Coloring wood

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liftnaleg1

New User
Chris
I was bored the other day while turnig so got the idea to try amke a piece of spalted maple more interesting so I drill some holes in a blank and poured food coloring in it,,,You are going to laugh hard...All it did was when I turned the lathe on after 1 hour of sitting is throw blue food coloring all over me... the wall...and the ceiling....my wife laughted so hard she fell to her needs and said I looked like a smurf...It took me 3 days to get it off my face and hands,,,,lol:rotflm: So afetr thinking a little longer scrubbing blue of me I git the ide to stand a piece end grain up in a bucket with a little red FC and water.....Guys this turned out crazy...This thing has red and black spalted lines runing all through it...

So my question is has anyone ever heard of this..have you ever tried it? Or how do you spalt woods or add features to it when it is just a little to plain?
 

woodArtz

New User
Bob
First... we want pictures... of the smurf look.. of the walls... everything :rotflm:. Next, I'd like to see that bowl. Sounds interesting. I know one of our members is a doctoral student and has done some amazing studies of spalting. Do a search for spalting on here and you'll find all kinds of stuff about home-made spalting. As for coloring, I've never tried it myself... but if I do, I'll wear a raincoat and a face shield. Thanks for the warning:gar-La;.
 

DaveO

New User
DaveO
I have colored pen blanks with Sharpie markers, food coloring and casting resin dyes. I generally turn down to the final size, sand and then color it. Makes for some cool pens. I have also bought dyed/
double dyed pen blanks, where the color is put in under pressure and goes all the way through it. They look better than my home concoctions :eusa_thin
Spalting wood will happen. You need green wood at least about ~28% MC (general fiber saturation point). Bury it in a pile of shavings or saw dust from other spalted woods to seed it with the fungal spores. Keep it in the shade and slightly moist and wait. Check it often, there is a fine line between well spalted wood, and rotten crap.
I have bought some self-spalted turning blanks from NCWood He seems to have the technique down very well.
Spalted Hackberry from him -

Spalted_Hackberry_bowl_001.jpg


Dave:)
 

taandctran

New User
Thanh Tran
What kind of wood is that bowl made of??? it looks like grain from pine?? but I think it may be oak??

I have colored pen blanks with Sharpie markers, food coloring and casting resin dyes. I generally turn down to the final size, sand and then color it. Makes for some cool pens. I have also bought dyed/
double dyed pen blanks, where the color is put in under pressure and goes all the way through it. They look better than my home concoctions :eusa_thin
Spalting wood will happen. You need green wood at least about ~28% MC (general fiber saturation point). Bury it in a pile of shavings or saw dust from other spalted woods to seed it with the fungal spores. Keep it in the shade and slightly moist and wait. Check it often, there is a fine line between well spalted wood, and rotten crap.
I have bought some self-spalted turning blanks from NCWood He seems to have the technique down very well.
Spalted Hackberry from him -

Spalted_Hackberry_bowl_001.jpg


Dave:)
 

Rob

New User
Rob
I have heard of using food coloring on the blank, pretty much the same way you put on BLO, thought about trying it, haven't though.
 

ScottM

Scott
Staff member
Corporate Member
Any one attempt to use an alcohol based dye? I would think it would soak in better and dry faster then a water or oil based product? I have heard of people soaking green turning blanks in alcohol to speed up the drying. If you added dye would that not kill two birds with one stone?
 

Rob

New User
Rob
I've been contemplating building something to stabilize small blanks as well as dying. Looking at cheap alternatives to the pressure pot system they tout on IAP. Something like a cheap vacuum pump and a heavy duty, seal able glass jar.
 

Nice Figures

New User
Sharon Barrett & Paula LaBelle
Sharon and I bought some turning smocks and I really hated the color (tan) so last Monday we use some Rite cloth dye and dyed them, when we were done with the smocks I put an unfinished bowl in the dye. I pulled it out and I'm letting it dry now. It looks interesting, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Paula
 

merrill77

Master Scrap Maker
Chris
Any one attempt to use an alcohol based dye? I would think it would soak in better and dry faster then a water or oil based product?

Yup, that's correct. Plus it doesn't raise the grain. I rarely use stain anymore. Have to be careful with shellac though, since it is alcohol based and can bring the dye back out.

And I should add: I've use several water-based dyes in alcohol. Some dissolve well, others don't. Trial and error.
 

PChristy

New User
Phillip
Now if I was wanting to put some color in some green Dogwood - would I just put the end of the blank into the dye and let it soak up into the grain and how long would I have to leave it in
 
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