# Tinting polyurethane with dye



## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

Any of you have any experience? I've recently done a table top, ebonized with India ink. I've done it once before on a slightly smaller top and it turned out okay, but I had the same problems then. Which is that I wasn't able to apply it evenly, and there are some slightly lighter spots that I can only see under bright artificial light. Would probably never be noticed, but it bothers me. So I was thinking that maybe to even it all out and darken those light spots, I could tint my top coats of poly with black dye. I'm just not sure how black you can really get the poly to be with dye, and if it would further darken a near perfect black under it. Worth doing? Maybe?

Thanks.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

You might be able to use transtint to tint poly but because of the alcohol I don't think I would use ink. Using ink I would use it first on raw wood and allow it to dry and then use polyurethane.


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## Jesse Blair (Oct 9, 2016)

That's what I did Steve. India ink on the bare wood. But because I didn't want to spend $100 on ink, I used the 3 bottles I had and got it all on there as evenly as I could, but there are still inconsistencies in the darkness and depth of black. I was wanting to use black tinted poly over that to hopefully hide those lighter spots. Either transtint or mixol, but I'm not sure if that would ever darken the poly enough to be worth doing. I suppose ink ebonizing isn't well suited for larger surfaces, at least the way I was doing it, which was wiping it on. No matter how carefully I apply it, there are still some spots that get more ink than others. The lighter spots aren't that bad, but it's enough to bother me.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I've had great luck "enhancing" finishes by adding the same color TransTint to my finish as the underlying color although I've never done black. TransTint is pretty concentrated, so it might work depending on the finish. 

Are you using water based poly or oil based poly? I recall reading that TransTint might not mix properly with oil based varnishes. You could check with Homestead Finishing Products to be sure. 

The problem with some black tints is that they appear purplish when they are distributed in a transparent finish. There's an artist color (powder) called Mars Black. It's darker than jet black; jet black will have that purplish cast. Go into a dark room, close your eyes then put your hands over your eyes - mars black is darker than that!. I've used it to tint Epoxy with great results, but I was using the Epoxy as a filler, not as a finish.

As always, test on scraps.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Jesse Blair said:


> That's what I did Steve. India ink on the bare wood. But because I didn't want to spend $100 on ink, I used the 3 bottles I had and got it all on there as evenly as I could, but there are still inconsistencies in the darkness and depth of black. I was wanting to use black tinted poly over that to hopefully hide those lighter spots. Either transtint or mixol, but I'm not sure if that would ever darken the poly enough to be worth doing. I suppose ink ebonizing isn't well suited for larger surfaces, at least the way I was doing it, which was wiping it on. No matter how carefully I apply it, there are still some spots that get more ink than others. The lighter spots aren't that bad, but it's enough to bother me.


If you are using that much I don't think I would be improvising a dye with ink. A lot of people use transtint so must be available in a lot of places. I use this dye. A think a quart is so concentrated it would do a project the size of a wardrobe.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm wondering if he could even things out by just going over the ink dye he's already done using TransTint black.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Oil based poly + oil based stain= colored poly

Minwax actually sells this mixture as "polyshades". I've done the diy route a time or two, it works okay, you just have to be really careful about the application, changes in thickness of the finish result in changes in color. You probably wouldn't have to worry about that with black though. 

Of course, black paint would probably do the same job


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I didn't realize Polyshades came on black. Great idea epic! When using polyshades, stir frequently and apply as evenly as possible.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Quickstep said:


> I didn't realize Polyshades came on black. Great idea epic! When using polyshades, stir frequently and apply as evenly as possible.


I don't know that polyshades in particular comes in black, but I do know that minwax sells an ebony stain, so the diy route is always open


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

epicfail48 said:


> I don't know that polyshades in particular comes in black, but I do know that minwax sells an ebony stain, so the diy route is always open


Yup, it comes in black...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Minwax-1...in-Stain-and-Polyurethane-613950444/202061451


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