duplicate in the future, I keep a set of measuring cups and spoons for the purpose. I have a 3 ring binder with a page for every job, and I keep careful notes as I am fiddling with the mixture. I have had calls from people who I built something for 5 or 10 years ago, and they want something else with the same finish. And the notes have saved a lot of time.
Besides, if you keep track of what you do, in time you'll develop a good sense for what you could add or subtract from a given mix for a slightly different effect.
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Lizzett,
I found it helps to first make up 8 oz. solutions in peanut butter jars of all the stains. I think with Trans Tint its 1/2 a teaspoon to 8 oz. of water. It maked very easy to change ratios and test impact.
BG, I thank you for that tip. Just bought my first bottles of Transtint, and anything that saves time and aggravation is welcomed!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
A U.S. imperial pint of base liquid is 16 fluid ounces, or 32 tablespoons or 96 teaspoons. Therefore, for all practical purposes a teaspoon is equal to 1%. If you have a quart of the base use 2 teaspoons for 1%, and so forth.
Measure if you need to be able to repeat, otherwise just creep up on the desired color in small increments.
When I need to measure small amounts of liquid accurately, I use some plastic syringes. You can get them from an eye dropper size to a caulking gun. Great thing is, you just insert the tip in the liquid and pull up the amount you need. They are marked in metric graduations, so proportioning is easy.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
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