I’m using transfast water soluble dyes for the first time to get plywood mahogany and solid face frames / edgbanding to match in color. Darkening both, and adding red to the (otherwise tan) plywood and brown to the (otherwise pink) sold mahogany. I matched the colors to an antique drop leaf table that will be in the same room – and got it perfect, a nice rich reddish brown on the sample board, which I shellac’d and topped with Briwax. Then just as I was about to begin dying the project, my wife asked me a questions that stopped me in my tracks.
If the antique has its color through patina and age, what will happen to my dyed mahogany over the years? Will it further darken, or will the dye and top coat prevent that? Should I stop a shade or two lighter and assume that time will bring the colors to match the antique? Or will this pink / tan wood never look like the old mahogany that was forested long ago?
Thanks for your input –
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A lot of the darkening is due to UV exposure. You can speed this darkening with chemical treatment. Some woods will darken with Potassium Dichromate, others with Lye. They need to be washed afterward to neutralize the chemical and allow the finish to penetrate. There are books on finishing that go into this in depth, including the safety aspects of using chemical agents. Trying to get an absolute match is frustrating, at best. Time changes everything and if you can get the pieces to look good together, that may be a better choice.
It will change color a little. Lighter, darker? Don't know. Most dyes fade. Some almost perfect, but some fade a lot. The mahogany will darken. The net long-term effect, who knows. Pigments can be more stable in color than dyes. Depends on which pigments.
Cut your sample board in half. Put half in a dark place. Put the other half outdoors in the sun for a week. Compare and see. Not the best time of year for this, but it will give you an idea.
So, the dye may lighten (I thought "TransFast" was supposed to be color fast?) and the wood may darken, and the net result is "who knows". Ok, I can accept that. I'll try your test with the sun light ... and here in Sunny South Florida it is always a good time of the year for that! Thanks for your input.
The metal complex dyes are very good, comparatively. But, even brick fades with time. Some dyes will have a visible amount of fading after only a day in the sun. If you want it to look "really pretty good" after a long time, metal complex dyes are good. If you want it to stay exactly the same color as some other object in the long term, that gets complicated. Your dye is a likely mixture of several primary dyes, all of which fade at different rates. Brown isn't going to suddenly become blue overnight. But, there will be subtle long-term changes.
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