Had to attempt to re-create last night's accident

[Drstrangefart]

I think I have it figured out pretty well now. New trick in the arsenal. All it takes is intentionally under-turning a good bit, soaking the bejeezus out of the blank in dye, letting id dry, then shaving maybe a fingernail's thickness off of it. This one I left a bit TOO large, anticipating deeper soak on the dye. It still looks pretty cool, and I figure better results could be had with a stronger dye that's denatured alcohol-based. Either way, hope someone else wants to try this out, I'd love to see someone else's results. I know I've posted a lot of one pieces lately. They're a cheap kit to experiment with and keeps my turning and finishing skills sharp. They are a bit of a challenge to get dead right.

 

[Jgrden]

clever

 

[Drstrangefart]

clever

Thank you, sir. Results with non-burls have so far been a little disappointing. I do have some curly maple to try this with possibly tomorrow.

 

[boxerman]

Cool looking pen.

 

[Drstrangefart]

Cool looking pen.

Thanks! Tried the curly maple, and it also failed to respond to this process well. This may jest be limited to various burls. Now I need to find a bunch of little scraps of burls small enough for not much more than a Slimline.

 

[KenV]

Alan -- you will get similar changes but probably not a mixed a pattern with dye on wood and sanding back -- especially sanding with the grain. The circular marks of sand paper are especially visible when they scour through the dyed wood to the plain grain underneath.

If you run out of food coloring -- Kool Aid (unsweetened) is used by the fiber folks to do dying (but again, not very light fast -- fades over time).

Also try a second color redye -- after you have brought some of the plain wood up again - but pay attention to the color wheel so you can avoid the muddy color combinations.


(You are hooked on those one piece slimmies -- and they show off your experiments well)

 

[Drstrangefart]

Alan -- you will get similar changes but probably not a mixed a pattern with dye on wood and sanding back -- especially sanding with the grain. The circular marks of sand paper are especially visible when they scour through the dyed wood to the plain grain underneath.

If you run out of food coloring -- Kool Aid (unsweetened) is used by the fiber folks to do dying (but again, not very light fast -- fades over time).

Also try a second color redye -- after you have brought some of the plain wood up again - but pay attention to the color wheel so you can avoid the muddy color combinations.


(You are hooked on those one piece slimmies -- and they show off your experiments well)

I am indeed locked on the one pieces. They only cost like 2 bucks to experiment on. I will be trying ot the lengthwise sanding soon, still looking for a more readily available wood that gets a result as strong as the burls do, as burl isn't on the cheap end of things. If it wasn't apparent, I enjoy finding dirt cheap ways to make these things look as good as I can.

 

[KenV]

Woods with light spalting will give you a different adsorbtion of the dye -

Birdseye and curly maple are less costly than burls -- and are good to work dyes with.

Also look at angle cuts and cross cuts as the end grains will uptake dye differently -

and the crotch/knot woods will have different grain adsorption


Keep them coming, Alan!!! Fun to see what you are coming up with.

 

[Drstrangefart]

Woods with light spalting will give you a different adsorbtion of the dye -

Birdseye and curly maple are less costly than burls -- and are good to work dyes with.

Also look at angle cuts and cross cuts as the end grains will uptake dye differently -

and the crotch/knot woods will have different grain adsorption


Keep them coming, Alan!!! Fun to see what you are coming up with.

Will do. Got a couple of worthless wood blanks cooking right now. I think we have some cross-cut cedar that might work, provided I don't shatter it on the lathe.

 

[Steve Busey]

Neat effect, Doc!

 

[Drstrangefart]

And now I'm left to wonder if this would work just as well with magic markers...... HMMMMMMMMMM.......

 

[Paul in OKC]

Did that a few years ago for grooms gift pens for a wedding. Beautiful pen. They decided on acriylic! I think I tried it with markers as well, and it does not soak as deep, but it did work.