# Looking for dark blue waterbased wood dye in UK



## Anonymous (14 Jul 2004)

Hello all, first post.

I'm trying to source a deep blue, or midnight blue, water based wood dye for a snare drum I'm building. Would anyone know where I might obtain this colour of wood dye? I've seen marine blues, and lighter shades, but not the shade I'm looking for.

Any pointers to suppliers would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Stephen Mulholland
Northern Ireland


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## Alf (14 Jul 2004)

Welcome to the forum, Stephen. 500th member what's more! Congrats.  

Not sure who's dyes you've looked at, but mixing your own might be an option using, for instance, Liberon's Concentrated Water Soluble Dyes. Terry Smart of Chestnut can advise you on their stuff, and he's bound to be along shortly.

Cheers, Alf


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## Anonymous (14 Jul 2004)

Alf":2pbubty0 said:


> Welcome to the forum, Stephen. 500th member what's more! Congrats.
> 
> Not sure who's dyes you've looked at, but mixing your own might be an option using, for instance, Liberon's Concentrated Water Soluble Dyes. Terry Smart of Chestnut can advise you on their stuff, and he's bound to be along shortly.
> 
> Cheers, Alf



Thanks, Alf - do I not get a year's supply of wet-and-dry sandpaper or something for being the 500th member?

I've looked at Liberon's range, and they have a Marine Blue dye, but it's not quite what I'm looking for, and as for mixing my own - this is my first attempt at dying/lacquering, so the more ready-made stuff I can get, the better, as I intend to build a few other drums with the same finish if the first one turns out ok, and it might be more hassle than it's worth trying to get the exact same colour again if I mix my own.

Hopefully the mysterious  Terry can point me in the right direction.

Thanks

Stephen


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## Alf (14 Jul 2004)

mully":35bkydwh said:


> do I not get a year's supply of wet-and-dry sandpaper or something for being the 500th member?


'Fraid not. Just the glory.  But you'll be able to do your own drum roll. :wink: 

I know what you mean about mixing your own; it's always tricky to get it the same colour twice. :? 

Cheers, Alf


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## Terry Smart (14 Jul 2004)

I think I'd prefer enigmatic...

We produce a Royal Blue stain which could well be the right colour, further coats of it will deepen the colour so a very dark blue should be very achievable.

Only thing is, we only do this in a Spirit Stain. I guess you have your reasons for wanting to use a water based one, but the advantages of a Spirit Stain are that it doesn't raise the grain, dries very quickly and it allows us to use very fade resistant pigments.

If this isn't suitable I think you're going to have a long search; beware of some of the mix-it-yourself stuff as some of the powders are not fade resistant.

How are you planning finish your drum? It is also possible to tint our Cellulose Sanding Sealer and Melamine Lacquer with the stains to give an even deeper colour.

Hope this helps.


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## Anonymous (15 Jul 2004)

I used the liberon palette dye on a wooden venitian blind in my bathroom last year - can't remember the exact colour 'til I get home and look at the tin - but after about 3 coats that gave a lovely deep , almost navy blue, went on very evenly too

m


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## Anonymous (15 Jul 2004)

Terry Smart":v8nf8dxr said:


> We produce a Royal Blue stain which could well be the right colour, further coats of it will deepen the colour so a very dark blue should be very achievable.
> 
> Only thing is, we only do this in a Spirit Stain. I guess you have your reasons for wanting to use a water based one,



Hi Terry - 

I'm just following the advice of others in the custom drum business, most of whom have recommended a water-based dye. This is my first try at anything like this, so I'm not sure for the exact reason for the "water-based dye" suggestion, though it has been mentioned to me that one needs to be careful that the dye and the lacquer don't react with each other in an adverse way. I'll try to find out more detail and post it here.



> How are you planning finish your drum?



Dye, then a water-based acrylic lacquer (and lots of wet-and-dry sandpaper!). The guy who owns and runs FVF Custom Drums (www.fvfdrums.co.uk) has been most helpful and has given me a step-by-step guide to achieving a smooth, high-gloss finish by hand.

Thanks for the response

Stephen


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