Suggested wanted, to stain or to dye.

[Leon]

I am once again building 8 or so boxes for gifts. Very similar to the ones with the 3D blocks that I build a couple of years ago, but the tops will be much simpler.

I have a 9' long piece of 4/4 S4S 1x8 white oak that is figured the entire length of the board.

Yesterday I cut 23" out of that piece to yield 8 veneers approximately

7.25" x 10.5". I want to color the veneers, they are already glued to a piece of .25" plywood.

I really want the grain to pop. Half of the box box sides will be mahogany and half white oak.

Here are examples of the veneers sanded to 80 grit, I'll be going further, and wet with mineral spirits.

What do you suggest for a color and or stain or dye?

And your method for a water based dye for minimal grain raising?

Click to zoom in for more detail. The whole board looks like this.

[Scott Lurndal]

I'd be tempted to just use an amber shellac and forgo any stain/dye. Those veneers look pretty nice as they are.

If you've some pre-VOC minwax _golden oak_ oil-based stain, that may also look fine.

[Leon]

Hummm, I will probably give that a try. Thank you.

[krw]

Oh, that's just sooo '70s. ;-)

[nailshooter41]

I remember that board, Leon. I think I would take a piece of it and put a coat of lacquer on it to see how it looked. Stain will certainly muddy the grain, so if you are looking for color try an NGR dye like Sola Lux. They sell it at Woodcraft, so it is easy to get your hands on. It is alcohol ( and something else) base and it dries FAST so it doesn't raise the grain an ywhere.

I have sprayed a lot of that stuff and it works great. If you are going to hand apply make sure you use a conditioner first.

Still, I would look at the pattern and color after application of a clear l acquer.

Personally, I don't like colored or tinted coatings. They can turn out OK coloration on large smooth surfaces you might want to single coat like some table tops, but suck at anything more complicated as a bit more congregati on of the material will cause you to have shading. And second coats? Talk about a nightmare. How do you get it so perfectly even in application tha t there are no witness marks?

Last, the colored finishes yellow (known as "ambering") over time, so you w ill get a double dose of color which may not be something you want.

Just sayin'....

Robert

[Leon]

Thank you Robert. I may rethink the dye, I have only used a dye one time, on the pantry. It was GF water based and very dark so no obvious yellowing is going on. I may just go with a natural clear finish.