Recipe for deep red using StewMac dyes...?

[erikbojerik]

OK, I just got my ColorTone liquid stains, and I'd like to do my quilt top in a deep (but still translucent) red. I've seen in a few places that a true red can be tough to get (without looking pink or orange), so does anyone have a tried & true recipe for red?

My maple is very white, and the plan is to stain black and sand back first. Water-based.

[litchfield]

Here's you recipe:

1: Mix you red light

2: test on scrap

3: add more red

4: repeat steps 2 & 3

5: repeat step 4

6: repeat step 5

[erikbojerik]

Are you sure it's that easy? I've read a few posts where it is recommended to add a bit of blue to the red, to keep it from looking like a pinkish-orangey salmon, but I've never seen an actual recipe. And this will be my first foray into a dye job.

Me being a lazy arse, I thought someone might have it dialed in and could save me some experimenting.

[Drak]

Erik, you should have these basic materials on hand before you 'get to gettin' with the dyes.

1) Plastic pipettes

2) Plastic mixing cups

3) Baby food jars or some other glass jar of approximately same size

And a box of latex gloves, unless you want to look like you've been visiting a kindergarten fingerpainting class .

And a can of clear gloss rattle can, so you can easily shoot over your test strips to get instant results.

Then you're ready to begin.

Remember:

Red is red

Red plus anything else is no longer red

Red + blue is the train to Purpleville

Don't get lost in the ozone here, red is red. If you want deep red, then use just red and nothing else.

If you've never done it before, apply to scrap first.

If you keep to the baby food sized jars and mixing cups, you cannot go wrong. If you want a guarantee of a good color, there is your guarantee, stick with it.

Blue is not going to 'save' you from pinkish-orangey-salmon, that person mixed their red WAY WAY WAY too weak. Stick w/ the baby-food jars and that won't happen to you.

'Dialing it in'...stick to the mixing cups and baby food jars and you will have dialed yourself in well enough.

This pic has all the basic materials except the latex gloves.

[Grindell]

I got a deep red using the red, plus a couple of drops of black. I also enhanced the grain with black before coating with red. See the pic below.

[Drak]

Usually, if you're staining black/sanding back, your red will pick up some of the black previously applied as you wipe it on anyway, but the color you want your guitar is completely up to you, and if you want a darker red, adding a few drops of black is certainly a good way to go.

I rarely use any color right out of the bottle, I custom mix my shades almost every time.

Perry's GOTM winner was a great red, maybe he'll tell you how he did his red too.

But to do any kind of good dye jobs, and to experiment with your colors for mix-n-match shades of your own choosing, I recommend that basic set of parts above, that's like the dye 'starter' kit that will allow you to find all kinds of great colors.

PS, reds come out terrible on digital cameras, at least that's my experience, I have yet to get my reds under control to be able to represent them realistically in an uploaded pic so they actually look like they do here at the Castle Drak.

Just to give you a sampling of the reds I have here on hand to play around with:

1) Lockwood Ruby Red (water-based, in powder)

2) Stew-Mac's ColorTone Cherry Red (metallic liquid)

3) Solar Lux Blood Red (alcohol liquid)

4) Solar Lux Medium Brown Mahogony (a brownish red alcohol liquid)

5) Solar Lux Nutmeg (a reddish brown alcohol liquid)

6) Tints-All Rose Lake Red (a red PIGMENT, not a dye, but is transparent if applied thinly enough as a shader coat )

...don't get me started on the yellows...

[GuitarMaestro]

PS, reds come out terrible on digital cameras, at least that's my experience, I have yet to get my reds under control to be able to represent them realistically in an uploaded pic so they actually look like they do here at the Castle Drak.

I second that. Be careful here....

[erikbojerik]

Thanks very much everyone, Grindell's red is what I'm after, that's quite nice. I guess it is that easy; I'll be sure not to mix it too weak, and I want to avoid Purpleville at all costs...

[rhoads56]

Perry's GOTM winner was a great red, maybe he'll tell you how he did his red too.

Brown dude, brown....

Mine was a mixture of two different stains, using a method with the same outcome as the stain black/sand back, but much much quicker, easier, and with brown instead of black.

I call my method the "same as the stain black/sand back, but different, and much much quicker, easier, and with brown instead of black" TM, R, Patent Pending, and Copyright.

[Drak]

Yes, yes, Perry is generally quicker, faster, better, and more efficient at pretty much everything except providing information on how he did that finish, his post had very little meat on the bones as far as how he did it soooo much better.

I remember he did go into detail on how he did that last year, but after 1/2 hour of using the search function, I'm tired of looking and I'm not the one who needs it

So Erik, shy of Perry actually spelling it out for you or finding his post where he explains it, you're on your own w/ the search function.

I think he wiped one on, then wiped it off, then applied the second color right afterwards.

Here is another shot of his BROWN ( ) guitar. Very nice Perry.

[rhoads56]

I remember he did go into detail on how he did that last year, but after 1/2 hour of using the search function, I'm tired of looking and I'm not the one who needs it

Now now Drak, if i gave you all the details as soon as you ask for them, how am i going to keep you in suspense??

Ok, schools open!!

1 - Wipe on dark base colour.

2 - Wipe off dark base colour with compatible thinner.

3 - For extra depth, repeat step 1 and 2

4 - Reread step 3 if you like

5 - go to step 6

6 - skip this step

7 - stain with lighter or contrasting colour

8 - Lacquer, but only after reading step 9

Im not sure if i did post the details here, it might have been the dreaded MIMF, where the SYSOP (whatever the hell that is) refused to add it to the library, because i had a few pictures linked to a "commercial" website (i sold muscle car badges), showing the process... bla bla bla

[Drak]

Tank You oh Mastahsahn (bowing).

A question, and some meaningless banter.

Sometimes I incorporate that into my scheme. I'll dye the dark color, then wipe it off with water -to a point-.

I always thought wiping it with water drove the stain down into the figured parts a little better, especially since I am normally using Solar Lux (alcohol, non-grain-raising bla bla bla).

So wiping it w/ water served 2 functions: it drove the dye in further into the figured parts, and started the removal process of any unnecessary stain on the rest of it.

I'll wipe, turn the rag to a new face, wipe some more, turn the rag, bla bla bla, usually 3-4 times...lifting more and more stain off of the piece, but I still let it dry and sand back afterwards.

*So when you wipe back Perry, how many times do you 'turn a new face', ...until you're barely getting any more stain up on the rag, or you can easily discern the dark and light parts on the dyed Maple?

I think this way works great for any medium-to-dark colors...browns, reds, blues, etc., but if you're trying to do something that starts with yellow or any type of amber as a basecoat, and using the grain enhancement program, this way (my opinion) maybe isn't the best, as the yellow or amber will pick up your dark 'in the grain' color as you're wiping it on and around and darken the yellow or amber to a point you didn't want it to go to. I've been down that road many times trying to find a better way.

For the yellows/ambers with dark grain enhancing, I find it almost necessary to sand it back, blow the work off well, then shoot my yellow/amber on with my gun (and I try to keep it a relatively dry shoot, even when using water-based dyes)

This seems to allow me to keep the dark grain figuring and still keep a relatively bright and colorful yellow basecoat.

PS, a large component of any black dye is blue, and blue + yellow = green, so when I'm doing a yellow or amber w/ grain enhancement, I'll tint my black with some Blood Red to 'lean' it back to the red/yellow/brown camp.

Don't believe me? Take any black dye and disperse a little of it into your sink with the water running to break it down into it's basic component colors, you'll see most of it is blue.

Trivia time: What do you add to make black 'blacker'?

Orange!

[rhoads56]

I use two rags to apply stain. One with stain, one clean to wipe it off. I stain a quarter of the guitar at a time, and wipe off. THEN, once im happy that there is enough stain, i go to the thinner/water/alcohol/whatever soaked rag and wipe all over, until i get the look im after.

There is no set amount for any of these steps, its all trial and error for all the different colours.

[Drak]

I use two rags to apply stain. One with stain, one clean to wipe it off.

Yes, I also use 2, thanks for highlighting that fact.

[Maiden69]

Is it possible to air brush the stain? I have seen some green/yellow stain job that accentuated eighter of the color in random places, I think they called it "dragon burst" .