TransTint


Coop

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I needed to darken a 1/4” piece of ply that will be used as a back panel on a walnut end table. I bought a bottle of Coffe Brown TransTint and mixed some in with some ARS, which became suspended and not mixed. I mentioned this a while back in another thread but don’t remember where. Tonight, I mixed some up using denatured alcohol and it looks mo betta. Question is, can I now apply ARS over this? As cheap as 1/4 ply is, I could have tried it without creating this thread but I thought others could learn from my mistake. Thanks

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I dilute dye more than recommended w alcohol then spray thin coats to build the darkness/intensity of color I'm shooting for. I've found raising the grain by wetting w alcohol or water & lettting it dry then sanding before using dyes or stains to be followed with waterbourne finishes works best for me. Wiping the stain wets the surface more which necessitates a light sanding afterwards. I've got a small HVLP touch up spray gun that runs on compressed air. Techline JR by CA Technologies, it's around $250 for the kit.

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27 minutes ago, ..Kev said:

Hope it goes without saying but, always test new stuff on scrap first to ensure you're getting the results you want.

This reminds me of a golf pro’s comment that “ practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice does” . This and other woodworking forums are invaluable for this type of discussion. Thanks

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2 minutes ago, Steve B Anderson said:

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you need a seal coat between water based and oil based finishes? Our does using alcohol with the dye allow you to go straight to the oil based finish?

There's no water based in his work here.  He's only leaving transtint pigment on the surface once the alcohol dries.  My only real concern with what Coop is doing is perhaps some blotching.  Test pieces should show that though.

With that said, I often shoot WB over ARS once the ARS has cured with no issue.

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3 minutes ago, ..Kev said:

There's no water based in his work here.  He's only leaving transtint pigment on the surface once the alcohol dries.  My only real concern with what Coop is doing is perhaps some blotching.  Test pieces should show that though.

With that said, I often shoot WB over ARS once the ARS has cured with no issue.

Thanks Kev, I’ve only used Transtint with water and put a coat of seal coat on before the ARS.

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2 minutes ago, Steve B Anderson said:

Thanks Kev, I’ve only used Transtint with water and put a coat of seal coat on before the ARS.

All good..  I'm curious how the ARS reacted with the seal coat?  I'm used to doing the ARS first where it reacts directly with the wood and then putting the WB on to seal in that reaction.  I'll be honest in that I've never tried it the other way round.

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8 minutes ago, ..Kev said:

There's no water based in his work here.  He's only leaving transtint pigment on the surface once the alcohol dries.  My only real concern with what Coop is doing is perhaps some blotching.  Test pieces should show that though.

With that said, I often shoot WB over ARS once the ARS has cured with no issue.

Thanks, Kev.  Follow-up question:  I took Coop's posts to say that he was using a Trans TInt Dye (not pigment) and I don't find, with my web searching skills, that there is a Trans TInt Coffee Brown pigment.  I'm thinking that the dye soaks into the fibers (unlike pigment that might stay on the surface).  

Otherwise, I understand (and still agree) that any finish can be used over the top.

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2 minutes ago, Pondhockey said:

Thanks, Kev.  Follow-up question:  I took Coop's posts to say that he was using a Trans TInt Dye (not pigment) and I don't find, with my web searching skills, that there is a Trans TInt Coffee Brown pigment.  I'm thinking that the dye soaks into the fibers (unlike pigment that might stay on the surface).  

Otherwise, I understand (and still agree) that any finish can be used over the top.

Pigment may have been the wrong word..  It is a dye..

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4 minutes ago, ..Kev said:

All good..  I'm curious how the ARS reacted with the seal coat?  I'm used to doing the ARS first where it reacts directly with the wood and then putting the WB on to seal in that reaction.  I'll be honest in that I've never tried it the other way round.

It works well for me on the Mission finishes. First the dye, seal coat, dark gel stain to darken the grain then ARS to finish it out.

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To be clear, in my case, and again this is is ply, if that makes a difference, I applied the TransTint/Alcohol mix with a foam brush for the ease of application and this started out as a fiasco. Brush marks everywhere but, it will not be seen as it’s in the back. When it dried, as in minutes, there were no brush marks to be found. Steve, to be clear, this is what I used and this is the results.

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2 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

I’ve learned from Kev and Chet that WB over ARS is not only acceptable but recommended. 

Thanks, Coop.  I'd love to know where to look for that discussion.  Also (since  you're still up!) thanks for the results.  Since we don't have a "before" pic, can  you tell us did the dye enhance the grain?

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2 minutes ago, Pondhockey said:

Thanks, Coop.  I'd love to know where to look for that discussion.  Also (since  you're still up!) thanks for the results.  Since we don't have a "before" pic, can  you tell us did the dye enhance the grain?

Since it it ply, anything is an improvement;)

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