green zebrawood on european

[studioso]

this is a zeebrawood pen, mounted on an European kit.
I colored it with some blue food coloring, but the yellowish wood makes the final product look green.
you might notice some natural wood spots: this was intentional. I sanded the wood well, than colored it, than used a brush to remove as much dust from the pores (and zebrawood as a very open grain). I though that this might give it a bit more depth, beside for showing that it's actually real wood, since it's finished with CA!
unfortunately I learned with this pen that right before assembling the pen it's a good idea to sand a drop all the edges of the blanks. as you might see right by the nib, there is a bit of an unsightly fringe left by the ca.

comments and critique welcome!

 

[ctubbs]

That is a GREEN pen. Nothing wrong with being GREEN, I rather like a vibrant green like that. It is too bad about that little bit of CA, but we have all learned about that darn tiny bit of finish that hangs out right there. The open spots are just right to show you really do have a wood pen. Beautiful work and congratulations.
Charles

 

[CJWood]

That's a great pen, and i love the food coloring bs a wood dye. I think you did a great job and it's inspiring to new turners like myself.
Thanks for sharing

 

[sbwertz]

I had exactly the same result when I dyed a zebrawood pen blue. The wood doesn't look that yellow, but it sure turned a powder blue dye green.

 

[ossaguy]

Wow,that looks really neat!

Do you just wipe the coloring on,or do you have to soak it and dry it?

Steve

 

[studioso]

thanks for the comments.
food colorings are very concentrated, I just lightly dip a rag in the bottle and wipe it on the blank while I'm turning it by hand. I do it a few times just to make sure it's spread evenly.

I do let it dry for about 2 hours; not sure if this is necessary, I just didn't know how it will react with CA finishing (clouding, bubbling etc.)

 

[ossaguy]

Thanks for the directions,I want to give that a try.


Steve