Food Color Dye

[cmarsch]

Hello everyone!

 

My Name is Chris and I am a new member of the "Villiage" as I seen most of you calling it as I was lurking around.... lol

 

I am from NEPA and have been steadily scrolling for about a month and a half now with a bit of scrolling experience in my early teens. I got back in to it now at 33 because i have taken a great interest and liking to intarsia and segmentation however i am a Carpenter and have a large dislike to "Painted" Wood.

 

I have noticed while lurking around some of you use Food Coloring to Dye some of your pieces.

 

LOL How is this done? I have never seen it before. 

 

I am also a Boy Scout Leader and would like to do an intarsia/segmentation of the Eagle Rank Badge to incorporate into a display of all of our troops Eagles over the years past and don't want to use ugly Paint, and exotic wood just don't match the colors right.

 

I am looking for a nice Red and Blue

 

Thanks so much for your help with this.

 

Chris 

 

 

[orangeman]

I use food colors exclusively for all my colored puzzles!

 

Check out my website and you will see some very vivid colors.

 

It took me several years to perfect the technique and it would take several pages to describe all the ins and outs. I really should write an article on the subject.

[Rob]

Please do Orangeman.  I'm sure a lot of us could benefit from your experience.

 

Rob

 

P.S. Chris, I am no expert but have experimented with food colouring diluted roughly 50/50 with methylated spirits.  I just wiped it on and let it dry then applied another coat for a darker colour if necessary.  I have read that a light coat of shellac first prevents too much absorption by end grain and results in a more uniform colour.  Why not try it on some scrap, and see how you get on.  In the meantime, hopefully Orangeman will come to our aid!

 

Rob

 

P.P.S. Welcome to the village. 

[spirithorse]

Welcome, Chris,

As Rob said, I am not a pro with colored dye but, I have used it

the same as using any other wood stain with satisfactory results.

There was a company that made colored dyes for wood but, I

went to my garage and can't find what I had left to give you the name.

 

There are also lots of instructables if you do a search of

How to dye wood with food coloring.

 

Good luck and God Bless! Spirithorse

[Bpardue]

I use some "general wood Finish" wood dye, mainly the blue, orange & red. apply as you would any wood stain. This General Finish dye is a water base pre-mixed dye.

Most of the colors in by pieces are all natural.

Look at several of my posts in the intarsia section

[amazingkevin]

Hello everyone!

 

My Name is Chris and I am a new member of the "Villiage" as I seen most of you calling it as I was lurking around.... lol

 

I am from NEPA and have been steadily scrolling for about a month and a half now with a bit of scrolling experience in my early teens. I got back in to it now at 33 because i have taken a great interest and liking to intarsia and segmentation however i am a Carpenter and have a large dislike to "Painted" Wood.

 

I have noticed while lurking around some of you use Food Coloring to Dye some of your pieces.

 

LOL How is this done? I have never seen it before. 

 

I am also a Boy Scout Leader and would like to do an intarsia/segmentation of the Eagle Rank Badge to incorporate into a display of all of our troops Eagles over the years past and don't want to use ugly Paint, and exotic wood just don't match the colors right.

 

I am looking for a nice Red and Blue

 

Thanks so much for your help with this.

 

Chris 

How to Dye Wood With Food Color | eHow

Let us know how things work out for you.Welcome aboard friend!

[cmarsch]

Hello everyone, and nice to meet you all. Thank you all for the quick replies I'll have to give it a try and see what happens.

 

Thanks Again.

[spirithorse]

Hi again, Christopher,

The product I spoke of before was called WOODBURST but, they seem to be out of business.

Another option is to use craft paint like DELTA or APPLE brand paints and thin the paint down

to about the viscosity of milk so that the wood grain shows through.

Once again, Good luck and God Bless! Spirithorse

[Bill WIlson]

I've recently used RIT fabric dye on wood.  I got some red & green to dye Baltic birch Christmas ornaments and it worked pretty well. 

[WigWag Workshop]

I am in the process of making some good old fashion building blocks for the Grandson, I been reading that using a product called liquid watercolors is a good option.  I see Hobby Lobby sells them. Not sure on what to use for a top coat, but was thinking mineral oil.

[orangeman]

WigWag,

 

Not sure I would use mineral oil as you need a tough coating on the blocks.

 

Not sure the mineral oil would seal in the colors sufficiently either.

 

I recommend lacquer. After it cures it is perfectly safe.

 

Don't know about the toxicity of the Hobby Lobby product. Some dyes are aniline dyes and I'd certainly avoid those for kids.

 

Try food colors. Approved by the FDA. Safe for kids.

 

bb

Edited March 4, 2016 by orangeman

[Denny Knappen]

I use Samen water based stains which comes in many colors.  I think Sheila Landry recommended this product.

[heppnerguy]

Hello everyone!

 

My Name is Chris and I am a new member of the "Villiage" as I seen most of you calling it as I was lurking around.... lol

 

I am from NEPA and have been steadily scrolling for about a month and a half now with a bit of scrolling experience in my early teens. I got back in to it now at 33 because i have taken a great interest and liking to intarsia and segmentation however i am a Carpenter and have a large dislike to "Painted" Wood.

 

I have noticed while lurking around some of you use Food Coloring to Dye some of your pieces.

 

LOL How is this done? I have never seen it before. 

 

I am also a Boy Scout Leader and would like to do an intarsia/segmentation of the Eagle Rank Badge to incorporate into a display of all of our troops Eagles over the years past and don't want to use ugly Paint, and exotic wood just don't match the colors right.

 

I am looking for a nice Red and Blue

 

Thanks so much for your help with this.

 

Chris 

 

Chris,

    Here is the first intarsia pattern I ever made. It is colorized with food coloring. I just mixed the food color with  a water wet paint brush and painted it one. The rocks are natural wood but the fish is all cedar. I don't remember what i did for a finish as i made this in 2006, right after I started making intarsia pieces. I was happy with the way it all turned our and I thought is was a pretty life like colorization for this Steelhead trout.  I hope this helps you see how my method worked for me.

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[heppnerguy]

I used food color right from the bottle using a wet paint brush. I did this in 2006. It was the first intarsia pattern I ever made. I was happy with the results

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[trailfndr]

Take a small container of water, add drops of food coloring a few at a time, Mix and test on scrap until you get the shade you desire.

 

Here is one I did last fall...all of the feather colors are food color/water wash.  Once dry, I spray on poly to finish.

Edited April 1, 2016 by trailfndr

[cmarsch]

Thanks everyone for your input ill be sure to give this a try!

 

I do have one question, did you have any trouble with the water raising the grain????

[woodknots]

I use transtint dyes you mix it with denatured alcohol so it doesn't raise the grain and dries quickly. Here is a picture of a puzzle i use it on its coated with lacquer.