Here's probably a stupid question about finish/oxidation etc..

[Sam Fleisher]

Both of these are Osage orange. The one on the right is several months old, sits in the sun in the cab of a truck a lot and has non uv polyurethane on it. I made it for my buddy and just saw it again the other day when I took the pic. I do like the patina it's gotten from age.

The one on the left is "fresh" and is finished with spar urethane which has uv inhibitors but it still might oxidize, I don't know it's only about a week old.

The stupid question is what would happen if I were to put something like Transtint dye in a yellow color on one before putting the poly on?

Would it stay yellow as it ages or would it act like it wasn't even there? The others I've made since the first one haven't changed colors like the first but they have the UV resistant poly on them and they aren't out in the sun.

I have already dyed a couple "bordeaux" but like the others they aren't in the sun either.

 

[Bill Boehme]

UV isn’t a necessity ingredient for the wood turning brown. Osage Orange will go from fluorescent yellow to chocolate brown fairly quickly as it dries and is exposed to air. The spar urethane might slow the process down slightly, but nothing will stop it. The yellow Transtint dye won’t help, but maybe fluorescent yellow marking paint is the answer.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

maybe fluorescent yellow marking paint is the answer.

Never know might have to give that a try...........

 

[Ric Williams]

Anyone know if Osage Orange and Mulberry are related? It would seem so with the similar grain, initial yellow color, and tendency to darken as it ages. FWIW, my limited experience with either wood gives me the impression that visually they're similar, but Mulberry isn't nearly as tough as Osage Orange.

 

[Tim Connell]

Osage orange and mulberry are in the same Family, Moraceae.

 

[john lucas]

I find that mulberry stays yellow far longer than Osage. I tried a lot of UV inhibitors in my test of woids that change. None if them worked.
Binh Pho used metallic dyes to color the red in box elder to maintain its color.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

I find that mulberry stays yellow far longer than Osage. I tried a lot of UV inhibitors in my test of woids that change. None if them worked.
Binh Pho used metallic dyes to color the red in box elder to maintain its color.

So there might be some hope for a yellow dye then? I guess I'm going to have to get some and just see for myself. In your wood tests did you use any color dyes other than just UV inhibitor?

 

[Bill Boehme]

So there might be some hope for a yellow dye then?

No, when you use dyes, the result will be subtractive coloration. Yellow dye over brown wood would be a darker yellowish brown. Not attractive. If you aren't familiar with subtractive coloration, get an artist's color wheel to show the result of mixing different colored paints.

 

[hockenbery]

So there might be some hope for a yellow dye then?

Experiment. What @Bill Boehme said about mixing colors is true.
Transparent paints are less affected by the background colors.
Opaque paints cover background colors.


Here is what I got with airbrush paints on chinaberry which turns brown. The sapwood had gone dark from sitting around.
The leaves and hummer are opaque
The flower and background are transparent colors.
What to note is the background which are transparent yellow and orange. The black shows through.

With an airbrush you can control the paint applied with distance and time.
Wish I was better at it but airbrushing is so easy everyone gets some level of success.

If you have occasion to see Joe Fleming or Nick Agar they are terrific. Also lots of others.
Joe sells grex airbrushes at many symposiums.
He lets you paint while he explains. I had an airbrush but after using the pistle grip for a couple minutes he had a sale.

Problem with paints on a cane is they can wear off with use and or abuse.