Experiments with dye

[Queso]

I managed to get some blanks dyed without coloring my shop this week.

Top is box elder from my grandparents' farm in Iowa. Bottom is BLMB from Woodcraft.

The top pen in this picture is colored with the prismacolor pens from Michaels. They're expensive, but have really vivid colors. Lacquer and CA tend to make the ink run, though. Bottom is boxwood. It is super tight grained, and I didn't leave it in the dye nearly long enough. It was only a couple of hours, and it probably should have soaked for at least two or three days.

 

[rtgleck]

Very nice looking pens there. Great job.

 

[JimGo]

Nice job! Those PrismaColor markers were very tempting...guess I'll have to go back and get some!

 

[rtjw]

The pens are all fantastic.

 

[PenWorks]

Very nice, that's half the battle, getting the dye on the pen and not the floor!
Excellent looking pens.

 

[darbytee]

Those look great Paul. That prismacolor one looks amazing.

 

[leehljp]

I like the prismacolor too! Great looking and very interesting!

 

[pastorbill1952]

Pens are good looking. Did you try sanding the boxwood and dying with another color, etc.?

 

[Gregory Huey]

Nice job and it looks like I am off to Michaels

 

[swm6500]

Nice looking pens Paul. Hard to judge how long to leave one in the dye.

 

[Gary]

Very nice looking. It would be good to know if the color will hold up with time.

 

[woodscavenger]

What do you mean by "leaving it in the dye?" When I did my super purple pen I just laid on the color, burnished with paper towel, one coat of BLO, then multiple CA coats. I don't understand the soaking comment.

 

[Leslie]

Now I have a good excuse to tell my husband to get me some prisma's.

Nice Pens

 

[Fleabit]

Looking good. Glad to see you quit dying your shop[}] Good job.

 

[Queso]

I used two methods to color these pens. The prisa-color pen was just done with the markers. The others were actually turned to size, sanded to 1000, and immersed in a water-soluable dye solution I got from Woodcraft. The Box Elder and the maple were immersed for more than 24 hours. The boxwood was done last week, and it was only in the solution for a couple of hours. There is more than one variable at play here, but I can reason that denser and tight grained woods will have to be in the solution longer. The other woods weren't punky, so they were pretty dense as well. They penetration of the dye was a lot greater for the pens in the top pic than for the boxwood.

 

[jdavis]

Very nice

 

[woodguy1975]

Great looking pens. I like the multicolored one the best.

BTW guys, I got a set of 24 Prismacolor markers off ebay for like $15. A set of 24 is something close to $45 in the stores. They are very vivid colors. I've also found that CA will change the color sometimes. I've found that yellow Sharpie will turn red when CA is applied and the lighter green Sharpie turns brown with CA. You gotta experiment to see how the colors react to the CA if that is the finish you use.

Good Luck,

John

 

[MDWine]

I like the thought of different colors, especially since I have so much Maple!
Do you apply the color, then sanding sealer, then finish?