Rit Dye did not do it... but this did....

[Old Griz]

OK I tried Rit Dye in water and also in denatured alcohol... also tried some acrylics thinned to a transparent consistency... Sharpie colored markers... none of them did what I needed... gave me a nice semi-transparent color on the maple ornaments that dried very quickly and did not smear when I put on the final finish..
I spent about 4 hours today playing with various coloring agents.. the biggest problem was getting a good yellow color.
I was about to give up.. went into the house to get a cold soda and spotted my 5 yr olds Crayola Markers... HELL I tried everything else (BYW have you ever tried to take your kids favorite markers away.. not a pretty site to see Daddy beg.. LOL) ... I'll be switched if they did not work and work just like I wanted... I went through about $20 of various stuff with no results and found the answer in a $5.99 box of kids markers...
Most of the other coloring agents gave good color but the dry time would be a killer for someone trying to turn out a lot of ornaments for sale...
These ornaments are turned from 1.5" maple dowels I get from Cue Components (http://cuecomponents.com/mahadobx18.html). They are turned and then sanded to 320 grit. The marker is passed over the area to be colored twice and then burnished with a clean paper towel (it gets a nice gloss and makes it semi-transparent), then I finish with wax... the silver and gold areas are done off the lathe with a Sharpie Metallic Marker... the tops still need to be drilled and a mini ring eye put in..
I don't care about the light fastness of these since they are going to be tree ornaments and not subject to direct sunlight... but I am going to test one of each color to see how they do standup in case I want to experiment on a pen...
I got the idea for these from the latest issue of American Woodturner, the AAW magazine..

 

[C_Ludwigsen]

Tom, I LOVE IT!!! Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. So there is no finish over the marker? I've been wondering if they would look more "real" with a high gloss over the deep color.

Congrats. But you are a brave man wrestling markers from a child. I have to catch mine in the act of trying to create works of art on the living room walls before I can take them away without an argument.

Good job.

 

[Old Griz]

Chuck and Drew... you have to be kidding... I ended up taking her to the craft store and it cost me an additional $20 over what I already wasted... LOL... you never get off easy when you take your kid's stuff for woodworking... but on the bright side.. she loves to help me in the shop and has not yet learned that sweeping sawdust into a pile is work.. LOL..
When you burnish the marker with a paper towel it takes on a nice gloss... so I decided to just wax these with some carnuba.. they have a nice subtle gloss.. I will probably end up dipping the next one in some thinned Deft to see how they look... I am a little leary about wiping on the Deft on the lathe over the market... I might also try a light spray of Deft with the lathe running at the slowest setting, I have done that on pens and it dries real quick..

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

Tom, Be careful when you dip the marker colored wood in thinned Deft. I was marking the inside of the brass tubes with a black marker so I could orient the wood grain more quickly. I had trouble seeing the mark inside the tube. One time I dipped and the sun was coming through the shop window and shining on the jar of Deft. As I raised the pen tube out of the Deft I saw a little cloud leave the bottom of the tube and vanish into the Deft.

Then it hit me, the lacquer thinner in the Deft is a solvent for the marker. You may find your bottle or can of Deft suddenly turning color when you dip one of those ornaments. I wouldn't do it with a new full jar of thinned material or you may contaminate the whole thing. Try putting color on a test piece and brushing or wiping some lacquer on it, if you wipe the color on down the sample then you can figure that it will dissolve the color.

 

[Old Griz]

MMMM Mac... didn't think of that... but I believe these are water based markers.. there is no smell (last thing I need is my daughter getting buzzed on markers) .. I have to go out and check...

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

Right, didn't think of that. Kids markers are not what they were 50 years ago. If they are water base then it shouldn't cause a problem, but I would still do a test on a scrap before dipping a whole peice in laquer, just incase that coloring is multi solvent affected. Please do let us know how it comes out when you finish a few.

 

[Doghouse]

If it does desolve, you can always end up with a colored laquer to dip them in.

 

[jwoodwright]

Tom, this is a Round-To-It that I made several Years ago. I was practicing Texturing and this Piece of Alaskan Birch Volunteered. It kinda looked plain, so I reached for a Sharpie Marker, and another... Buffed with a wadded paper towell, found out how to shread paper fast...

Gave it to my Teen. Now she has no excuse for not doing her chores as she doesn't have to wait to get Round-To-It.[]
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