Popular Woodworking 2006-11 № 158, страница 67

The Confusion

Non-grain-raising (NGR) dyes are now available to woodworkers in concentrated form - that is, with the glycol-ether dissolving solvent but without the methanol thinner. These dyes are very versatile because they can be thinned with water and used the same as a water-soluble powder dye, or they can be added to water-based finish, shellac or any finish that thins with lacquer thinner, to make a toner.

The packaging can cause confusion, however. These concentrates are exactly the same as the widely available NGR stains. In other words, thin a concentrate with methanol and you have Behlen Solarlux. So there are still just two very useful types of dye to choose from - even though you might find three packaging options at the store.

Choosing Among Options

If you are making a toner using shellac or any other finish that thins with lacquer thinner, the NGR type, whether concentrated or thinned with methanol, is the only one you can use. Personally, I find myself using the methanol-thinned NGR because a toner almost always has to be thinned a great deal anyway to maintain control. Otherwise, you risk building the color on the wood too fast and getting it too dark.

If you are making a toner with water-based finish, you can use either of the NGRs or the water-soluble powder. The NGRs are easier to use because you don't have to do the dissolving. Only if you want one of the colors available in powder form should you choose that type.

For staining wood by hand (not spraying), I find the water-soluble powders, especially those from W. D. Lockwood, far more useful than either of the NGRs for two reasons. First, the powder dyes are much easier to lighten right on the wood if you get the color too dark. Second, the dyes from Lockwood are available in a much larger choice of colors, including a great many that reproduce very accurately those colors we associate with traditional furniture. (See story at right.)

I find the ability to easily lighten or change the color after the dye has dried invaluable when trying to match the wood color to something else - for example, a "paint chip," an existing piece of furniture or an already fin-

I stained this maple board with a Lockwood water-soluble dye. After letting the stain dry, I applied a second coat to the left side and wiped the right side with a wet cloth. Two applications deepen the color significantly without muddying the wood. Wiping with water removes a significant amount of color, lightening the wood. I find the Lockwood brand of dyes the most versatile because they are the easiest to lighten.

ished object when replacing a part. Changing the color means applying another color that, when combined with the original, gives you what you want. Doing this darkens the original color, however, so you often have to lighten it first, or lighten the result.

The downside of using a powder dye, of course, is that you have to go through the extra step of dissolving it in water. Both types of NGR dye are ready to use. (Keep in mind that though ""NGR" is the acronym for "non-grain-raising," this dye raises the grain of wood

Though "metalized" dyes used in NGR stains are more fade resistant than water-soluble dyes, they still fade rather quickly. The lower half of this board was exposed to sunlight for six months through two panes of glass in a west-facing window. From left to right: TransTint concentrated NGR, Lockwood water-soluble, Arti water-soluble and methanol-thinned NGR. Clearly, you wouldn't want to use any of them in sunlight exposure.

if it is thinned with water.)

Also, if you are brushing water-based finish over a water-soluble dye that redissolves easily in water, you have to apply a barrier coat of another finish (shellac, varnish or lacquer) or you will drag the color and cause unsightly streaking.

For more information about the dyes available in most woodworking stores and catalogs, go to the web sites of the two principal suppliers at homesteadfinishing.com and wdlockwood.com. PW

W. D. LOCKWOOD AND THE HISTORY OF WOOD DYES

Dyes were developed in the late 19th century for use in the textile industry, but it didn't take long for furniture manufacturers to realize they could use the dyes also.

Early American and British reproduction furniture was very popular at that time. But the colors of the new wood didn't match the colors of 100- or 200-year-old oxidized wood. The easiest and most transparent way to make the new wood the color of the old was with dye.

W. D. Lockwood was started in 1895 in New York City by a chemist, a practicing wood finisher and a business entrepreneur, none of whom were named W. D. Lockwood. The company has always been located in lower Manhattan and may have been the first to adapt the textile dyes for use on wood.

Lockwood's business model was (and still is) to buy dye powders from the large dye manufacturers such as BASF and blend them to the color specifications of furniture manufacturers, many of whom were making reproduction furniture.

Hundreds of wonderful wood-tone formulas dating back to 1895 are contained in Lock-wood's files, with about 85 water-soluble examples available to wood finishers. Examples of the colors include: Tudor Oak, Flemish Brown, Jacobean, Antique Cherry, Sheridan Mahogany and Phyfe Red.

Lockwood also has many alcohol- and oil-soluble colors blended to imitate traditional wood tones. None are "metalized" NGR dyes. — BF

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