Using dyes...?

[WoodWrangler]

Needing to color some curly maple ply and was thinking about using a dye. This is new stuff for me and was wondering HOW you apply a dye? Is it mixed with the clear-coat? Feed me knowledge oh wise ones!

This is the product I was thinking about:
http://www.targetcoatings.com/shop/catalog/Trans_Tint_Dyes-17-1.html

 

[Travis Porter]

I have done it twice. My first try was a failure. I first coated wood with shellac, then sprayed transtint thinned in water. Total failure. Danger Will Robinson!!!!

My second round was mixing the transtint in with my Target Coatings USL. I sprayed around 4 coats to get the level of depth and then sprayed 4 clear top coats of USL. Gorgeous, and this was on pine. Every time I stain pine with say Minwax it is splotchy, but with the dye/USL mix it was very even and looked excellent. YMMV.

 

[nelsone]

I used Transtint mixed in either distilled water or DNA. Spray the dye (it will dry very quickly), then seal coat with shellac, them finish as preferred. You can mix the dye in shellac or the topcoat, but the system above worked well for me.

Check out Jeff Jewitt's site.

 

[Ncdawgs1882]

I have been doing research on how to dye wood to get the star burst effect if your using a water base dye. One of the first steps is to prep the wood surface with the water to raise the grain so the dye will take better & not leave streaks! after it dries you can apply another coat repeating step one. So far the best way I found to apply the dye is with an old worn T shirt wrapped around a balled up t shirt about the size of a golf ball then use a rubber band to secure it. also a great way to make the grain pop is to dye the piece black let it dry 20 min then sand it down to expose the natural wood color leaving black dye in the grain of the wood then applying what ever color of dye you'd like! for the finish three parts of super blond shalac flakes to one part of grain alcohol apply the same way with the t shirt about 5 coats should do it.

I'm sure theres a better ways this is just what I have found so I'll be interested to see where this post goes!