Has anyone used dye kit for wood finish

[kamara]

Hi,

I love working with water wood dyes and have been using them for about 5 years now, but they are so expensive for me since I have recently been laid off from my position. I have just come across this company on the internet at http://www.kedadyeinc.com/ and they are offering a multi color dye kit for wood. It has five
colors in the kit (red, blue, yellow, black, and golden brown) for $9.99 with free Shipping. I am pretty sure this is a new product and I just wanted to know if anyone has tried using this yet?
I plan on buying one because it is the best "wood dye offer" that I have found yet, but please let me know if anyone has heard about this kit yet.

Thanks

Kamara



I repaired your link. If it turns out you are actually trying to sell this product on the forum these posts will be removed without further explanation.

[Forester21]

I haven't tried that particular brand or type of dye. I did use some water based, pre mixed tie dye that I bought at my local craft store on an intarsia project I made last year and it worked well.
T

[SawingSue]

I have not tried the dye kit but if f you do, I'd like to know about the results. Good luck!

[kamara]

Will do

I plan on placing my order soon; I just wanted to see if anyone has tried or heard of the kit before I order it. If I do not hear anything soon I will just place an order because I am very low on my supply and post my results (i.e. hidden charges, dye quality etc.) when I receive it.

Thanks everyone..

Kamara

[wood-n-things]

Looking forward to your report on your experience with the shipping and the product.

[kamara]

Thanks for the tip. I did try a tie dye kit once when I made a wooden Easter egg for my son's Easter basket (as a joke). I did have some issues when using it on hardwood, it seemed to have trouble penetrating. I am looking for powers to make up my own concentrates and concentrate strength. That way I can control the entire process from the start. I have found it is easier, more cost effective, and a better quality for me make up my own concentrates from the powder, since I can make the dye mix the exact color and strength that I need from the beginning.

[jim_mex]

Hi Kam - sorry I can't help on your direct question, just a comment though.

I've tried other water based dyes in the past and whilst they work they are not my favourites for colouring wood. Water based dyes usually dramatically raise the grain of light coloured woods which tend to be more fibrous or open than darker woods. They also are not the best means to colour darker oily woods since water and oil don't go together.

I'm not saying that you can't work with water based dyes - many people do - I much prefer to use alcohol based dyes which I can source locally in Mexico, where I live, in strong concentrated form in bright primary colours as well as the usual wood tones.

Like you I mix and match to get the colours I require and I dilute with industrial alcohol if I want weaker stains.

[kamara]

Thanks Jim. I appreciate the wisdom, but my teachers show me otherwise.

I think you may find this somewhat enjoyable. See my entire family works wood in some degree. So I enjoy talking to other woodworkers, to try and get the inside "stuff" in order to gain an advantage. My Grandfather and Father both swear by water dyes, so being the rebel that I am, I tried using alcohol dyes behind their back, to show I know how to finish better than them, (since finishing is what they focused grooming me on), but of course that blew up in my face. I will just brief this so it doesn't go to long; although the whole story is really (looking back, not at the time) quite entertaining.

Anything with a larger area to cover, Alcohol Dyes dried way too fast, caused several overlaps, and did not allow me to get the deep, rich covering that I can with the water dyes. The water dyes definitively offer more light-fastness (resist color fading, especially needed when G-pa is making birdhouses and feeders for G-ma) much more than the alcohol dyes. The water dyes also penetrate the wood so much easier (better) since the wood naturally seeks water, and is designed on a cellular level to absorb and distribute it (thanks Grandpa, his words echoing through my head yet again).

As with all finishes, the proper surface preparation is the key to any fantastic, breathe taking finish. For oily wood, simply bleach the surface, as with when using a red or yellow dye, and it will help your fire engine red or canary yellow from turning into a color that is not so pretty. (My Dad would call it something that "I used to fold up in your diapers color" thanks for that image; Dad).

Alright, so now for the Granddaddy of the them all. The biggest complaint about using water dyes, and why people would rather inhale the solvent stink, over not, is because the fuzzy effect from the water dyes. As stated before, proper surface prep again is the key, and honestly, it really is not much work at all. A good surface conditioner will help out here, but for those of us that are not very financially established yet; a simple application of water to raise the fibers 1st (Before applying your dyes), and a very light going over with a 600 grit sandpaper will clean that issue right up. Although I do not understand why that bothers so many people, since all of these "Raised Fibers" will also be removed in your 1st coat of varnish, the sanding process with a 240-320 grit sandpaper, before applying your second coat of varnish. See the fibers will become hard, and when you go over the surface with the sandpaper, this will cut them right off.

So to conclude this very long post, my lesson learned was, hand sanding out a very large kitchen hutch cabinet that Grandpa and Dad made for Grandma, because I thought I knew better. So about 16 hours, two sore arms, a stiff back, and a teens wasted weekend later, I went back to the water dyes, and the hutch cabinet is still the beautiful Honey Brown that it originally started out as 9 years ago.

But that is my personal experience. I respect the fact that others have their own personal experiences, and that is what makes this world so interesting; learning from each others experiences, and mixing them into our own.

Thanks again everyone...

Kam

[oldvaxguy]

This is an addition to what you said about finishing.

My father showed me that on many woods to spray a mist of water and let it dry. Then sand it with a 600 grit paper/ cloth. Then place the finish on. He was a finish expert at one of the best furniture shops in Grand Rapids.

[jim_mex]

Hi Kam - that's really interesting information.

I agree with you entirely about alcohol dyes drying fast. For me, however, this is rarely an issue since I am usually using them for relatively small segmentation projects or for toy making. On the odd occasion I've wanted to cover a larger area than normal I usually give the wood a pass over with industrial alcohol to slow the absorption of the stain coat a little. For larger projects such as furniture a local carpenter I know who uses these stains advised me to spray them on.

As to the fuzzies. I can't argue with you there. They can be easily sanded off. I just find that with alcohol or solvent based stains they are much less of a problem and I'm a little idle and like to avoid some of the work - LOL!

Thanks for a very comprehensive comment. I appreciate you taking the time to write it. Very useful!

[kamara]

Absolutely

This is an addition to what you said about finishing.

My father showed me that on many woods to spray a mist of water and let it dry. Then sand it with a 600 grit paper/ cloth. Then place the finish on. He was a finish expert at one of the best furniture shops in Grand Rapids.

I absolutely Agree with you oldvaxguy, that is a very good tip. Sometimes we just take for granted some of the tips we have learned, and forget to mention. I always use a spray gun for applying my dyes, and my varnish. I have two spray guns for each process, (old 95's from hand me downs, but I am not complaining; I love those "broke in already" guns). I have not tried this "misting" process yet, but I think I have found a new way of prepping for the dye process. I think I may have to go and buy a cheap gun and designate it just for this process.

Thank you very much for this nugget of wisdom; this will save me some application time.

Kam

[kamara]

Spraying finishes

I spray all my finishes, with my hand me down 95's (66SS tip w/ a 665 needle). For alcohol dyes I would really try a test run on something first, because what happened to me was, the air from the gun, when triggering, would accelerate the drying process of the alcohol. Now, I could have also had a low gun setting for the volume of spray needed, which may not have wet the surface enough, or it could have been too high of an air setting at 30#'s; not really sure.
I know with water based dyes, Propylene Glycol can be added to help slow the absorption rate and the drying process; or it can be used in a water/ Propylene glycol ratio in prepping the surface. I usually use 1oz Propylene glycol/ 16 0z water (1:16 ratio) or when making water dye stains I will add 2oz to 16 oz of dye solution. This helps with the flow, drying, and with the wiping process.
I know Propylene Glycol is compatible with water dyes and it doesn't work with oil dyes, but it may work with alcohol dyes. It is pretty inexpensive and may be another (less expensive) option for your larger area projects (when you feel rambunctious lol), if the glycol works with alcohol based dyes. Maybe someone else who uses alcohol dye will know if Propylene Glycol is compatible with the Alcohol Dyes.

Thank again you guys; you are all awesome...

Kam

[jim_mex]

Hi again Kam - this thread is getting really interesting!

A couple of days ago I mentioned in a different thread that I add glycerine to acrylic paints to slow their drying down a little and it occurs to me that I never tried this in alcohol based dyes. Like I say, I haven't run into problems with them yet but you've given me the idea to try the glycerine or the glycol if I do. The comment I made in the thread about acrylic paints was that I felt that as long as I was using a water based top coat then any slow drying of the glycol did not appear to affect the finish but I'd be a little nervous of residual glycol affecting solvent based finishes.

Can you please comment on what finishes you are using when including glycol with the stains and how much drying time do you give between applying the stain and applying the top coat finish?

Ref the alcohol stains evaporating more quickly when spraying. I remember that my carpenter friend told me he gets much better results using low pressure spraying systems than the older traditional high pressure guns.

Thanks again for passing on your experience - and yep, this forum is awesome!

[will8989]

A few years back hubby told me to spray my baskets lightly (keyword: lightly) with distilled water, let dry and sand that this would close up the grain and I have been doing it that way ever since. It especially works good on endgrain wood. Distilled water doesn't have all junk tap water has in it and doesn't leave water marks. He read in one of his turning magazines that distilled water is better for that reason. I don't know anything about turning so I'll have to take him at his word for that (but don't tell him.) LOL

My 13 year old niece turning a pen with hubby's help. Maybe we have a new woodworker in the making? She loved it and wants to come back for more!

[will8989]

I forgot to upload the pic. What did you expect from me? LOL Let's try again.