Red "violin" finish - or something like that!

Hello!

I'm going to try to grow a few skills in cabinet-making. These cabinets will get built up with curved corners from base material (ie. Baltic Birch ply), and skinned with veneer such as curly maple. Top from Wenge butcher block. The goal is to adhere veneer around the corners of maybe 1" or 1.5" radius, like this but with flush drawers added:

Attachment 445851

Question #1: Where are good places to order large sheets of veneer like the curly maple? I will tailor the design to allow seams in the veneer to accommodate available veneer sheet size.

Question #2: How to make this red finish!? I'd love to more or less replicate the gorgeous color of my home stereo speakers... Sonus Faber Elipsa Red SE. Italian-looking and Italian-made. They are not the deep dark dragon's blood red varnish, and besides I'm figuring on a 2-part Epifanes polyurethane topcoat.
Attachment 445847 Attachment 445848 Attachment 445849

I emailed the manufacturer, and they actually emailed me back! In Italian....
Please see the following composition; I hope it will be helpful for you.
37,5 % Holzlasur 2000 marrone N°3
12,5 % Holzlasur 2000 rosso
25 % Solvente ecologico Sinopia
23,5 % Tingilegno Veleca arancio
1,5 % Tingilegno Veleca nero

Which Google translates in English to:
37.5% Wood glaze 2000 brown N ° 3 (but looks like stain and not glaze)
12.5% Wood glaze 2000 red
25% Sinopia ecological solvent
23.5% Veleca wood dye orange (www.veleca.it)
1,5% Black Veleca wood dye

Could y'all point me in a direction or two for experimentation? Something that might accentuate wood grain?

Grazie molto! - Ralph in Colorado

Try Certainly Wood near East Aurora, NY for any veneer you need. Excellent products and people. http://certainlywood.com/

I'm sure I could match that color. This isn't too far away. I did it with Transtint Dye in Sealcoat shellac, sprayed on, then sprayed my topcoats. You can get any color you want.


Attachment 445852

John

I have had good luck matching furniture using wd Lockwood dyes. They have more color choices than Transtint to get you closer to start. However you will still usually have to mix a couple together to get the right effect on your particular piece.

Nice thing about transtint tho is that you can mix in ethanol or water. The Lockwoods I used were water soluble only.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John TenEyck

... Transtint Dye in Sealcoat shellac, sprayed on...

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How do you get even color into the inside corners?

For veneer, also look to Joe Woodworker. Find him at either joewoodworker dot com, or veneersupplies dot com. Great guy and beautiful veneers.

Ok! I'm still working on my crazy cabinet designs, but bookmarked Lockwood, Transtint and Veneersupplies. Lots to read there.

What is an easier base or brand to start with the dyes, alcohol/water or oil? Does the oil bring out the grain better because it soaks in differently into grain variations? Or are these oils so thin that it doesn't matter?

I'll add that Target Coatings just re-introduced some dye stains that look interesting and will have some dye/pigments options in the near future, too. They reformulated to use a plant-based resin as a binder. I do plan on trying the product at some point, even though I currently "mix my own" with Transtint or use Angelus leather dyes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ralph E Burns

Ok! I'm still working on my crazy cabinet designs, but bookmarked Lockwood, Transtint and Veneersupplies. Lots to read there.

What is an easier base or brand to start with the dyes, alcohol/water or oil? Does the oil bring out the grain better because it soaks in differently into grain variations? Or are these oils so thin that it doesn't matter?

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Oil based dyes are not as light fast as water/alcohol based ones. So if that's important to you use the later. Dyes will color the wood but it's the finish that brings out the grain. Oil based dyes will do both because of the oil component, but the water/alcohol ones will look just as good after the finish is applied.

John

I’m not able to help with the colour matching but did want to compliment the OP on owning such wonderful speakers! Wow!

I have only used oil soluble dyes once - for candles not wood. So I cannot confirm this, but my understanding is that the reason to use one over the other might be tied to the topcoat you intend to use.

If you are using an oil based wiping varnish, you can color the varnish with an oil based dye. This sounds like a great idea, but in practice, it's harder to control than doing the coloring and topcoating as distinct steps.

Separate steps allow you to put on repeated dye coats to sneak up and tweak the finished color. Doing it one step seals the wood to prevent subsequent coats. Kind of like why normal 'stains' don't always do well when applying multiple coats.

However, if you do it in separate steps, then it often helps if the dye and top coat are not compatible. Using an oil based dye and then an oil based varnish risks lifting the color up. If you spray your top coat, or spray on a seal coat of shellac this lifting is not an issue.

The oil solvent in the dye, (I think) would eventually flash off completely, eliminating any grain pop that oil based topcoats typically give.