Woodworker's Journal Summer-2008, страница 91

Woodworker

Dyes

Color can also enhance the grain, both by adding bright highlights and by intensifying grain patterns. For each of the samples in the bottom right photo, facing page, I used dye to add character, but with a slightly different technique on each.

On the left, I took a rather plain piece of walnut, which sported an unfortunate grayish cast, and livened it up by flooding on and wiping off a fairly dilute yellow-orange dye. The result is the mellow warmth that sun aging eventually imparts to walnut. In the center, I used a weak, reddish-

brown dye to bring out the curl in figured maple. After flooding the dye on and wiping it off, I waited until the wood dried, then sanded it well with 180-grit paper. Sanding removed the dye from all but the end grain that forms the curl figure, and it made the wood's pattern stand out without substantially altering the overall color.

The third sample is a bit different and more complicated. Over time, sunlight changes Indian rosewood from a dark purple to a much lighter blaze of golds, reds and dark contrasting grain lines. To mimic that effect, I first bleached the wood using two-part

wood bleach. This process removes background color, but it leaves the dark lines intact. After the bleach dried, an amber dye brought out the bright highlights and deeper contrast.

Dry Brushing

Dry brushing, sometimes called "dirty brushing," is one of those rarely used coloring techniques that gives the finisher tremendous control of stain. Unlike the conventional staining process, which floods color all over the wood, dry brushing allows you to place color only where you want it, even in impossibly small areas such as a single wood pore.

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summer 2008 91