help with oil based dye

[keith ouellette]

I have 1 oz of lockwood's dye and my piece has one very thin wash coat of poly. I'm going to sand the wood first with 320grit.

the directions for the dye say:

"stir each oz in 1/2 pint of benzol , naphtha or turpentine for one hour. then dilute in 1 1/2 pints of solvent and stir occasionally at least one hour.
always use shellac for first-coater

Does that mean that I have to stir the solution of dye and solvent non stop for one hour (no wonder people use pre made stain)?

If I want to make a toner out of the dye can I make it with poly (its what i'm used to using as a finish coat) and if so do I work small amounts of dye after it's dissolved in the 1/2 pint of solvent or after it is fully diluted or .....

HELP>

[Casey Gooding]

I think the key word is occasionally.

[Scott Holmes]

You are not going to get the best results using poly as a toner.

Varnish (poly is a type of varnish; not a class by itself, as many think) dries very slowly and thus gives the toner time to settle, pool, sag and even run if you're not careful. The "moved" film will causes differences in film thickness which will result in darker or lighter areas.

The shellac statement on the directions means that a seal coat of shellac is recomended before a brush coat of varnish so the dye does not move around with the brush strokes.