HVLP Dye

[Chestnut]

So I've been meaning to try spraying dye with my hvlp as a means to do something with the curly maple that i have. Megan doesn't like light colored wood, or light colors in general so using maple becomes difficult as I don't care for the blotchy look from wiping on dye. Recently i had a request for some corn hole boards and figured I'd use this as a good opportunity to try out some hvlp dyeing. I figured I'd share with you all my process to either get some good feedback to get better or to help someone else along.

I should start with my test pieces. I wanted to make sure that this was going to work the way I had in mind. So I took a pint of water and took approximately 1 tbsp of Transfast powered dye and made my spray solution. I wanted to test multiple things: how well that mixture would cover, how far a pint would go, if there would be any blotching, if it would cover without running, would i need to put down a barrier coat of shellac. So i sprayed on the water dye solution and it laid down evenly no splotching, but not quite the color i wanted. Rockler was closed and I didn't have time to run and get anything or order something anyway so i just dealt with it. Because i was spraying on bare wood there was good coverage and no running. The color was also good and dark. I thought i had taken pictures of the test pieces but it turns out i hadn't.

I started with raising the grain with water. I may not have done this well enough because after the dye the surface was quite rough again, more  later. I sanded back to 320 with the ROS and let the boards dry for about an hour (not nearly enough). The top of the boards are maple ply, the good American stuff not the #@$(@ import stuff from that one country we love to hate. I edge banded the tops larger than needed and flush trimmed them to the base.

With everything prepped i mixed up a solution of water and Transfast powered dye. I used Dark Mission Brown, because that's the only color i had and it fit the request of Megan, aka the client. I mixed approximately 1 tbsp with a pint of hot water. The previous day I did my tests was sunny with no wind. The day i sprayed was windy and rainy so i had to move the vehicles out of the garage. I laid down the dye a little bit lighter than i had for my test pieces. I also had an idea for solving the color issue. I figured some yellow would help tone down the blue that i wasn't liking. I let the dye dry for an hour or so while i cleaned the gun then loaded up some dewaxed shellac.

After i sprayed the shellac on the boards were very blue and hazy.... dang. I figured it was just some traped water from the grain raising and dye that i didn't allow to dry off. I also noticed that the surface was very rough. Not sure if it was raising grain again or if I'm just no good with shellac. Either way i brought them inside and down to my shop where the humidity was low to dry.

The following day they had dried and the blue has had disappeared. I brought them outside again and sprayed them with 3 heavy coats of endurovar. I was having friends over for grilling and yard games so i was iffy on these being dry in time. 35 min later the endurovar was dry and hard to the touch. So i set them up and we threw bags at them not an hour after the last coat of finish went on. Man i love water borne poly out of an HVLP. I got compliments on how smooth the finish was.

Gun settings, i turned the needle vale all the way off and then came back 3/4 of a turn. The fan setting was set halfway between full fan and spot. HVLP is a Fuji MM4 & gravity feed gun. I used this setting for both the dye and the WB poly. For the shellac i went to 1 full turn as it wasn't laying down as wet as i'd have liked. It looked like it was half dry and hitting the surface.

[Chet]

One question and one comment.  What needle and cap set did you use?

I had read in one of Jeff Jewitt's articles that when you pre raise the grain with water it is best to let it dry over night before sanding and that even after that you may get some slight grain raising with the tint.  My personal experience is that ply always fights you on this more then lumber does.

[Chestnut]

2 minutes ago, Chet said:

One question and one comment.  What needle and cap set did you use?

I had read in one of Jeff Jewitt's articles that when you pre raise the grain with water it is best to let it dry over night before sanding and that even after that you may get some slight grain raising with the tint.  My personal experience is that ply always fights you on this more then lumber does.

I used the 1.3mm standard cap. It's all i have. Fuji's site suggests the 0.8 mm cap set for dyes but i found what i had worked well enough. Shellac is a different story. They suggest the 0.8mm - 1.0mm and i can see how that would improve the finish. Shellac dries so fast getting enough on the surface fine enough to level out but not too much so that it runs is tough.

I should note i used the shellac more as a color additive to add a hair of amber and less as a barrier. Beings that i was solely spraying i could have gotten away with going from WB dye to WB poly. Next time I'm going to try adjusting the color with dye and doing just that. I don't like spraying shellac. Cleaning the gun is a pain, the stuff dries so fast and the nooks and crannies are difficult to clean. The over spray cloud is nasty and left the close adjacent surfaces gritty feeling.

I'd also agree with Jewitt. Unfortunately I didn't have the luxury of that kind of time. I raised the grain, applied the dye, and shellac all between getting home late from work and before i went to bed so 6pm to 9pm, on a humid day to boot. I only put 1 thin coat of shellac down and figured with 24 hours of dry time that it would turn out ok, and it did. If this was furniture and not corn hole board's i wouldn't have taken the risk. As i noted above I put the boards to use very quickly. I started setting up to spray the WB poly at 4:30 pm had both coats on by 5:15 pm and was using the boards at 5:45pm. Nothing but HIGH praise for Endurovar.

[Chestnut]

I snapped a few pictures of the completed board today in the sunshine for those that are interested in the final result. The dye looks very purple in direct sunlight but more brown in shadded areas.

[Coop]

Well done. I see there’s no wear on the inside edge of the hole! 

Have you used the Endurovar before and if so, how has it lasted? 

[Chestnut]

25 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

Well done. I see there’s no wear on the inside edge of the hole! 

Have you used the Endurovar before and if so, how has it lasted? 

I've used it on the aggravation game boards that i make and it holds up to abuse well. The boards get slid around on tables transported in cars and used at campsites. It's a beautiful finish that is only tarnished by it's price tag.

But i don't use it on them unless they are for me as i only make about $15 per board for a few hours of work.

[Coop]

Would you recommend it for outside Adirondack chairs? 

[Chestnut]

18 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

Would you recommend it for outside Adirondack chairs? 

It's an interior only finish so no. General does make outdoor oil which i've used and is ok they also make outdoor 450.

[Coop]

Ok, thanks. I guess I will stick to my Australian Timber Oil. 

[wtnhighlander]

Nice job on the dye, Drew! Very even and smooth.