About dyeing...

"Bob Crawford" wrote: (clip) Any tears will soak up the dye and show like a sore thumb. (clip) So, any thoughts/experiences/tips on dyeing? (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ More of a *thought* than an *experience.* If you dilute the dye a lot, and apply it prior to the final cut, you probably won't have as much trouble with the dye collecting in the tiny blemishes.

If you think of the wood's grain as straws and note that a lot more dye will go into the ends of the straws (the end grain) than will go between the sides of the straws (the side grain), life will get a little easier.

Given that, if you dilute the dye you can always add another coat to make it darker, whereas starting out concentrated makes it difficult or impossible to make things lighter.

So, if you can seal the ends of the straws by filling them with something relatively colorless - like say a blonde, super blonde or platina dewaxed shellac, you can reduce the amount of dye the end grain can soak up. This assumes that you seal with shellac and then dilute your dye with water (If you were to dilute it with alcohol, which is what the shellac is cut with, you'd reduce or defeat the shellac's sealing function).

The other thing to consider is applying the dye with an airbrush rather than a piece of clothe, paper towel or brush - the latter acting as a source of too much dye -- which the end grain will suck up.

Water will raise the grain so a light sanding with a fine grit before shooting the dye will help.

Jeff Jewitt, the manufacturer of TransTint dyes and and renown finisher, has some information on his web site that may be helpful.

See:

I did that Jack, thanks a lot! These two pictures are of Black Walnut pieces cut from the same log, one dyed with a 4-1 ratio (alcohol to dye) of Black Aniline and the other with a 4-1 ratio of red Aniline dye. The "personality change is much more dramatic in person than in the pictures.