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Maple Shelf (Day 3) Staining With Transfast Dye

John Morris
John Morris
in Finishing Archives

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For Parts One and Two go to Simple Wall Shelf Part One and Simple Wall Shelf Part Two.



Well here we are again folks. Today I finished sanding my shelf out to 180. And I applied one coat of Early American Transfast Dyeaw.aspx?B=2679&A=255&Task=Get.


All in all I spent about 30 minutes in the shop today going through this process. Since I already had a batch of the dye made up from my last project, all I had to do was pour about a cup of dye in my Gravity Feed Spray Gunaw.aspx?B=2679&A=255&Task=Get and set my regulator to 60lbs and off I went. I love my gravity fed gun, unlike cup guns, the finish is bled down through the gun by gravity, the cup guns depend on suction and if you've used cup guns enough, you'll know that when the material gets low, and you tip the cup gun, it sucks air and does not apply material. With the gravity fed you don't worry about that, it never runs dry when low.


ning-maplefinish5-24235-40.jpg?width=750


In this first pic you can see the type of dye I used, I love this dye, it is easy to use and I can custom color my work as I see fit. Plus the folks who make TransFast Dye's have a great finishing forum that we can access for questions about using their product.


As you can see I stored my last batch of dye in this convenient 1 gallon water container.


ning-maplefinish2-24235-78.jpg?width=750



I mixed the dye per the instruction at 1oz per 2 quarts ratio. Now the nerve racking part about using dye is when you first apply it, it can look horrible! It is blotchy, and uneven. But don't be tempted to smooth it out!!! Let it dry, it will all even out during the drying process. Believe me, the natural instinct is to reapply immediately, follow up with a brush to even it out, and all other sorts of techniques to even out stain, don't do it!!! It's ok to have a brush handy for drips, but beyond that, apply, and leave it alone! I took this photo below so you can see how blotchy it looks immediately after application.


ning-maplefinish3-24235-71.jpg?width=750ning-maplefinish4-24235-88.jpg?width=750ning-maplefinish6-24235-53.jpg?width=750



Looks horrible doesn't it! Don't worry. You'll see how it evens out in just a matter of hours when I post an update tomorrow.


Tomorrow I am going to follow this up with a coat of BLO, and then we'll go from there.


Thanks for reading!



John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

The dye really makes the grain pop!


Is that a regular spray gun or a HVLP gun?



Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

I'm an idiot! Can't read!! Sorry about the spray gun question.



Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

Love that color though John.



Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

  • Author

You got it Lew!!!

Lewis Kauffman said:


I'm an idiot! Can't read!! Sorry about the spray gun question.



Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!





John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

  • Author

Charles, if you think it's poppin now, wait until the oil is applied!!!!

Charles Nicholls said:


Love that color though John.



Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA





John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Very nice looking John. I just got to give the dye thing a try. I have never used it but I sure like the look and the way it evens out.


I like the Woodriver HVLP gun. That is the same one I use. I spray a lot of shellac and varnish with mine.

John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

I'd like to try dying  some maple. I made a spalted maple bottle stopper last year that some of you may remember. It was dyed orange for Halloween, I believe i got it from WoodCraft but i cannot remember for sure. I would really like to try it on some maple I already have. I'll have to look up the different parts needed to do this and see if it is something I can afford.


 


ning-000-0004-24244-74.jpg?width=721



 
John Moody said:


Very nice looking John. I just got to give the dye thing a try. I have never used it but I sure like the look and the way it evens out.

I like the Woodriver HVLP gun. That is the same one I use. I spray a lot of shellac and varnish with mine.
John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

  • Author

Charles, the little bottle of powder costs about 16 bucks, and it yields a gallon of stain if you stick with the ratios suggested. You would mix a small amount as a time per ratio, but I think it would fit into your woodworking style and conditions nicely. It does not take up much room like cans of stain do. I am sold on the dyes, there is just way too much you can do with them as far as colors and such. I highly recommend dyes to anyone looking to expand their color charts beyond Home Depot or Cabots!

Charles Nicholls said:


I'd like to try dying  some maple. I made a spalted maple bottle stopper last year that some of you may remember. It was dyed orange for Halloween, I believe i got it from WoodCraft but i cannot remember for sure. I would really like to try it on some maple I already have. I'll have to look up the different parts needed to do this and see if it is something I can afford.


 


ning-000-0004-24243-36.jpg?width=721



 
John Moody said:




Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA





John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Thanks for the info John.

John Morris said:


Charles, the little bottle of powder costs about 16 bucks, and it yields a gallon of stain if you stick with the ratios suggested. You would mix a small amount as a time per ratio, but I think it would fit into your woodworking style and conditions nicely. It does not take up much room like cans of stain do. I am sold on the dyes, there is just way too much you can do with them as far as colors and such. I highly recommend dyes to anyone looking to expand their color charts beyond Home Depot or Cabots!

Charles Nicholls said:




Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA



Very nice looking dye job. Can't wait to see it after the BLO. Will that be the final finish?


I've not tried Transtint , however I have used water based dyes from Lee Valley. They are only wood tones, though. 


Lee Valley suggests using applying their dyes with a rag. A spray gun would be far less messy, I'm sure.


 



Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

  • Author

The BLO just adds a bit of honey warmth Gene for this project. We are going to brush on one coat of 2lb Amber Shellac and two coats of oil based varnish.

Gene Howe said:


Very nice looking dye job. Can't wait to see it after the BLO. Will that be the final finish?


I've not tried Transtint , however I have used water based dyes from Lee Valley. They are only wood tones, though. 


Lee Valley suggests using applying their dyes with a rag. A spray gun would be far less messy, I'm sure.


 



Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton





John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Please explain why you'd use shellac under the varnish. I be cornfuzed.



Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

  • Author

Gene, it works as a great sanding sealer or first coat, but primarily I love the tone you get with a coat of shellac, I love the warmth of shellac, I will be using garnet shellac under the varnish.

Gene Howe said:


Please explain why you'd use shellac under the varnish. I be cornfuzed.



Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton





John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Thanks, John.


I'll try it on an pin oak gun cabinet. My next project is a maple briefcase to hold a couple 45s. Would that finish be durable enough with a few coats of McClosky's  Man-O-War varnish?




Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Putting the shellac on first also helps to give it a really good smooth surface. When sprayed on it will really smooth out and make the varnish really slick up.



John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

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