Dyeing corn cob lessons and questions

[pmpartain]

I have made about a half dozen corn cob pens. The first ones were made with corn that I had first eaten and then dried. Yesterday, I went to Tractor Supply and bought Critter Corn. I got 6.5 pounds of dried corn on the cob for about 4 bucks. The stuff is super easy to get the kernels off of the cobs. They were dried much better, tended to be straighter, and were much easier to work with than the stuff that I ate.

Since last weekend, I have been trying to dye some cobs and get that to work. I bought Rit dye from Hobby Lobby. I've been trying the blue. A lady at a fabric store had concerns about that type of dye. She said it wouldn't penetrate enough. Seems like that is the case. If you have to sand the thing at all, after applying the stuff, the color comes right off. Last night, I soaked one for about an hour in the dye, lightly sanded the fuzz off, and let dry overnight. This morning, when I tried a CA/BLO finish, some of the blue came off because of the CA application, and I lost a little color when I hit the cob with steel wool. Seems like the stuff is mostly surface only, but the pen is pretty good looking anyway despite the lack of color in a few spots.

In Woodturning design a while back, there is an write up of making these pens. The author used Dye Na Flow dye. Have to mail order it from here. Craft Supplies sells an analine dye that seems to be petroleum based.

Anyone have a similar experience? Is the Dye Na Flow dye that much better for this application?

Thanks a lot

 

[fiferb]

I use the Dye-na-flow from Michael's craft store. They come in little bottles that you can get a drop at a time. I turn the cob to the desired shape and size. Then put a few drops of the dye on a paper towel or directly onto the cob. I keep doing this until it becomes the desired shade. Some of the dye will come off when you apply CA but not enough to be a concern. Good luck and make sure you post some pictures.[]

 

[pmpartain]

After turning and sanding, how do you handle the voids in the cob? I know to use CA on sandpaper to make a slurry and fill in, but how does the dye perform on those areas? In other words, does the dye stain CA as well, or will you get natural cob color impregnated CA in the holes?

 

[Glass Scratcher]

Contrary to the name, Dye Na Flow, is a paint. So Sez Jacquard, the manufacturer.

You do have to thermoset(heat set) Dye Na Flow, after application.

http://www.jacquardproducts.com/index.php

 

[pmpartain]

In case anyone is interested, I just called Jacquard. Their guy recommended the Pinata Color product. Said you can apply with a paper towel and let it dry. I ordered a few 1/2 ounce jars of the stuff. I'll try it out when it gets here.