Dyeing Bubinga??!

[lostgoat]

Hi all,

I'm hoping to get some advice on the possibilities of dyeing Bubinga. I have some nice figured timber that I would like to make pop and thought it would work with some dye. Similar to the curly maple in the attached photo. Does Bubinga take dye? I thought a vibrant red would be nice.

 

[sunnybob]

Surely that's a waste of a wonderful red wood that is now on the endangered list and getting harder to source by the day?


Why not use something that can be more easily sourced and replaced?

 

[lostgoat]

Hi Bob,
I get what you mean. I'm not trying to hide the grain or beauty of my Bubinga. But just accentuate it. Does that make sense?

 

[sunnybob]

All for accentuating, just not convinced a dye will do much for it, but then again, red is my favourite colour and I'm a full gloss kind of guy. 8)

Went to yandles today, their wood stock is incredible. Havent been there in 16 months. They've started selling purpleheart in usable planks of 2 metres and less, and have loads of wide live slabs for coffee tables, ranging right up to almost a grand in price.
They have also either waxed or sprayed most of the exotic stuff to show off the grain even while its resting against the walls. Maybe they are having to educate all the new woodworkers as to what the finished product will look like.


Also, what may be of interest to you, they are selling Crimson Guitars products, loads of dyes and stains as well as DIY guitar kits. You may well want to checkout Crimson's website. They have one finished guitar and it must weigh 4 kilos at least. The guy said it might be best playing it sitting down.

 

[scooby]

No harm in trying. do you have an off cut you could try it on? If you like the end result (which is all that matters) then its not a waste.

edit: forgot to say, the maple looks good.

 

[rafezetter]

No harm in trying. do you have an off cut you could try it on? If you like the end result (which is all that matters) then its not a waste.

edit: forgot to say, the maple looks good.

The depth of colour in that maple looks to be due to vaccum dying, not sure how bubinga may react to that being so dense?

 

[Orraloon]

The reason bubinga is so sought after, rare and expensive is because it looks so good all on its own. I think the figure will pop when a finish is applied without any dye. Being a dark red/drown to start with any dye will likely only darken things even more. As said by rafezetter try it out on a small offcut first as the results will be a bit unknown before you try. Dyes usually are best on a light backing like that maple.
Regards
John

 

[OscarG]

When I was building my guitar I tried loads of different dyes, mostly very disappointing.

These guys are brilliant, Keda Dyes. US based, but they sell on eBay. They're really helpful when answering questions too.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Keda-Dye-Color-Kit-5-Color-Wood-Dyes-Makes-5-Quarts-In-5-Wood-Stain-Colors/351947043142?epid=1601854660&hash=item51f1adb146:g:59kAAOSwtQZbkKc~&frcectupt=true

It's an aniline dye, powder you can mix in either water or alcohol. Very strong so a little goes a long way. I don't know about dyeing bubinga but these are great dyes.

 

[custard]

A year or so ago I had a few very large, live-edge boards of highly figured Bubinga, and I turned them into slab top desks and tables,

Even with just a simple Osmo finish the grain looked pretty spectacular. Also, because Bubinga is quite oily it may not take dye evenly. You can't be prescriptive about stuff like this as every board is different, but if you do want to go down the dye route then test carefully on some scraps first.

 

[ColeyS1]

A year or so ago I had a few very large, live-edge boards of highly figured Bubinga, and I turned them into slab top desks and tables,


Even with just a simple Osmo finish the grain looked pretty spectacular. Also, because Bubinga is quite oily it may not take dye evenly. You can't be prescriptive about stuff like this as every board is different, but if you do want to go down the dye route then test carefully on some scraps first.

I remember that- stunning !!

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