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trouble dyeing bowls

Gary Chapman

Gary Chapman

Joined
Mar 3, 2009
Messages
244
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Location
Madison, Indiana
I just bought some alcohol dyes to use on some maple bowls and am having a terrible time blending the dyes to get an even blend.
The dyes want to make a line where each colr stops and starts. I tried flooding the site with alcohol, tryed rubbing over the colors with plain alcohol, tried everything but they just won't blend enough for me.
GEVE ME SOME HELOP PLEASE< ANYONE GAry
 
My advice would be to do what you did.
you may have a product that does not readily dissolve into the alcohol once it has dried.

We use spirit stains which are alcohol based and the pigments float up into newly applied alcohol.

A small spray bottle of alcohol works well.

Sand the surface well first.

We use a combination of gravity and alcohol to blend the colors.

If you have a line of red and yellow Hold the line horizontal an spritz the upper color with alcohol. It will run down into the lower color and produce orange.
The upper color will get less intense as the color runs down so you may wand to add more color.
By playing wIth the amount alcohol and tilt you can get quite a bit of control.

The amount of alcohol increases the flow.

Rubbing with a cloth soaked in alcohol removes the color and puts it in the cloth.

Al
 
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It sounds like you have the dye way too concentrated. The best advice is to get Jimmy Clewes' Turn It Up DVD set.

When you mix up a color in alcohol use about 4 oz alcohol and a few drops of dye (assuming that you are using TransTint). The idea is to tint the wood and not paint it. Add about 25 drops of dye and test it on a piece of wood. If necessary add more dye.Continue until you reach the desired amount of tint, but keep in mind that the darker the stain, the less grain you will see. You can also build up a color by using multiple applications if it is too light.

Start off by sanding the bare wood to at least 400 grit, but no more than 600. Mist he wood with alcohol and then use a lighter to burn off the alcohol. You do not need to burn it off, but the wood needs to be dry before the next step. The grain will be raised, but do not sand it smooth.

Fold up a small piece of paper towel and moisten one corner with dye. Rub it on the wood and continue until you have this color everywhere you want it. Do NOT soak the wood with dye -- it should be almost dry about 20 seconds after application. We are just wanting to color the surface and not penetrate into the wood. Lightly mist with alcohol, burn off the alcohol, and then sand with 400 grit. Where you want to blend colors, sand until the dye feathers to bare wood.

Apply the second color over the first and over the bare areas. If you are not familiar with mixing colors, then practice of scrap pieces to see what the result will look like -- otherwise, you may end up with some drab muddy looking colors. Sand to get the desired degree of blending. If necessary, mist the surface lightly with alcohol, but be forewarned that too much misting can lead to the dye soaking into the wood where blended colors that looked OK on the surface will just look dark when soaked into the wood.

The first two colors should have no more than a medium density. If you want to add any accent colors after this point, use either a bright color such as yellow or a dark color such as purple. Either of those accents should be done sparingly and use them where it would be "natural" to have highlights or dark shadows. Dampen a piece of cloth with alcohol to blend away the harsh edges of the accent colors. Sand smooth up to about 1500 grit. At this point, you can decide whether to lightly mist the surface again with alcohol. If you do, quick flare off the alcohol so that the colors do not mush together and simply become drab.

After it has dried, spray it with a coat of lacquer and sand to remove orange peel and other surface imperfection. The lacquer will make the colors pop. Sand to about 1000 grit. Repeat with several more coats of lacquer. I polish the last couple coats to about 12000 grit Micromesh.
 
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An air brush works very well for applying dyes. Start off will a very light coat, allow it to set for a few minutes and continue applying until you get the depth of color you are looking for. Just allow it to do its thing after each application. After the ETOH flashes off, it looks a little different than when first applied. Then start on the next color and allow it to lap over the edge of the previous color. Try it on a practice piece first, tho.
 
Dyes

I use a dye thats made for dying the veneer on drum instruments. Its made buy The Drum Foundry. It cost $10 an ounce and applies very well, I haven't had a problem with it and look very good. they have all different colors and it is water soluble. I dilute the dye at half of what the directions say and it doesnt come out so dark. Hope this helps.
 
I was also going to mention the air brush. I find it easier to blend the colors especially if you want the first color to show through and created a 3rd color at the junction of the 2 colors. The Air brush seems to give me more control.
I have used what is probably an antique Paasche airbrush for years but it finally gave up the ghost. It was given to me by our graphic artist when everything went to computers. I think part of it is clogged and I can't seem to clean it well enough. Anyway I just bought an Iwata Eclipes. Haven't been able to use it yet because I need one adaptor to make everything fit. I've ordered it and it will probably be here today or tomorrow.
What I could not find out was what really is the difference in all the models. Iwata has air brushes from about $64 to $419. There isn't a clear explanation of what makes one better than the others. I just went with the feeling of about $120 was what I could justify spending. It will probably (and if appearance is a clue) be better. It certainly seems well constructed.
Air brushes of course give you many more options on coloring work if you get into masking. One thing I like doing is coloring over the box elder red with the same color but using a light fast dye to make it more permanent. Learned that from Binh Pho and it works well but requires a good air brush and a bunch of practice to get it right.
 
John, I'm confused. Are you talking about translucent paints or dyes in using the airbrush. I use an Iwata I bought from Binh and have been reluctant to use anything but airbrush paints for fear of crapping it up. Can dyes be used in the airbrush?
 
Hal Taylor said:
John, I'm confused. Are you talking about translucent paints or dyes in using the airbrush. I use an Iwata I bought from Binh and have been reluctant to use anything but airbrush paints for fear of crapping it up. Can dyes be used in the airbrush?
Click to expand...

Aniline dyes are more than translucent -- they are transparent to a range of light wavelengths which is what determines their color. They are classified as synthetic organic compounds and can be dissolved in either water or alcohol (usually ethanol). Since water is slow to evaporate I believe that most woodturners use alcohol.

When aniline dye is dissolved in alcohol, it is as thin as the alcohol for all practical purposes. Unlike a pigment stain which consists of relatively large particles suspended in a solution, dyes dissolve into free molecules in solution. This means that there is no chance of clogging up the jets. I am not really much of an airbrush user, but I would be more concerned about the paint orifice being too large for aniline dye.

Unless you are doing several projects simultaneously, I think that airbrushing could be very time consuming for a single item.
 
I too would recommend using and airbrush. Alcohol based dyes spray through an airbrush even easier and clean up eaiser than airbrush paints. I have applied by mixing first, and then applying with airbrush, and also spraying on the lightest color and then going over it with the darker color. Either approach will provide a blended appearnce with dyes. The most important part of selecting an airbrush is to get a "double action" model. That allows for seperate control of air volume, and spray material volume which is essential for airbrushing woodturning.

Airbrushing can go very quickly with a little practice. It takes about the same amount of time to mix colors and load the airbrush as it does to spray it for smaller pieces. Larger pieces take a few minutes, but nothing blends better than an airbrush! The few pieces I have posted on here have all been airbrushed if you want a basic example.
 
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