My FIRST experiance with DYES!

[jgfore]

OK. I have finished my latest guild build, the Wall Hanging Cabinet. The entire time that I have been building this cabinet, my wife has been wanting me to turn it Ebony. So......I finished the final fine tuning to the doors and drawer, then went to my local Woodcraft store and purchased the General Finishes Ebony Dye Stain. I thought after watching the "You and Dye" video that Marc made, I should give it a shot. Let me first mention, that I tryed my best to talk my wife out of turning the cabinet BLACK, but there was no changing her mind (for all three months that it took me to build it).

Anyway, I spend a whole night in the shop dyeing the cabinet. After SEVERAL coats, and then realizing that I was trying to wipe the dye off too quick, I started leaving the dye on as long as it would soak it in. WOW, it got really black. So, I thought........ my wife will be happy, it is for sure black now. I call her down to the shop, and let her look at the finished color before I would begin to put the top coat on it the next day. This is what she said: "OH.... I thought ebony was just dark brown, not black." Let me assure everyone, I stated more than a couple of times, that Ebony was black (and she says that I donot listen). Normally, I would have just finished the darn thing and told her to live with it, but I did not want it ebony to start with; so I sought to change it. After I killed and barried her in a shallow grave, I went to Woodcraft again. This time purchasing a can of General Finishes Dark Brown Dye Stain, and a few other things of coarse.

That was a quick over view of were I stood untill tonight. After getting home from church, I went down stairs to the shop and thought I would see if spraying some water on the cabinet would reactive the dye and allow me to thin it out some. No luck. The dye was hanging in there like a tick. So, I did what any good southern boy would do..... I threw the dark brown dye stain on the cabinet and hoped for the best. After the first coat, there was very little change. I tryed a second coat thinking that I was probably just wasteing my dye, but the second coat actually started making the ebony turn loose a little and the brown was starting to take. I did want the cabinet to be a Dark Chocolate, and that it exactly what I got. It is a little darker than a walnut, but it is no longer ebony. By putting the ebony on first, it makes the brown look very deep and almost two toned in different lights.

The fact that the dyes can be reactivted with water/alchohl/glycol or what ever, lets you do a lot of different things with dyes, that just would not be possible with a regular stain (i do not think). I was very pleased with the results, and hope to be using dyes a lot in the future. I went ahead and bought a couple bottles of Transtint too.

I bought a HVLP gun today, so as soon as I get the top coat on it and get it assembled, I will post some pictures.

Thanks Marc. The Dye video has opened a new door to finishes. I hope that when your books get to me, I will find even more new finishing techniques.

PS: I was just kiding about killing my wife. If it wasn't for her, I would be wearing dirty underwear, so I plan on keeping her around.

Jeff

[thewoodwhisperer]

Hey Jeff. I thought this story was going to end badly! Glad to hear it worked out man. That's a great example of why test boards really help alleviate problems with clients, including the MOST important clients.

[AceHoleInOne]

Glad you didn't throw in the towel and kept pushing and working your colors to something a little different! The more times you get in trouble like that, you learn how to recover and discover some pretty amazing colors. Good for you!!!!!!!

Just cruious, what wood is the Wall Hanging Cabinet built with?

-Ace-

[Rob Lopez]

Wives....funny creatures...aren't they?

Great to hear that the piece was not a disaster.

[jgfore]

Glad you didn't throw in the towel and kept pushing and working your colors to something a little different! The more times you get in trouble like that, you learn how to recover and discover some pretty amazing colors. Good for you!!!!!!!

Just cruious, what wood is the Wall Hanging Cabinet built with?

-Ace-

The wood that I used is Red Oak. I have learned to dislike this wood very much, due to it's pores. That is why I had to leave the dye on for so long. I had to give it time to really soak in to it.

Jeff