Dying wood

[spnemo]

I have a bunch of curly maple, spalted curly maple, spalted birch, and clear box elder burl that I would like to dye different colors. I am really intrigued by the double dyed blanks. I understand how to do surface dyes with food color. I am more interested in dyes that penetrate through the entire blank.

I am building a vacuum pot so that I can stabilize some blanks. I assume that I will need to use it to get the dye into the blank.

Here are my questions:

1. What kind of dye is best to use and where can I get it?

2. What is the process for dying these blanks? Would it work better to round and drill the blank first?

3. After the blanks are dyed, will stabilizing change the color?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Constant Laubscher]

Water based dyes works great but you have to dry the wood before you can stabilize it.
With water dye the colors on the outside would look great but might be different on the inside. Blue would look pretty on the outside but when you stabilize it it might be more of a green tint than blue.

I use oil based dyes - Down side they cost a lot more but have great color fastness.

I use very high pressure (3000- 5000 psi) to impregnate the dye and resin into the wood. Lower pressure also works but takes allot longer to get the dye or resin to penetrate fully.

 

[studioso]

The last issue of fine woodworking hade a surprisingly interesting article about dye coloring. I believe it's still on the stands, but you can otherwise see it online (I think that finewoodworking.com has a free 14 day trial).

Also, stabilizing your blanks will most likely dArken your blanks, and depending on the method it might tint them too.
I wonder if it's possible to stabilize them with a water based polyurethane varnished which are extremely neutral...