Q: I’m using Osage Orange for a sunburst top, and discovered it tends to color shift to brown. Is there a finish or other method you know of to prevent this?
A: Many exterior coatings, both oil based and waterbased, contain UV absorbers or blockers. These help, but to be honest, they really only delay the inevitable. Eventually, the sun always wins. Obviously, keeping the item away from light extends the time it will hold its color, but that is not always practical. There is a cheap and dirty trick that we often use for woods like Osage and purpleheart, and it works to some degree. Basically, you dye the wood with the same color dye as the wood itself, using a largely lightfast dye. Thus, the dye holds its color even if the wood loses its color. Irgasperse dyes, such as the TransTint concentrates sold by Jeff Jewitt, are surprisingly lightfast and would be a good choice here.
Michael Dresdner
straight talk about wood finishing
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