TransTint vs TransFast and Grain

[Tom Blank]

I'm making speaker stands for my Grandson, he wants the wood "as dark as possible, black is good." But, wants to see the grain pattern and the variation between early and late growth. I made a jewelry box from Poplar for his sister some years ago, dyed with burgundy TransTint in water. He likes that result with the harder growth rings taking less dye than the softer wood, but would be happier with a deeper coloration.
IMG_8110.jpg

I was thinking either TransTint or TransFast dye, but do not know if either has an advantage in this application to show the grain pattern.

Wood could be Walnut, Maple, Red Oak, QS White Oak, Poplar, or Ash. I was also not sure which might take the dye better to get to the "black is good" result. I suspect he will have to accept that the closer we get to black, the less differential there will be in the grain pattern.

Thanks for advice.

Tom

[Stan Calow]

I like the way ash looks dyed black, as it has quite a bit of open-grain texture that's still visible. I've only used Trans-tint.

[Doug Hepler]

Tom,

Ash or oak will probably offer the most texture and earlywood/latewood contrast. I would recommend solar-lux NGR dye. Black oil stain can be applied over it to get a jet black color. Also, thinned black paint (one coat) will give the effect you want. Always test on scrap.

Doug

[Ted Phillips]

I needed to get a deep black dye job on a project a few years ago - while allowing the grain to show through. I ended up using Analine dye mixed with water. I put on three coats to give it the jet black the customer was looking for. Since it was water-based, I just waited 24 hours for it to dry, sanded off the fuzzies, and finished it with a a couple of light coats of tru-oil. Came out nice. Analine dye can be nasty stuff, though - wear gloves and long sleeves.

I've since switched to Trans-Tint dyes dissolved in ethyl alcohol. But I haven't done another totally-black dye job - the Trans-tint products work great. You can even mix them in with shellac if you want to tint the top coat. This would be my choice.

TedP

[John TenEyck]

The easiest way I've found to get black is with India Ink. Speedball brand; you can buy a quart of it at Amazon for less than $20.

John

[Tom Blank]

Thanks for the ideas gentlemen. Will test drive on scraps.

Tom