Any experience or tips with Lockwood oil soluble dye powder?

[Alex Liebert]

So in my recent finishing experiments I've done about a dozen swatches, with varying success, using the behlen ngr dyes, and general finishes water based dyes and different topcoats. I can nail the hues I want now am still not pleased with the look of the grain. I feel it's being obscured more than I'd like with the dyes.

I have not yet tried the mix yourself powdered dyes, only the premixed general finishes water based dye. I'm wondering if either the binder used in the general finishes dye, or the surface tension of the water carrier, is inhibiting absorption- and if it's worth trying a powdered dye with denatured alcohol.

Or...the main question. The absolute best look I've got so far is from oils and thinned oil/varnish blends. But if I use these under or over a dye, I still get obscured grain.

I see lockwood has oil soluble dye powder- if I mix this into an oil or thin oil / varnish, what are my chances of getting better grain definition compared to what I've done so far? Anyone tried this product or have any pictures of results or tips they could share?

[Wayne Lomman]

A different brand of dye powder is probably going to be an incremental change, not a radical one. I begin to think your current batch of timber is a different quality to your earlier piece. It could be plantation vs old growth. If it is very fine grained, there is nowhere for the colour to lodge and get the effect you want. The effects you are describing happen in a 2 dimensional finish. I think your timber lacks physical depth of its pores so can't hold colour like you need it to. Cheers