Colouring wood.

[Bodrighy]

I have a few sycamore formns I have done that I want to have a go at colouring. I have ordered a pack of the spirit colour testers and wonder if anyone here has done any of this. Some of the pros and experts probably have. How do you get that blended effect that I have seen? How to apply etc etc . Any advice welcome.

pete

 

[tekno.mage]

I'd hardly describe myself as either a pro or an expert, but I have recently been experimenting with Chestnut spirit stains on some ash and birch turned items and am happy to share my limited experience.

1. If you are using the tester set - be very, very careful when removing the little plastic plugs that seal the bottles under the lids. They fit very snugly and I had to prise mine out with a small spike - when they do pop out stain flicks everywhere - cover the top of the bottle with a cloth or tissue if you want to avoid stain splashes on your clothes, face, hair & the surrounding area.

2. Make sure the finish on the item you want to stain is first class. Any tiny sanding scratches or areas of slight tearout will be highlighted enormously by the stain.

3. I found that applying the stain using a cloth rather than a brush made for more even coverage off the lathe - but it's messy and wastes stain. For small items (boxes) I've had good results by applying the stain with a small brush or cotton bud while the item is rotating *very slowly* (under 100rpm) on the lathe.

4. Rub off excess stain with a cloth before it dries to avoid a patchy look.

5. The colours do blend into one and other as they are applied to the piece. The stain is based on cellusose thinners so applying one colour over another allows them to blend as new solvent is added with the new colour. Be careful off cross-contaminating the colours in the bottles, though - use a new cloth or cotton bud for each colour, or wash your brush in thinners between colours.

6. The colours dissolve into any cellulose-based product you may use on top of them. This could potentially be a problem if you want to finish with melamine laquer, sanding sealer or Woodwax 22 as darker colours could smear into paler colours on the item.

7. The colours look quite a lot brighter & paler on finished wood than they do on unfinished wood. I mention this because when I first got my set, I tested them all on a scrap of ash and thought they were all (except the yellow an orange) very dark indeed and probably needed thinning. This turned out not to be the case when I used them for real on a finished tool handle!

8. Splashes of stain do not easily wash off fingers or clothes

9. There's a "how to" in pictures here - http://www.cobwebcrafts.co.uk/project1b.htm
showing how to get the blended effect.

tekno.mage

 

[DaveL]

1. If you are using the tester set - be very, very careful when removing the little plastic plugs that seal the bottles under the lids. They fit very snugly and I had to prise mine out with a small spike - when they do pop out stain flicks everywhere - cover the top of the bottle with a cloth or tissue if you want to avoid stain splashes on your clothes, face, hair & the surrounding area.

Very good advice, those plugs are a wonderful ambush waiting for the innocent to amble alone.

 

[CHJ]

1. If you are using the tester set - be very, very careful when removing the little plastic plugs that seal the bottles under the lids. They fit very snugly and I had to prise mine out with a small spike - when they do pop out stain flicks everywhere - cover the top of the bottle with a cloth or tissue if you want to avoid stain splashes on your clothes, face, hair & the surrounding area.

Very good advice, those plugs are a wonderful ambush waiting for the innocent to amble alone.

Better still, leave the plugs in, and just pierce with a sharp point.

That way you can dispense just a drop at a time by squeezing the bottle.

 

[Blister]

Saw a demo on this and the lady said " make sure you wet the wood first "

or the colour wont flow , it just sinks in and can look patchy :lol:

Hope it helps

 

[Bodrighy]

Thank yopu people, I'll post the results when I do some.....good or bad.

Pete

 

[mikec]

Another vote for using a spike to make a small hole. That stain really does go everywhere. Using water may be valid for the water based stains but I don't think it is correct for the spirit based stains. They do blend in very well.

Mike C

 

[Terry Smart]

Just to add a couple of things to this:

Now that you've spoiled our fun about the bungs...
Making a hole in the bung is a good idea. it also avoids waste if you knock the bottle over.
If you do want to remove the bung the best method I've found is to use a suitable sized flat bladed screwdriver; cover the top with a rag and slowly prise the bung out, minimal mess and minimal waste.

I favour applying the stain with the lathe stopped but that's my preference; it's worth experimenting to find what suits you best.

The stains are mainly ethanol/meths based but cellulose will still re-dissolve them, so care needs to be used when applying cellulose based products afterwards. I favour our aerosol products for this as there is no mechanical contact with the work so the colours don't get dragged around.

I'm not sure about the wetting the wood first tip, I've never seen that one before and I don't think I'm in favour of it, but willing to learn.

And finally, yes, they can be very messy, a little goes a long way and often not where you want it!

 

[loz]

HI,

I manage to get the plug out with very little effort, its not held in very tight on my bottles, and then I just tip bottle upside down onto papertowel on my fingertip. I found that little amount covered quite an area.

If you make a hole in the plug - you are going to be tenpted to quirt it out !!!

 

[CHJ]

...If you make a hole in the plug - you are going to be tenpted to quirt it out !!!

Sorry to disagree Loz but it dispenses droplet at a time if just pierced with sharp point (no significant hole)

And it does not go everywhere WHEN you knock over the bottle.

 

[Terry Smart]

From what I can tell the tightness of the fit of the bung seems to vary, probably depending on the mold or something else in the manufacturing process of the bottle/bung.

I think the best advice would be that if using the 'pierced bung' method (did I really just give that a name?!) then hold the cloth on the bung so that it holds it in place when dispensing to prevent accidentally squeezing the bung - and the contents of the bottle - out.

Again, it's whatever you find works best for you.

 

[Bodrighy]

My test bottles arrived this morning and there seem to be no bunds so that option is irrelevant anyway. Just ahve to eb careful as I am not in favour of tatoos :lol:

Pete