Help with water based wood stain/dye

[Jonny McClean]

I planning on finishing my next project with black dye sand back and blue dye then and clear waterborne sanding sealer and clear waterborne lacquer.
The problem im having is the blue dye i have is very dark, if i apply it neat it looks almost black, im not positive on how to lighten up the colour, i tried to dilute it slightly with water but it only got thinner not lighter, should i be using something different like solvent thinners?
I tried adding a few drops of the dye into a small ammount of lacquer which got me to the right sort of colour i was looking but before i finish my project like this it there a better way to lighten my dye so i can apply it by hand as i originally planned. I'm working on an ash body. Thanks.

[Dave Stewart]

I use small 1 oz. mixing cups and my recipes end up being so many "drops" of colour per oz. of "carrier" (ie water or lacquer). You might try 20 drops/oz of water on a sample to see where you are & increase the intensity (more drops) as you get more comfortable. (Colortone dyes, if that's the type you're using, are much too intense to put on undiluted)

[Gordon Bellerose]

Yes. The dyes or stains are very potent. The ratio of stain to water is very little stain, to a pint or cup of water. A small 2 oz. bottle of stain will make from 2 - 3 qts of mix.

[Jonny McClean]

many thanks, ill let you know how i get on.

[Jonny McClean]

Had a bit of a disaster with my dye tested loads on scrap thought I had it down, gave it a go and it ended up deep purple , ended up sanding it all back and sprayed it with a tin of cellolose tinted lacquer that I convinced my local car parts place to make up for me, I won't give up on the dye though maybe try it again on a future project, thanks for the advice though

[Gordon Bellerose]

I have used the technique you describe in your initial post a few times now, with excellent results.
As the other guys have said, the stain is very potent, and must be mixed with water, or alcohol.
I've found that if I mix about 1/8 teaspoon to a cup of water that is just about right to start.
If the color is too light, add just a couple of drops at a time. You can also dilute with water if it is too dark.

When you rub / brush / spray it on, the color it is when wet is pretty close to what you get after the first clear coat.

[Ron Belanger]

For the Stew Mac dyes I use 50 drops of color to 4 oz of alcohol. I usually spray the color with a small detail gun or an air brush. I like the alcohol because it dries quickly and allows me to spray a number of coats to reach the desired depth of color without waiting a half an hour for it to dry. I then seal the color in with shellac.

[Gordon Bellerose]

For the Stew Mac dyes I use 50 drops of color to 4 oz of alcohol. I usually spray the color with a small detail gun or an air brush. I like the alcohol because it dries quickly and allows me to spray a number of coats to reach the desired depth of color without waiting a half an hour for it to dry. I then seal the color in with shellac.

Ron

I've been trying to figure out a good system of staining, sealing, grain filling.
Have you already filled the grain before staining? OR do you do all these steps first, and then grain fill?

I have already tried epoxy grain filling with good results on an unstained body, but I'm not really sure which order to work in when it comes to a stained body.

The stain work best on bare wood, giving the best color. Should I then go to sealer/shellac, and then to grain filling?

[Ron Belanger]

I seal the color with shellac and then do System 3 epoxy pore fill and then I use KTM SV over the epoxy. On non porous woods like Spruce and Maple, I shoot the SV over the shellac.