Trans Fast Dye

[Julie Moriarty]

Has anyone had any problems with getting Trans Fast dye to absorb into the wood? I'm batting 0-2 right now trying to get blue Trans Fast to dye evenly into curly maple. All the other dye colors I have are Trans Tint and I've had no problems with that at all. Woodcraft was out of blue Trans Tint so I bought the Trans Fast.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/KB%20Custom/TF_dye_zps5c6acd9e.jpg


On the left you can see where the wood barely took in the dye. If you could see the whole thing in your hands, you would see streaks where the dye was deeply absorbed and streaks where the natural color of the wood is almost showing through.

The TF powder was mixed with warm water and sprayed on and you could see it bead up where it absorbed the least. The whole piece was sanded to 180 rather than 220 because I had this problem with the blue TF on another guitar. In the pic above I have 3 coats of lacquer sprayed on. I'll do 6-7 more coats but don't want to continue until I can get the color right.

BTW, I thought I had it before I sprayed the lacquer but once the lacquer dried, the color variations showed up.

[Scott Holmes]

Let me take a guess... this is a used guitar and my guess is that there are body oils or something inhibiting the absorption of the dye.

[Julie Moriarty]

No. Built from scratch. I did however have problems with the tone from the start and ended up stripping 3 coats of lacquer (yes, this is my second round on this guitar body) and sanding it to bare wood again. After reading your response, I went back and looked at the pictures I took after the first round and the uneven tone wasn't there. Is there any way I can even this out?

[Chris Padilla]

Maple can be tricky but dyes tend to work best over pigments. Still, I hate to suggest sanding back to bare wood again but you might spray a 1/2# or 1# cut of shellac to seal it a bit and try the dye again. Also, you might stop at 150 grit, skip the shellac, and try the dye again. I never sand maple beyond 150 if I plan to stain or dye it...I just run into fewer problems this way.

Another thought is to put your dye into the lacquer or shellac and use it as a toner to even out the color. Each layer builds up the color more and more so you have good control on how deep you want to go.

[John TenEyck]

Julie, if you've had no trouble with Transtint I'd strip the guitar, bleach it with whatever bleach is effective in removing Transfast, and then start over with Transtint. I'm not sure that regular laundry bleach will remove Transfast, but I'd start there unless someone knows it doesn't work and, hopefully, what does. Pool bleach, perhaps. Also, note that Trantint is soluble in water, alcohol, acetone, and MEK, and maybe more. Each yields slightly different absorption behavior, so if you have problems with uneven absorption even with the Transtint in water, you may want to try one of the others.

John

[Prashun Patel]

When using darker dyes (both Transtint and Transfast) I have experienced the same problem as you. You will sacrifice some grain contrast, but I found it easier to sand to a slightly lower grit and then spray the dye. It seems like it gets deposited more evenly this way vs wipe on, dry off, where much is removed from the less porous areas (it feels like).

[Julie Moriarty]

This project has made me realize trying to see colors in the mind of another is impossible. I'm making this for a friend. He sent me pictures of guitars colored the way he'd like his. From there, I tried to create that look. First round I dyed it black, sanded back and dyed blue, all by ragging it on. I didn't like it. So I sanded it back again and started over by spraying on the dye. It looked fine so I sprayed on three coats of lacquer. Once that dried I knew it was too dark. Thinking I might have to make another body from scratch, I figured, "What do I have to lose?" and stripped it with lacquer thinner then sanded it back to almost bare wood. Stripping it with lacquer thinner probably sealed up some pores and that's why I'm having problems now.

As a last ditch effort, I'm going to tint the lacquer blue and see how it goes. But can I add water dissolved dye into lacquer? Or will I need to pick up some Trans Tint?

[Scott Holmes]

TransTint. You may want to use a chemical stripper not just lacquer thinner to remove the old finish. USe one with methylene chloride for best results. Wipe it down with lacquer thinner to remove all MC.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Julie, if you've had no trouble with Transtint I'd strip the guitar, bleach it with whatever bleach is effective in removing Transfast, and then start over with Transtint. I'm not sure that regular laundry bleach will remove Transfast, but I'd start there unless someone knows it doesn't work

John

John, I have had pretty good luck just using standard laundry bleach to remove Transfast 'mistakes' from my secondary wood, I like to keep a stark contrast between the dyed primary and the secondary. YMMV but so far so good.. I can confirm that A/B style bleaches don't seem to work at all on Transfast..

[Prashun Patel]

Julie - do you have access to acetone? I find Transtint dissolved in acetone to spray very well. It practically flashes dry upon contact. It almost functions as an 'unsealed toner' allowing you to almost airbrush areas. Now, acetone is highly volatile, so you really have to ventilate and beware of its flammability.

[Julie Moriarty]

After looking at all the options, I've decided to pick up some blue Trans Tint dye and use it to tint the lacquer. Then I'll shoot the funky areas until they blend, with surgical precision. :rolleyes: I can't go back and start over again without being driven into woodworker's therapy.

Thank you for all your help. I learned more than I ever expected! :D

[Prashun Patel]

If you have not put thte lacquer on yet, consider just spraying the trantint on thinned in lacquer thinner. This will allow you to adjust after more than if you seal and color in a single step.