To dye or not to dye

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
P

plantman

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
3,437
Location
Green Bay, Wi
The question last week by larryc, "does anybody use this method of finishing wood" and when and why should you consider dying wood, and how do you do it. Here are three pens that I have chosen to use Alcohol Inks on to inhance the grain or change the color of the blank to something not found in nature. The pen kits are not important so I won't go into them, it's the use of dyes that is the subject. The first and third pens are turned from Tiger Maple. If these were just naturaly finished, you would never see the tiger stripes, rays, and rings of the wood. By adding a Green Alcohol Ink to the blank I have brought out all the features on the wood that were hidden, plus a color that is not found naturaly. The third pen has a Purple Alcohol Ink added to inhance the features of the wood grain, plus make an eye poping color. The middle pen was turned from a very dull gray Corian blank and inhanced with a Blue Alcohol Ink to add some color. There is no limit to what you can do with a little color added. Jim S
 

Attachments

  • DSCF0008 (639x800).jpg
    DSCF0008 (639x800).jpg
    350.7 KB · Views: 388
  • DSCF0009 (642x800).jpg
    DSCF0009 (642x800).jpg
    333.9 KB · Views: 299
  • DSCF0010 (633x800).jpg
    DSCF0010 (633x800).jpg
    351.6 KB · Views: 302
Last edited:
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Very nice; and, an inspiration for me. Bringing out the grain and look in wood is always a great idea. I have not thought of this before and will serious consider, thanks for the motivation.
The pens look great and are eye popping.
 
CORIAN????

I would never have considered that!!!

Is this just surface dying or did you use vacuum or pressure??

Thanks for any info----always here to learn new things!!
Ed
 
ed4copies said:
CORIAN????

I would never have considered that!!!

Is this just surface dying or did you use vacuum or pressure??

Thanks for any info----always here to learn new things!!
Ed
Click to expand...

Hi ED; I am not sure if by "CORIAN????" you mean the using of the material itself or the dying of it. Corian or most other man made surfaces, are about the same as drilling or turning some of the harder Truestones. I once drilled out a set of Corian blanks to 7MM, put them on my lathe, turned to size, and when I went to put the pen together I found out that I had never glued the tubes in. Very tough material !!
All three pens were turned to size, sanded, surfaced dyed, and finished. I find this gives you complete control of the amount of color you want to add to the barrels. The Corian realy did not need a CA finish, only polishing. I tried dying blanks as I vacuum stabilized them, but found the color to be inconsistant and in some cases not penatraiting the wood completely. You can combine dyes and use a blending agent to soften the colors and make them blend together smoothly. It's a wipe on wipe off process until you get the color you want. Hope to see you at the next meeting. Jim S
 
Last edited:
And, by the way, how did you use the alcohol ink as a dye??
Will you please describe the process that you used??
I really love the look, colors, and finish.
 
rblakemore said:
And, by the way, how did you use the alcohol ink as a dye??
Will you please describe the process that you used??
I really love the look, colors, and finish.
Click to expand...

Everything is the same as turning any other pen. When you get the blanks sanded to 1200 or whatever grit you want to sand to, use the Inks to dye your blanks. If you want a smooth even color, apply a few drops on a felt pad and apply to the blank evenly. Rub your pad across the blank with the grain until you get the color you are looking for. If you want a softer color or are using more than one color, add a blending solution or alcohol to lighten and blend the colors as I did in the Monet pen below. Finish with CA. This was the first time I tried this, so there is a lot of room for improvement with practice !!!
If you want an abstract pattern, apply the colors directly from the bottles and apply the blending solution. Alcohol inks can be used on any nonporus surface, glass, plastic, metal, ceramics, or any porus surface such as wood, leather, etc. Alhocol Inks are transparent, so you can apply one color over another to create blends without loosing your grains. Works great for steampunk and foils used on pens. Jim S
 

Attachments

  • DSCF0014 (800x260).jpg
    DSCF0014 (800x260).jpg
    185.2 KB · Views: 218
Last edited:
Where do you get alcohol ink? Is it available in hobby stores or stationary stores, I have never used it before.

Don
 
Don; You can find Alcohol Inks at Hobby Lobby, Michel's, art supply stores, or on line at Tim Holtz.com. The two crafts stores usualy run 40% or 50% off coupons every week. If you want to know more about Alcohol Inks and their uses, type it in your search engine or go to youtube for videos on how to use them. They are made by Ranger Industries in NJ. Jim S
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom