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Ever added dye to grain filler?
http://mowrystrings.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10123&t=39434
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Author:  Irving [ Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Ever added dye to grain filler?

I'm about to do a tru oil finish on another guitar. Left it open pore last time. Want to fill the pores and I'm thinking that the pore filler should be rather dark as I'm using a very deep dark red for the body. I was thinking of adding some of this water based color right into the water based grain filler.

Author:  Dave Livermore [ Wed Feb 20, 2013 6:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ever added dye to grain filler?

Go for it.
Test on scrap, but I'm sure it will be fine.

I use transtint and durhams rock hard wood putty for pore fill and it works just fine.
It amazes me how much dye it needs to really get dark. That is why I recommend testing on scrap.

Dave

Author:  dzsmith [ Wed Feb 20, 2013 7:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ever added dye to grain filler?

I have not tried it yet, but I plan to pore fill with tinted epoxy and then color the bare wood with transtint.
I assume I can mix the dye with the epoxy. I usually add a bit of alcohol to the epoxy to thin it.
I reckon the best method would be to tint the finish, but I like to apply the dye to bare wood and then buff it with steel wool to even out the color.
Anyone tried this?

Author:  B. Howard [ Wed Feb 20, 2013 9:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ever added dye to grain filler?

I do not use WB finish products but I routinely tint my grain fillers.

Author:  cphanna [ Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Ever added dye to grain filler?

I have never used dyes with pore fillers, but I've used stains with them for decades on furniture. Also on four instruments. (I am a hobby builder, so I don't have many instruments to my credit.) That's my routine approach for filling and coloring open pored woods. I see no reason why dyes can't be used the same way, but I would test on several pieces of scrap before committing to the instrument.
Patrick

Author:  msween [ Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Ever added dye to grain filler?

I was going to ask about this as well, My current build I plan to finish in a similar fashion to the doghair finish from collings guitar, or the old Gibson Voodoo series, except i want a flat black body with a nice cobalt-ish bule grain filler rubbed in to mahogany. I have the timber mate or what ever it is from stew mac for grain filler, and I plan to tint with color fx dye, which is the same product as the color tone. not sure how yet, but trail and error, right? lol

Author:  Barry Daniels [ Thu Feb 21, 2013 1:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ever added dye to grain filler?

Dyes are the wrong thing to use on opaque grain fillers. You need a pigment type of color. You can get this from StewMac (Colortone Pigment, not dye), japan colors, UTCs (Universal Tint Colorants from paint stores), or even artist's colors in the metal tubes (assuming you use an oil based pore filler). Trying to use a dye to color an opaque filler will require lots of dye and it will never mix in correctly.

Author:  Quine [ Thu Feb 21, 2013 1:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ever added dye to grain filler?

I use transtint dyes from Rockler. I like really dark filler for mahogany pores or lighter color woods

Author:  absrec [ Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ever added dye to grain filler?

I agree with the above post about pigments over dyes for tinting filler. The filler will sit only in the pores once you sand it off. Subtle is not the way to go with grain fillers. You don't want some grey or tan filler sitting down in a piece of mahogany that you can't sand out. Dyes won't opaque like pigments. Today I was testing some scrap swamp ash. I used joint compound tinted black with Tintsall lamp black. With the sealer coats on top, it brings a lot of character to the wood. It's gonna have a foresty green dye sprayed over top of that in the end. The black will make that grain pop right through.

Author:  John Coloccia [ Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ever added dye to grain filler?

I use transtint dye in TimberMate all the time. It works perfectly well, and Timbermate has become my favorite grain filler by far. Nearly every grain filler is opaque, save for a handful of waterbased grain fillers (and I think McFadden made a solvent based clear filler at one time too), so it really doesn't matter what you add. I find that Transtint and Timbermate do love each other. For convenience, I try to buy the color I want, but sometimes I just tint the "natural" color (off white) because I happen to have a big tub of it here.

Also, once you mix up a batch, it pretty much never goes bad. If it thickens up or dries out, add more water. In fact, I scrape the excess filler off back into the mixing cup. It's amazing just how little filler is actually required.

Author:  HaMMerHeD [ Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ever added dye to grain filler?

I have used black transtint dye in Zinsser's Dewaxed Shellac sanding sealer. Works well.

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