Michael Dresdner » pigment

Odds of even

Michael — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:49:19 +0000

Q: I built a small table from reclaimed mahogany. There is a lot of variance in the colour and grain pattern. I want to stain this so to even out the colour. What do you recommend?
A: Most pigmented stains work very well on mahogany to even coloration, in large part because they take full advantage of the large pores. In extreme cases, we usually use a two stage approach to making wildly varying woods look one color; we start by making the background uniform with a dye stain, usually in a color in between the darkest and lightest values to bring the two together. Once the dye is dry, we follow up with a pigmented stain to add unifying color atop the dye and in the pores. It works surprisingly well.

Color me opaque

Michael — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:00:28 +0000

Q: I want to tint clear nitrocellulose lacquer to produce a solid, opaque color. What types of colorants can I use?
A: The ideal choice is called lacquer paste; essentially lacquer with a dense amount of pigment cut into it. You can find it in a wide range of colors at the same industrial supplier outlets that sell lacquer. Other options include universal tinting colors compatible with non-aqueous systems, such as Mixol, and to a small degree, artist’s oil colors, but oil colors can only be added in limited amounts.

Matching Martin

Michael — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:00:05 +0000

Q: I’m restoring a Martin guitar, and after staining, I added three very
light wash coats of 1lb. cut shellac. I’d like to strike the pores black
with Finishers Glaze seal with sanding sealer, fill pores with Bartley’s dark, seal and topcoat. Martin mahogany pores are darkened nicely. I’m trying to do it the right way.
A: I’m afraid you are doing it the hard way. The easy way is to stain the wood, preferably with water soluble dye, seal with one thin coat of SealCoat or dewaxed shellac, then fill the pores with a dark pore filler. There is no glaze on Martin guitars, and many were stained and filled in one step, on the raw wood, with staining pore filler. Keep it simple and you will have better results.

Fishy finish

Michael — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:00:06 +0000

Q: I stripped an oak fish tank stand and applied two heavy coats of espresso colored Varathane oil stain, leaving it sit one hour before wiping it off. I then applied two heavy coats of Watco Teak Oil and left them overnight. I found a sticky, gooey mess in the morning. When I tried to remove it using more Teak Oil, much of the color came off as well.
A: I am not surprised. Stain is meant to be wiped on and wiped off completely, leaving only what the wood can absorb. Layering it on heavily or leaving it longer won’t result in anything but trouble. Granted, more porous woods, like poplar, will absorb more stain than a dense wood like oak, and will get darker. The fact that stain came off when you scrubbed off the excess finish is an indicator that you left more on the wood than it was able to absorb.
The way around that is to use multiple types of color, not try to force one stain to override the nature of the wood you are putting it on. For instance, to get a very dark espresso, I’d start with a dark brownish black water soluble dye directly onto the raw, sanded wood, then follow that, when the dye was dry, with a dark wiping stain flooded on and wiped off. The combination will give you a dark, even color with wood grain still showing.
Teak oil is also meant to be wiped off in 15 minutes, not overnight, and letting it sit that long will indeed create a sticky mess. The simple answer is you really should read the directions and do what they say. At this point, you would be very wise to remove it all and start over.
Incidentally, Teak Oil, which is the exterior version of Danish oil, is not the finish I would have chosen in this case, for a variety of reasons that I have covered in previous posts. I’d have chosen an oil based polyurethane, either wipe on, gel or brush on, and I would go with several coats at least.

Ink or glue, but not the two

Michael — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:00:28 +0000

Q: If I use India ink for ebonizing, will that affect the glue up?
A: Yep. Any stain will diminish the bonding ability of glue, though some more than others. Dyes are less obstructive than pigments (India ink is a pigment) but the rule is that if you stain before glue up, mask off the glue surfaces to keep stain off them.

Purple heartbreak

Michael — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:00:19 +0000

Q: I made a small box out of Purple Heart. What can I finish it with to get a brilliant purple color?
A: Purple stain or dye. I realize that sounds like a strange answer, but it will make more sense if you bear with me a bit and let me explain a few things about purpleheart.
When you first cut or sand purpleheart, it turns a sort of grayish, ashy color. Let it sit in the presence of oxygen (air) and in a couple of days it once again deepens to its nice, rich purple color. For that reason, it is the only wood we generally do not finish immediately after sanding, Letting it sit two days will give you more rich color.
That’s the good news. The bad is that any finish that is amber, such as an oil, most lacquers, shellac or oil varnish, will discolor the purple, since yellow and purple make brown. Thus, it’s good to avoid amber finishes. Worse, once exposed to light, the wood will soon fade to brown, even after it is finished. Keeping the piece in the dark will help, but then, we can’t much enjoy it in the dark. That’s why many people resort to staining the wood purple, especially with lightfast pigments or largely lightfast dyes. By adding stain that matches the original color of the wood before finishing, you can keep the same color and also preserve that color longer after finishing.

Where to look it up

Michael — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Q: Are there any of your books or DVDs that I can buy that would help me solve problems I am having with staining projects?
A: All four of my books and my DVD cover various aspects of staining, both in how to apply stains evenly and how to correct for uneven staining. The best combination, in my opinion, is The New Wood Finishing Book, which is a basic textbook on finishing, paired with Wood Finishing Fixes, which is a Q&A format troubleshooting book. Both are available on my books and videos page.

Plywood vs. solid

Michael — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:00:15 +0000

Q: When I try to stain a project like a bookcase that has both red oak plywood and solid red oak, the colors of the two parts come out drastically different.
A: There are several steps that will help you deal with this, and you may need just one or many. First, sand both the plywood and the solid wood through the same sanding sequence. It’s tempting not to sand plywood as it is already smooth, but unlike solid wood, veneer is cut with a knife that compresses the surface fibers. The opposite is true of solid wood. Normally you would start sanding solid wood with 80 or 100 grit paper and go up through the grits to 180 or 220. Do the same sequence on the plywood, even though it means going backwards on the coarsest grits, and the woods will behave more similarly when absorbing stain.
That will work on many panels, but some types of plywood have veneers that have been impregnated by the adhesive, and are more resistant to absorbing stain, even when sanded properly. If you are using a pigmented stain, you can restain those areas the second day, wiping a bit less aggressively so as to leave them darker. Otherwise, use a tinted topcoat, a technique that is also used to even up dyes. You can’t use your stain, but you can add compatible dye or a bit of concentrated pigment in a compatible medium, such as artists colors, to the top coat to make a tinted toner. Spray or brush it selectively onto the lighter areas to make them even.

Stain pain

Michael — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:00:20 +0000

Q: I am coloring wood with cherry stain. I left the stain on way too long, and now it is tacky and shiny. Do I need to correct this issue before I spray on satin polyurethane?
A: Yep, you sure do. Most stains do not have enough binder to act as coats of finish. Thus, if you apply finish over stain that was not wiped off, your finish can easily chip or delaminate at the stain layer. Scrub the stain back off using lacquer thinner on a gray or green nylon abrasive pad, then start over, this time wiping the stain correctly.

Learning leaf

Michael — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:00:45 +0000

Q: Where can I go to learn both repair techniques and antiquing techniques for gilded objects?
A: If you look online you will find some information posted there, such as this PDF. http://www.aidanharticons.com/articles/Oct%2007/GILDING%20TECHNIQUES.pdf
However, the best source I’ve found for gilding information, other than studying with someone directly, is this magazine. I’d subscribe to it if I were you. http://www.pictureframingmagazine.com/articles/ai_gilding.html