Alcohol dyes & other cool stuff

[Ed Davidson]

Thought I had tried every wood dye made, but recently discovered a new-to-me alcohol dye that is really terrific...dries quickly, absorbs into the wood perfectly, and buffs out to a glimmering shine. The brand name is Prismatic Alcohol Ink. Also discovered another new-to-me outfit that specializes in decorative laser-able plastic and wood sheet...in literally thousands of designs, colors and materials. Their name is Smokey Hill Laser Supplies. The cabochons you see embedded into these tops are lased/cut from materials supplied by Smokey Hills.

 

[Jim Grieco]

First off - your tops are very nice. The colors really stand out.
The PatternPly is very interesting. Do you think it would hold up to use as a floating bottom for a segmented bowl? Some of those patterns are really cool!
What core do you use?

Thanks

 

[Ed Davidson]

First off - your tops are very nice. The colors really stand out.
The PatternPly is very interesting. Do you think it would hold up to use as a floating bottom for a segmented bowl? Some of those patterns are really cool!
What core do you use?

Thanks

So far, I've cut a couple hundred 1.5" diameter cabochons from about 10 different PatternPly design sheets, most with 1/16" thick MDF core backings, and a couple with black acrylic core backing. BTW, you get a bunch of choices on the core...up to 1/4' thick.

After lasing a design on the plastic, and cutting them into rounds, I'll wipe them down with a soft rag and 99% alcohol to remove the smoke soot. On many of these, I rub the lased areas pretty hard to see if there is any delamination...and so far, there has been zero problems. On some of these PatternPly designs, the finish is a dull matte...so I'll add a coat of epoxy resin to give it a nice shine. That should help protect the design in the long run, as well.

 

[Jim Grieco]

So far, I've cut a couple hundred 1.5" diameter cabochons from about 10 different PatternPly design sheets, most with 1/16" thick MDF core backings, and a couple with black acrylic core backing. BTW, you get a bunch of choices on the core...up to 1/4' thick.

After lasing a design on the plastic, and cutting them into rounds, I'll wipe them down with a soft rag and 99% alcohol to remove the smoke soot. On many of these, I rub the lased areas pretty hard to see if there is any delamination...and so far, there has been zero problems. On some of these PatternPly designs, the finish is a dull matte...so I'll add a coat of epoxy resin to give it a nice shine. That should help protect the design in the long run, as well.

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Thanks for the info and very nice designs!