Sand Blasted & Dyed Red Oak HF

[Baxter Smith]

Before Christmas, I tried wire brushing and then dying a variety of red oak forms. Picked up some aluminum oxide and last week tried sandblasting one.
It was then dyed with black transtint mixed in water. After getting tired of sanding off black, I applied red transtint mixed with DNA. Its now more cranberry than red. Possibly the result of not sanding quite enough with the black and/or mixing a stronger red than I had used previously. Never knowing quite what I am going to get (the way I do it:eek:) keeps it interesting. What do you think?
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9”x 5 3/4”: Finished with Bush Oil (black gesso on the inside)
Thoughts and suggestions are always welcome and appreciated!

[Steve Schlumpf]

I think it is some beautiful work there Baxter! Love the coloring, the texture and most of all - the form! Very nice work!

[Bob Bergstrom]

That is gorgeous form. Even without the surface treatment, it is a winner. The exterior just puts it over the top!

[Roger Chandler]

I think it is a really good form and your dye treatment really pops the grain............I have not done enough dye techniques to offer a finishing critique, but I think you have a winner here............If you were going for a more vibrant red.......perhaps more sanding would have done that after the black...........good stuff Baxter.

[Harry Robinette]

Baxter
You really hit it with this one,it is Beautiful, shape, color everything. Really nice job.

[charlie knighton]

very nice, i really like the 4th view

[Greg Just]

Very nice Baxter. I like the color, shape and texture of this piece. Well done.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Hey Bax,
That's the stuff I like. Turn, carve or blast then color. Great hollow form and I really like the blasting and color. Do more of it.
faust

[mike ash]

Baxter - beautiful all the way around (form, color and finish)!!!!

[Donny Lawson]

Interesting piece. I kindly like the coloring.

[Brian Effinger]

That is a wonderful form, and I'd say a successfull dye job.
How do you like that bush oil?

[Steve Mawson]

That is really nice. Form is great. Hard to see the texture, how does it feel?

[Harvey Ghesser]

Baxter, the form is beautiful! The coloring is nice and brings out some very interesting grain patterns.

[Greg Bender]

Baxter,
you nailed this one for sure, coloring is excellent and the wood really fits the overall design.
Greg

[Steve Vaughan]

Looks really nice. Would love to be equipped to do some sandblasting myself. Great color and form.

[BILL DONAHUE]

Baxter, I really like this and am curious about a few things. What do you mean by aluminum oxide - is that what you use to sandblast it and if so, what is the effect on the wood? I gather from a Google search that transtint is a dye - why use it and not the analine dye that I see in the catalogs? Great loooking piece!

[Kathy Marshall]

Beautiful piece all the way around! The form is outstanding and the color and texturing look great!

[Scott Hackler]

Really great piece Baxter. Reminds me of the pieces from Andy DiPietro, which is a huge compliment.

[Alan Trout]

Great form and great color. Well done.

Alan

[Rick Markham]

Baxter, I really like the effect it made. The cranberry color is wonderful, and the form is really spot on!

[Bill Hensley]

I'm loving the results of your recent experiments. Thanks for sharing.

[John Keeton]

Great form, Baxter!! Hard to see much of the texture in the pics, but the color is great. I suspect the blue tint of the Transtint black resulted in the color you have. Seems most blacks have a blue cast to them. The Fiebings leather dye is probably closer to a black.

I gather from a Google search that transtint is a dye - why use it and not the analine dye that I see in the catalogsBill, Transtint is a metal acid dye, and much more lightfast than are the analine dyes.

[Steve Campbell]

Baxter I like the color and the form is spot on. I don't like turning red oak that much but you seem to have found a finish I could learn to love. Thanks for showing us.

Steve

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Nice flowing form. Great color. It's the kind of piece you just want to pick up and feel the surface of. Great piece there Baxter

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks for the positive feedback. I appreciate it!

....
How do you like that bush oil?
Not sure, but I did pick up another quart at the New Hampshire Woodcraft when I went past over the holidays. It is expensive compared to the other oils. I would be tempted to use AO on these for more of a gloss, but wouldn't be able to wipe it off from in the pores. I think it would end up with lots of shiny dots. I have used compressed air to blow the excess AO out of cracks and crevices so perhaps I could do the same with these.

...... Hard to see the texture, how does it feel?
Still a little oily, actually. Put the Bush Oil on 3 or 4 days ago. After sitting in the shop for a couple, I brought it into the house. If I hit it with some compressed air, I wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't still drive some oil to the surface on those pores.
..........Would love to be equipped to do some sandblasting myself. ....
The blast cabinet is a leftover from when I tore apart a 49 Farmall H about 10 years ago. Doesn't get used often but I hated to get rid of it.
At least it has gotten a little use!

Baxter, I really like this and am curious about a few things. What do you mean by aluminum oxide - is that what you use to sandblast it and if so, what is the effect on the wood? I gather from a Google search that transtint is a dye - why use it and not the analine dye that I see in the catalogs? Great loooking piece!
Thanks Bill. The aluminum oixde is the media I used to blast it with. Faust Ruggerio said that was what a friend of his used. Found some 70# at a Harbor Freight store about an hour away so picked some up when I was passing by. Don't remember what I had been using. The pores in the Oak become opened/more prominent and the softer(summerwood) wears away faster leaving the darker rings slightly prominent. You can do something very similar using a brass bristle brush and or a soft wire wheel on an electric drill or grinder. John was right about the lightfastness of the dyes.


........Reminds me of the pieces from Andy DiPietro, which is a huge compliment.
Thanks Scott. I went to an Andy Dipietro demo last September on texturing and dying. I am lucky if I can remember half of what I hear and see!

................ Hard to see much of the texture in the pics, but the color is great. I suspect the blue tint of the Transtint black resulted in the color you have. Seems most blacks have a blue cast to them. The Fiebings leather dye is probably closer to a black.....
John, the texture could probably be increased with more sandblasting. The aluminum oxide also comes in different grits but this is the only one they carried. I have only done one, but it seems to be easier to get a more even surface texture this way than wirebrushing. You are probably right about the blues in the black. I kind of like the cranberry color but it wasn't quite what I expected. Surprises are sometimes fun though!

[Bill Wyko]

Baxter, the form on this piece is absolutely beautiful. The SB effect gives it an antique kind of appearance and as far as the finish goes, it's perfect to bring it all full circle. An excellent HF in every aspect. Well done my friend.

[David DeCristoforo]

Very nice HF, Baxter. The line is flawless from bottom to top. The comparison to Andy's pieces should be taken as a complement. Not easy to get that fair curve... The ripple effect created by the rays in the oak really sweetens the deal.

[Primvs Aebvtivs]

Neat idea Baxter, may have to turn something myself, and get work to shotblast it!

[Dan Forman]

This is a gorgeous piece, lovely form, the dye job really works, and it looks like you got out of having to sand through all the grits. :)

Dan

[Michelle Rich]

I think it's a great color..I like the shape too.

[Peter Elliott]

Looks great Baxter. I really like the dye color. Dye is not so easy to get even.

If you want to use water as the carrier you might want to try Transfast. It's an anilne dye and does well with just water.
Keep in mind that water will raise the grain and in your oak, that actually could help in the sand blasting.

Transtint flashes really quick in DNA.. to the point you should really be shooting it from a gun but then you have vapors.

After using transtint and transfast for years, I become a big fan of General Finishes Dye Stain. I find it doesn't flash as quick but is a true dye.
If you are going for a black, try the GF Dye Ebony. I couldn't get Transtint dark enough but GF does a great job.

The best part about dyes is you can mix different colors to come up with your own custom "brew" color.

[Curt Fuller]

Baxter, I'm trying to decide what I like best about this piece, the form, the color, or the texture. You've hit it out of the park on all three really.

[Robert McGowen]

Not much to say that has not already been said, Baxter. Your form is great, so everything else you did really adds to the piece. Great job.

[Roland Martin]

Ditto, ditto, ditto.... This is a beautiful piece, Baxter, really like the quartersawn shot on the 4th pic.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks for your thoughts. They are appreciated!

Looks great Baxter. I really like the dye color. Dye is not so easy to get even.

If you want to use water as the carrier you might want to try Transfast. It's an anilne dye and does well with just water.
Keep in mind that water will raise the grain and in your oak, that actually could help in the sand blasting.

Transtint flashes really quick in DNA.. to the point you should really be shooting it from a gun but then you have vapors.

After using transtint and transfast for years, I become a big fan of General Finishes Dye Stain. I find it doesn't flash as quick but is a true dye.
If you are going for a black, try the GF Dye Ebony. I couldn't get Transtint dark enough but GF does a great job.

The best part about dyes is you can mix different colors to come up with your own custom "brew" color.
Thanks Peter. Sounds like you have a lot of experience with dyes that would be useful! With these, sandblasting is done before dying. I started off using DNA with the black transtint but it evaporated so fast it was hard to avoid lap marks. Since most sanding was done after applying the black, I switched to using water because it didn't matter if you raised the grain. Still used DNA for the second dye to avoid raising the grain and having to sand again. Switching from cheap bristle brushes to foam brushes helped in spreading it more evenly and faster but for a smoother surface, it still would be less than great. I have a pretty decent hvlp gun but using it seems like way too much work for about an ounce of dye. Do you think a small preval sprayer might work. I used one quite a few years ago for painting some fiberglass work on a boat.

[James Combs]

Baxter, great form, great color, I love it because it is different. Not just another "me too" vessel(and believe me, I know "me toos" that's what i do :-)

[Peter Elliott]

Baxter, yes! There is a nice detail gun that I use for spraying small jobs. It connects to a compressor and is very easy to shoot with. Speaking with Jeff Jewitt (who makes transtint products) a few years back, we talked about mixing water/dna with transtint dye. I can't remember the ratio and obviously you have to stir before applying but it did not flash as quick as straight DNA and did not raise the grain as much as H20.

I post back on the gun I use.

GF dye stain has a retarder in it, so "lap marks" are much less. Still have to work quick on big pieces but nothing like straight DNA dye.

Key point to dyes - (outside of sand blasting) if you know you are going to dye a project, try to raise the grain with light mist of water ( I use distilled water) in your finish schedule. Nothing worse than getting that nice silk smooth wood, then apply the dye and feel the grain all rough again. Of course this depends on the wood species, 99% of all domestic woods will raise.

[Tim Rinehart]

Baxter, you really nailed it on form and finish. I also echo comments on this being every bit as stunning as the work of Andy Dipietro. Appears to me you remembered, albeit subconsciously, his demo very well.

I wish I had room to even store a sand blast cabinet. Need to find someone who has one...someone must! I was impressed during NC symposium this past year seeing the work of Pascal Oudet and a demo he did on dentilles. If you're up to the task, get some nice fresh oak and give it a try...gotta get it down to about 2mm in thickness (that would be Scott Hackler thin!) and then blast away. If you google Oudet and dentilles...you'll see some work he has at Del Mano Gallery.

Beautiful piece, can't suggest anything it needs besides a suitable name!

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks Peter for your wealth of knowledge!

, I know "me toos" that's what i do :-)
Me too!;):)

... nice fresh oak and give it a try...gotta get it down to about 2mm in thickness (that would be Scott Hackler thin!) and then blast away. If you google Oudet and dentilles...you'll see some work he has at Del Mano Gallery.
......
Cool stuff for sure Tim. I still have some red & white oak from the summer covered up in my woodpile so maybe the next time I feel like roughing something out...... It seems like my list of things to try just gets longer and longer!