Anybody use this finishing method on pens?

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When I made wood pens I took great pride in my ability to produce colorful highly interesting pens by choosing colorful highly interesting wood. I went out of my way to stress to people that I used no stains or dyes to achieve the beauty that they saw. People were often pleasantly surprised by this.

When I made wood furniture, I often used bland unremarkable wood to be able to keep the cost of the furniture low. I always used stains and dyes to try and make the wood look like something more than what it was. If anybody thought to ask about stains it was only to ask if I could make another one a different color. Nobody was ever surprised.

[personal bias mode on] I would never use stained or dyed wood in a WOOD pen. It just doesn't seem right to me. Even the worlds most exotic and beautiful woods can be had for not much money in pen blank size. If a pen needs colors that can't be found in nature, then it needs to be a different kind of pen, but not a WOOD pen. [personal bias mode off]

Having said that, I love using colorful resins and resin / wood hybrids to make pens. I just don't call them WOOD pens.

As far as the technique in the video I can't believe somebody thought a video needed to be made of applying dye to wood??? Seriously????? People couldn't figure that out themselves?????

Now marbling wood is a different animal. If you want color on your wood turnings, consider that.

Marbling Wood - YouTube

Ed
 
Yes Larry; I don't know what products were used in the video, but I do use Alcohol Inks and Aniline Powder dyes to add detail and color to some of the less attractive woods. In Maple, a little color will bring out the eyes, waves, and rays found in the wood that you might not otherwise see. Like ED, I love and collect exotic woods from all over the world and makes pens and other items out of them. You can't beat the natural color and grains found in these woods, and I often use a clear or polished wax finish to show off these features. Men like masculine woods and natural finishes. Women, on the other hand, prefer pastels and vibrant colors such as purples, yellows and greens not easily found in woods in nature. So that's where the dyes come in. The art of dying wood has been around for many thousands of years and I'm sure will be here for a long time to come. I agree with Ed, the video was a no brainer to most woodworkers. If it had stated what products were used, what the wood prep was before the dye was applied, or explained that different woods take dyes differently, there may have been some lessons learned. Marbleizing, ebonizing, graining, and dying of wood have been with us a long time. Many people ignore the wood completely and paint over it, sometimes for good reasons. To each his or her own method is there choise in the way they choose to express themselfs. Life would be quite dull if everybody liked the same things. Jim S
 
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