Q: For a waterbased, stain should I use a pigment or a dye? I know they yield different results, but I am looking for the sure fire application that will give me the most consistent results. What brand should I look for?
A: If you are talking about commercially prepared waterbased stains, the vast majority of them are pigment based. I only know of one company offhand that is offering premixed water soluble dyes, though there are many that offer the dyes in either powder or liquid concentrate form that are ready to mix with water.
As for consistent results, both pretty much behave the same way all the time. However, dyes and pigments behave somewhat differently from one another in terms of appearance. Rather than try to describe the differences, I would suggest you try both on different woods. Include figured maple and oak in your tests and from those two alone you will see the major appearance differences between the two types of stain.
Great talk last night!
Thanks for sharing a tiny piece of your vast knowledge on the subject of finishing materials.
I’m the guy who asked about whether shellac came from insects wings…I remembered reading something in the past, probably from Nat’l Geographic about the harvest of shellac.
I’ve always avoided using shellacs because of my abysmal ignorance on same.
Whenever I’m in Woodcraft, etc. I generally avoid the paint and finish dept because I know so little about it.
You’ve now piqued my interest and I’m delighted to have found your website and books.
Thanks again for sharing with us.
John Merchant
John Merchant, JD
July 17th, 2009
Q: What would you suggest to use in order to get the edge blackening effect you see on many pieces of furniture?
A: That’s called shading, and it is done in two different ways; with glazing and with toning. Glaze is a specialized thickened stain designed to go in between coats of finish rather than on the raw wood. After staining the wood to the background color, you seal it, then apply glaze to the surface, wiping off as much or as little as needed to leave the edges dark and the centers lighter. Once the glaze dries, add at least one more coat of clear finish.
Toner is simply tinted topcoat. You can buy it or make your own. Typically, it is sprayed on, and many companies sell tinted topcoat in aerosol cans, either highly concentrated color or lighter concentrations. Mohawk, Behlen and Varathane all sell aerosols of tinted topcoat. You simply apply it wherever you want a darker color.
If you’ve never done either of these operations before, I’d suggest two things; first, get a good book on the subject to be your step by step guide, and second, practice on scrap first. Both techniques require a bit of practice.
Russ Wilson
September 20th, 2009