Green Maple HF

Messages
687
Location
Harvey, Michigan
Every once in a while I like to experiment with color. This maple HF has plenty going for it already with voids, bark inclusions and curl, but I thought a little color would be interesting.

Maple, 5 ¼” diameter x 4 ½” high, sanded to 320 grit, colored with RIT ‘Kelly Green’ dye mixed with DNA, several coats of Minwax Wipe-On Gloss Poly. I will wait for a week or so for the finish to cure a little more and then buff.

Green Maple HF v1.JPG Green Maple HF v2.JPG Green Maple HF v3.JPG Green Maple HF v4.JPG Green Maple HF v5.JPG

As always, your comments, critiques and opinions are welcome!

Thanks for looking! :wave:
 
Great HF (as we'd expect from you), but as much as I like playing with color, this particular green doesn't really send me. I'm sure someone will just HAVE to own it when they see it, though. :thumb:
 
Thanks for the kind words everyone! I do appreciate it!

Vaughn - I am not much of a 'green' color kind of guy but it is my wife's favorite and she loves it. Enough said... I was hoping for a darker green and may have to play around a little with the color mix. Got another HF on the lathe right now that has a lot of curl and I think it could really pop with the right color added. We'll see.
 
...Vaughn - I am not much of a 'green' color kind of guy but it is my wife's favorite and she loves it. Enough said...

I'm in a similar boat. I could turn a total trainwreck of a form, but if I made it green, LOML would be all over it. :D I was playing around dying some fairly plain maple confetti lights recently, and went looking through my Transtint stock to see if I had green, and I didn't. I opted for blue, hated it, and sanded it all off. It dawned on me later that I could probaly mix my blue and yellow dyes to get something green.
 
Vaughn - so far the only dyes I have used have been RIT and the only colors I have are red and green. This was my first attempt at green and the darker portions of it look OK to me. It's the lighter - granny smith apple green stuff that I don't like. Part of it was the maple - didn't suck in the color like my experience with white birch! Huh, go figure!

Anyway, I do like playing with color and may opt to start thinking about a small air brush or something to have a little more control instead of just brushing it on - wiping it off.
 
Steve, I tried an airbrush, but wasn't able to get as wide of pattern as I wanted. (Probably operator error.) I ended up with one of these with an assortment of tip sizes:

http://www.spraygunworld.com/products/Asturo/MiniGun/Mini Spray Gun.html

I still have the airbrush (a Paasch) and some day I may actually learn to use it for more detailed work.

Are you using the pre-mixed Rit dyes or the powered ones? I've used the black pre-mixed stuff and it worked OK, but it tended to raise the grain. (In hindsight, I should have wet the wood after sanding it, then re-sanded before dying it.) One of the things I like about the Transtint dye is that you can use DNA as a carrier, so it doesn't raise the grain nearly as much.
 
Vaughn - I've been using the RIT powdered dye mixed with DNA. It raises the grain a little but once dry I just run a 320 grit sanding sponge over it and it is good to go. The DNA will dissolve only a small amount of the RIT at a time - the rest of the mix stays in granule form in the mixing cup. The DNA evaporates very fast and I can add more as needed, stir and apply. Cool thing is that once I am done I just leave the top off the container and the DNA evaporates - leaving the RIT granules ready for the next time. Wierd - but it works!
 
Vaughn - I've been using the RIT powdered dye mixed with DNA. It raises the grain a little but once dry I just run a 320 grit sanding sponge over it and it is good to go. The DNA will dissolve only a small amount of the RIT at a time - the rest of the mix stays in granule form in the mixing cup. The DNA evaporates very fast and I can add more as needed, stir and apply. Cool thing is that once I am done I just leave the top off the container and the DNA evaporates - leaving the RIT granules ready for the next time. Wierd - but it works!

Cool...that's good info to have. I didn't know the Rit would work with DNA. A word of warning if you do decide to spray anything that's DNA-based: Be sure to wear a respirator made for volatile organic compounds. I didn't...once. Almost had to go to the Emergency Room. :doh:
 
Steve,
I like the dyed effect, even like the green, but for my wife I would have to go for a TEAL color.. we bought a house one time because it had a TEAL front door... she loved the house and the door was the selling point to get her to look at it.

I think I understand your dying method, you mentioned brushing it on... what do you use for a brush... I like the little foam brushes and picked up a few at the local JoAnn's fabric store when the wife was looking at fabric... they had the little 1 in brushes with a 3/8" round handle for $.05 each... I bought all they had - about 50... silly people had to ring up each brush separately.
 
Chuck - I use the same 1" foam brush you mentioned and had the same experience as you - only I bought 75 of them at $.05 each and the girl rang each one up separate! I assumed it was because she got paid by the hour!
 
Chuck - I use the same 1" foam brush you mentioned and had the same experience as you - only I bought 75 of them at $.05 each and the girl rang each one up separate! I assumed it was because she got paid by the hour!

I only bought 50 'cause that's all there were... they have a funky computer system that won't allow them to ring single items with a multiplier... something about the way their inventory control systems works in the computer... I asked the young man as he rang up 50 $0.05 items.
He probably would have been a miffed with me if they had had more...
I would have bought 100 of they had been in stock.
 
Not a fan of green either, but that is a nice example Steve.

About dyes, have you guys tried any leather dyes? They come in squeeze bottles and are alcohol based, so be careful about fumes, but the colors are very strong and seem to work on wood well, in my limited experience :dunno:

The other really good source of dye for coloring is the inkjet printer cartridge refill things, the colors are limited but man are they bright and strong colors :D

Cheers!
 
Steve I think it looks fine. I like it.

Can I ask a question......I'm new to this forum...what does HF stand for? I just know I'm going to kick myself when I find out.

Thanks,
Tom
 
Tom - HF is nothing more than Hollow Form. I get tired of typing as I only use 2 fingers - so I take short cuts! But, seriously, any time you have a question - ask! There are usually a lot more folks that have the same question as you!
 
Steve I think it looks fine. I like it.

Can I ask a question......I'm new to this forum...what does HF stand for? I just know I'm going to kick myself when I find out.

Thanks,
Tom

Tom, when I first was looking at getting into turning I had the same question, but I thought it meant "Harbor Freight" :eek: :doh: and could not understand what people were talking about :eek:

Yep, Hollow Form, also "DNA" is DeNatured Alcohol FYI! :wave:
 
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