Hi all,

I want to dye some strips of wood to use as filler material for different
things I am turning on a lathe. I am trying to get very bright colors like
red, blue, green, yellow, and even maybe white. I have tried a few things
but so far have not had much luck doing what I want. I need good color
penetration of 1/8" (but I would settle for even 1/16") in different types
of wood including some mahogany, oak, perhaps some maple, etc.

I have tried a few things like some water colors, a couple of different dyes
and stains, and a couple of inks, but nothing that is specifically designed
for coloring wood. The thing that has worked best so far is only with
poplar. I boiled a piece that was about 3/4" thick in good ol Rit fabric
dye. Boiled it for about 30 min, and then let it soak over night. The red
color did manage to penetrate all the way to the center of the wood, but it
kept getting lighter in color as I turned it down. By the time I got to the
core, the color was just a very pale and spotty red. I also had a small
piece of mahogany, oak, and maple burl in the same pot. A few swipes with
some sand paper and almost all of the color was gone. Maybe 1/64"
penetration.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Wayne

There are some water based "aniline" dyes in bright colors. I'm not
sure about the depth of penetration of the dyes. You might try looking
for the dyes at woodworking supply websites such as: Woodworkers
Supply, Woodcraft, Lee Valley, Highland Hardware, etc. and continue
with the experiments.

Dale






On Feb 22, 3:07 pm, "NoOne N Particular" wrote:
Hi all,

I want to dye some strips of wood to use as filler material for different
things I am turning on a lathe. I am trying to get very bright colors like
red, blue, green, yellow, and even maybe white. I have tried a few things
but so far have not had much luck doing what I want. I need good color
penetration of 1/8" (but I would settle for even 1/16") in different types
of wood including some mahogany, oak, perhaps some maple, etc.

I have tried a few things like some water colors, a couple of different dyes
and stains, and a couple of inks, but nothing that is specifically designed
for coloring wood. The thing that has worked best so far is only with
poplar. I boiled a piece that was about 3/4" thick in good ol Rit fabric
dye. Boiled it for about 30 min, and then let it soak over night. The red
color did manage to penetrate all the way to the center of the wood, but it
kept getting lighter in color as I turned it down. By the time I got to the
core, the color was just a very pale and spotty red. I also had a small
piece of mahogany, oak, and maple burl in the same pot. A few swipes with
some sand paper and almost all of the color was gone. Maybe 1/64"
penetration.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Wayne

dale martin wrote:
: There are some water based "aniline" dyes in bright colors. I'm not
: sure about the depth of penetration of the dyes. You might try looking
: for the dyes at woodworking supply websites such as: Woodworkers
: Supply, Woodcraft, Lee Valley, Highland Hardware, etc. and continue
: with the experiments.

: Dale

Another thing to try is dyed veneers -- check with the online vendors.
These are cut thicker than typical veneers, and are dyed through.

Try Certainly Wood, B&B Rare Hardwoods, and Flamingo Veneer, for starters --


-- Andy Barss

I'll look into those and see if I can Google some more sources.

Wayne

"Andrew Barss" wrote in message
...
dale martin wrote:
: There are some water based "aniline" dyes in bright colors. I'm not
: sure about the depth of penetration of the dyes. You might try looking
: for the dyes at woodworking supply websites such as: Woodworkers
: Supply, Woodcraft, Lee Valley, Highland Hardware, etc. and continue
: with the experiments.

: Dale

Another thing to try is dyed veneers -- check with the online vendors.
These are cut thicker than typical veneers, and are dyed through.

Try Certainly Wood, B&B Rare Hardwoods, and Flamingo Veneer, for
starters --


-- Andy Barss

I did check out the dyes at Rockler and Woodcraft websites, and at $10 per
ounce and up (WAY up), it was a little pricey just to buy one just for an
experiment. But thanks for the input.

Wayne

"dale martin" wrote in message
oups.com...
There are some water based "aniline" dyes in bright colors. I'm not
sure about the depth of penetration of the dyes. You might try looking
for the dyes at woodworking supply websites such as: Woodworkers
Supply, Woodcraft, Lee Valley, Highland Hardware, etc. and continue
with the experiments.

Dale






On Feb 22, 3:07 pm, "NoOne N Particular" wrote:
Hi all,

I want to dye some strips of wood to use as filler material for different
things I am turning on a lathe. I am trying to get very bright colors
like
red, blue, green, yellow, and even maybe white. I have tried a few
things
but so far have not had much luck doing what I want. I need good color
penetration of 1/8" (but I would settle for even 1/16") in different
types
of wood including some mahogany, oak, perhaps some maple, etc.

I have tried a few things like some water colors, a couple of different
dyes
and stains, and a couple of inks, but nothing that is specifically
designed
for coloring wood. The thing that has worked best so far is only with
poplar. I boiled a piece that was about 3/4" thick in good ol Rit fabric
dye. Boiled it for about 30 min, and then let it soak over night. The
red
color did manage to penetrate all the way to the center of the wood, but
it
kept getting lighter in color as I turned it down. By the time I got to
the
core, the color was just a very pale and spotty red. I also had a
small
piece of mahogany, oak, and maple burl in the same pot. A few swipes
with
some sand paper and almost all of the color was gone. Maybe 1/64"
penetration.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Wayne

"NoOne N Particular" wrote in
:

I did check out the dyes at Rockler and Woodcraft websites, and at $10
per ounce and up (WAY up), it was a little pricey just to buy one just
for an experiment. But thanks for the input.

Wayne


If what you need is something for an experiment, then you need to find a
buddy who has some on his shelf. For your experiment, you're going to need
only a couple of drops. Certainly no more than 1/4 of the bottle.

I, for example, have maybe 6 bottles of the stuff on my shelf, and found
that many of the dye experiments I tried taught me not to use it that way,
or on that kind of wood, or any numbers of 'interesting options'.

Dye stains, in my shop, are now 'toners' for shellac, for the most part.

YMMV.

Patriarch

I'm not sure you'll find a workable solution (pun) for this. Other
than surface coloring, any method will have spotty (pun) results at
best for penetrated color. Most woods will be almost none and some
softer woods will take up some color but as you saw with the Poplar,
not very well.

The only hope I would give you is to use alternative materials. The
guys that make pens use some type of plastics and there is some
colored MDF out there. I've only seen it in advertisements but
somebody must carry it. The colored MDF is one consistenten color all
the way through and comes in some bright colors, like red, blue,
yellow, orange, etc.

On Feb 22, 3:07 pm, "NoOne N Particular" wrote:
Hi all,

I want to dye some strips of wood to use as filler material for different
things I am turning on a lathe. I am trying to get very bright colors like
red, blue, green, yellow, and even maybe white. I have tried a few things
but so far have not had much luck doing what I want. I need good color
penetration of 1/8" (but I would settle for even 1/16") in different types
of wood including some mahogany, oak, perhaps some maple, etc.

I have tried a few things like some water colors, a couple of different dyes
and stains, and a couple of inks, but nothing that is specifically designed
for coloring wood. The thing that has worked best so far is only with
poplar. I boiled a piece that was about 3/4" thick in good ol Rit fabric
dye. Boiled it for about 30 min, and then let it soak over night. The red
color did manage to penetrate all the way to the center of the wood, but it
kept getting lighter in color as I turned it down. By the time I got to the
core, the color was just a very pale and spotty red. I also had a small
piece of mahogany, oak, and maple burl in the same pot. A few swipes with
some sand paper and almost all of the color was gone. Maybe 1/64"
penetration.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Wayne

Pens will probably be my initial application for the colored veneers. I am
thinking of something like Dymonwood, but making my own colors and patterns.
The problem is that I may want it to do other things as well later on.
After all, who could possibly resist buying a black salt and pepper set with
red, and yellow colored bands, or a purple colored bedroom set with
chartreuse, yellow and international orange veneers running through it? I
have thought of alternative materials but really kinda wanted to stick with
"all wood" if possible, except for some non-ferrous metals like copper and
brass, etc. But it is looking like I may have to use them anyway.

Thanks for the reply

Wayne


"SonomaProducts.com" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm not sure you'll find a workable solution (pun) for this. Other
than surface coloring, any method will have spotty (pun) results at
best for penetrated color. Most woods will be almost none and some
softer woods will take up some color but as you saw with the Poplar,
not very well.

The only hope I would give you is to use alternative materials. The
guys that make pens use some type of plastics and there is some
colored MDF out there. I've only seen it in advertisements but
somebody must carry it. The colored MDF is one consistenten color all
the way through and comes in some bright colors, like red, blue,
yellow, orange, etc.

On Feb 22, 3:07 pm, "NoOne N Particular" wrote:
Hi all,

I want to dye some strips of wood to use as filler material for different
things I am turning on a lathe. I am trying to get very bright colors
like
red, blue, green, yellow, and even maybe white. I have tried a few
things
but so far have not had much luck doing what I want. I need good color
penetration of 1/8" (but I would settle for even 1/16") in different
types
of wood including some mahogany, oak, perhaps some maple, etc.

I have tried a few things like some water colors, a couple of different
dyes
and stains, and a couple of inks, but nothing that is specifically
designed
for coloring wood. The thing that has worked best so far is only with
poplar. I boiled a piece that was about 3/4" thick in good ol Rit fabric
dye. Boiled it for about 30 min, and then let it soak over night. The
red
color did manage to penetrate all the way to the center of the wood, but
it
kept getting lighter in color as I turned it down. By the time I got to
the
core, the color was just a very pale and spotty red. I also had a
small
piece of mahogany, oak, and maple burl in the same pot. A few swipes
with
some sand paper and almost all of the color was gone. Maybe 1/64"
penetration.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Wayne

NoOne N Particular wrote:
Pens will probably be my initial application for the colored veneers. I am
thinking of something like Dymonwood, but making my own colors and patterns.
The problem is that I may want it to do other things as well later on.
After all, who could possibly resist buying a black salt and pepper set with
red, and yellow colored bands, or a purple colored bedroom set with
chartreuse, yellow and international orange veneers running through it? I
have thought of alternative materials but really kinda wanted to stick with
"all wood" if possible, except for some non-ferrous metals like copper and
brass, etc. But it is looking like I may have to use them anyway.

Thanks for the reply

Wayne

Wayne,
THIN veneers can be dyed and stacked. The dye passes through the thin
dimension. Dymondwood alternates colors but there is no reason why you
couldn't stack several of the same color to get the thickness you want.

Bill

--
I am disillusioned enough to know that no man's opinion on any subject
is worth a **** unless backed up with enough genuine information to make
him really know what he's talking about.

H. P. Lovecraft


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Like these ???

http://www.woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FU...ARTNUM=843-924

Click on color chart PDF...

NoOne N Particular wrote:
Hi all,

I want to dye some strips of wood to use as filler material for different
things I am turning on a lathe. I am trying to get very bright colors like
red, blue, green, yellow, and even maybe white. I have tried a few things
but so far have not had much luck doing what I want. I need good color
penetration of 1/8" (but I would settle for even 1/16") in different types
of wood including some mahogany, oak, perhaps some maple, etc.

I was sure this was an easy issue; if you put enough oil on red oak end
grain it will come out the other side, so dying it though should be easy
enough.

I tried it with water based dye and it only went in a short way. Not at all
what I expected. Alcohol based dye might work better, but I don't have any
to try.
"NoOne N Particular" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I want to dye some strips of wood to use as filler material for different
things I am turning on a lathe. I am trying to get very bright colors
like red, blue, green, yellow, and even maybe white. I have tried a few
things but so far have not had much luck doing what I want. I need good
color penetration of 1/8" (but I would settle for even 1/16") in different
types of wood including some mahogany, oak, perhaps some maple, etc.

I have tried a few things like some water colors, a couple of different
dyes and stains, and a couple of inks, but nothing that is specifically
designed for coloring wood. The thing that has worked best so far is only
with poplar. I boiled a piece that was about 3/4" thick in good ol Rit
fabric dye. Boiled it for about 30 min, and then let it soak over night.
The red color did manage to penetrate all the way to the center of the
wood, but it kept getting lighter in color as I turned it down. By the
time I got to the core, the color was just a very pale and spotty red.
I also had a small piece of mahogany, oak, and maple burl in the same pot.
A few swipes with some sand paper and almost all of the color was gone.
Maybe 1/64" penetration.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Wayne

"Toller" wrote in
:

I was sure this was an easy issue; if you put enough oil on red oak
end grain it will come out the other side, so dying it though should
be easy enough.

I tried it with water based dye and it only went in a short way. Not
at all what I expected. Alcohol based dye might work better, but I
don't have any to try.

Nope. Doesn't really work that way. The wood isn't that predictable. At
least not for me.

YMMV. Your red oak probably does.

Patriarch

NoOne N Particular wrote:
Hi all,

I want to dye some strips of wood to use as filler material for different
things I am turning on a lathe. I am trying to get very bright colors like
red, blue, green, yellow, and even maybe white. I have tried a few things
but so far have not had much luck doing what I want. I need good color
penetration of 1/8" (but I would settle for even 1/16") in different types
of wood including some mahogany, oak, perhaps some maple, etc.

I have tried a few things like some water colors, a couple of different dyes
and stains, and a couple of inks, but nothing that is specifically designed
for coloring wood. The thing that has worked best so far is only with
poplar. I boiled a piece that was about 3/4" thick in good ol Rit fabric
dye. Boiled it for about 30 min, and then let it soak over night. The red
color did manage to penetrate all the way to the center of the wood, but it
kept getting lighter in color as I turned it down. By the time I got to the
core, the color was just a very pale and spotty red. I also had a small
piece of mahogany, oak, and maple burl in the same pot. A few swipes with
some sand paper and almost all of the color was gone. Maybe 1/64"
penetration.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Wayne


Wayne,

They say that memory is the second thing to go and right now I'm only
getting a vague recollection of a discussion from some time back about
coloring wood for pen turning.

It seems to me that the guy was soaking his wood in polyurethane. I
think the idea was that it soaked into and "plasticized " the wood. I
suggested he add artist's oil colors to color the poly. I recall that I
mentioned he could use gold and other metallic colors this way.

Does soaking the wood in polyurethane ring a bell, or am I off base?

Stewart

Stewart Schooley wrote:

: They say that memory is the second thing to go and right now I'm only
: getting a vague recollection of a discussion from some time back about
: coloring wood for pen turning.

: It seems to me that the guy was soaking his wood in polyurethane. I
: think the idea was that it soaked into and "plasticized " the wood. I
: suggested he add artist's oil colors to color the poly. I recall that I
: mentioned he could use gold and other metallic colors this way.

: Does soaking the wood in polyurethane ring a bell, or am I off base?


Doesn't ring a bell for me, but it occurs to me (following up on your
idea) that http://www.rotdoctor.com sells a thin penetrating epoxy
which they claim penetrates quite far into endgrain (like
several inches, for whatever they tested). I wonder if it could be
used as a dye carrier -- since regular epoxy is dyable with aniline dyes,
I would think it could be.

-- Andy Barss

They say that memory is the second thing to go and right now I'm only
getting a vague recollection of a discussion from some time back about
coloring wood for pen turning.

It seems to me that the guy was soaking his wood in polyurethane. I
think the idea was that it soaked into and "plasticized " the wood. I
suggested he add artist's oil colors to color the poly. I recall that I
mentioned he could use gold and other metallic colors this way.

Does soaking the wood in polyurethane ring a bell, or am I off base?

Stewart

I was thinking about this some more and it seems to me the guy had a
vacuum gismo that screwed on a jar. The vacuum aided the absobtion of
the poly, IIRC.

Ding, Dong, anyone?

Stewart

Thu, Feb 22, 2007, 11:07pm (EST+5)
(NoOne*N*Particular) doth exclaimeth:
Hi all,
I want to dye some strips of wood snip

I've read about a guy dying thru wood using Rit clothing dye.
Boiled his wood in it for about 24 hours. Supposedly the color went all
the way thru. That's all the info I've got.

Was me I'd do some 'speerminting with different types of dyes.
Probably soaking the wood in a solution for a day or three. Or, use
naturally colored wood. Or, probably, leave it as is, or paint it.
Loads of options if you think on it.



JOAT
When in doubt, go to sleep.
- Mully Small