# Dye or stain Pine all the way through?



## timoat (May 6, 2014)

Im building a box for outdoor painting, and I am using thin strips of pine in various thicknesess to contruct the sides, but I would like to have every other strip stained, ie charcoal-natural-carcoal-natural ect. Think of it looking like sandwich from the side) The strips are held together with Pattex 100%. Now of course, since the sides are built up of 10 strips, and I have to glue them on indiviually on top of each other, I need to sand the sides to get them flush, and get rid of glue spill-off. I tried staining it with an alcohol based dye that has a small amount of laquer in it, but when I sanded it, the dye faded and looked nothing like I imagined it would (hehe, will something ever?). I did three passes of the stain.

Id like to use other, darker types of wood like mahogany, but I cant find them in the correct dimensions ( 10x2x30 fx), so I thought staining the wood all the way though might be a solution. I can get pine strips in any diemsntion I need, but I dont know whwrer to find, fx maple or walnut wood in strips. Are there any online places I could order from that you guys know of, where they come in a choice of multiple dimensions? Gotta be international shipping, since Im in Sweden.

I have no access to any typ of electrical woodworking machines. Glue, clamps, hammer and small saw basically!

Any tips would be appreciated!

Here is something i found online that resembles what Im trying to do.










Would this be a good source?

http://www.hobbymillusa.com/milled-wood-strips.php


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

On a project like that it would be far better and easier to use woods that were naturally contrasting in color. It's very difficult to dye wood that is glued together and not have it bleed to the adjacent wood. Then if you dye the wood before gluing them together the dye will interfere with the bonding ability of the glue. Then once glued up the wood will need to be sanded and much of the dye would be sanded off. The dye won't penetrate enough to withstand sanding. 

If you are going to dye the wood in strips your best chance would be to completely build the box and sand it. Then mask off the areas not to be stained. Then with a sprayer very lightly mist the dye on being careful not to wet the wood with the dye. You can put multiple coats of the dye on to achieve the color but you have to be careful not to get the wood wet with it. A dye is more similar to ink and it will travel under the tape if you get it wet enough. Practice on some scrap to work out the technique.


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## timoat (May 6, 2014)

Steve Neul said:


> On a project like that it would be far better and easier to use woods that were naturally contrasting in color. It's very difficult to dye wood that is glued together and not have it bleed to the adjacent wood. Then if you dye the wood before gluing them together the dye will interfere with the bonding ability of the glue. Then once glued up the wood will need to be sanded and much of the dye would be sanded off. The dye won't penetrate enough to withstand sanding.
> 
> If you are going to dye the wood in strips your best chance would be to completely build the box and sand it. Then mask off the areas not to be stained. Then with a sprayer very lightly mist the dye on being careful not to wet the wood with the dye. You can put multiple coats of the dye on to achieve the color but you have to be careful not to get the wood wet with it. A dye is more similar to ink and it will travel under the tape if you get it wet enough. Practice on some scrap to work out the technique.


Hello Steve, thank you for the reply! I would love to make it out of maple/ccherry and pine, but i dont know where i could get strips of the darker woods in the same variations i can get pine in. The walls are 1cm wide, between 20 and 27 cm long, and between 0.3 and 3 cm high. Do you know a place that sells thsoe kinds of variations? It would probably be a modelmaking shop. I found this online. I just google " maple strips" and hope somehting turns up...

http://www.northeasternscalelumber.com/about-us.html


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## Gilgaron (Mar 16, 2012)

You'd be far better off learning to make those strips. If you can't get a table saw, it'd be a lot of work but you could do it with hand saws and hand planes, or join a local woodworking club and someone with a table saw could help you out rather quickly.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

You might look for hardwood lumber companies. If you found the wood at a model shop the price would likely be 4 or 5 times what it's worth. If you can't get small pieces of wood from a lumber company you might talk to a cabinet shop and see if they will sell you scraps.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

We have an introduction section where you can say a few words about yourself. If you fill out your profile in your "User Control Panel", you can list any hobbies, experience, occupation, or if retired…from what, or other facts. You can also list your general geographical location which would be a help in answering some questions. In doing that your location will show under your username when you post. 

You can't do better than just using contrasting woods to start with. I think if you try taping off and spraying different colors, that's what it will look like. You might look for marine shops or chandleries that cater to the boating industry for wood. Sizing the pieces seems to be your major problem. If you could equip yourself to do that, life would be easier.






















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## TaleSspin (Jan 7, 2013)

If you simply must use stain to accomplish this, a technique I have seen work is to tape over the whole surface with painter's tape, making sure to press it all down to the whole surface. Then map our your patter and use a straight edge and X-acto knife to score about 1/32" into the surface. Peel off the tape in the sections where you want to stain. Then stain *carefully* not flooding the surface. 

My father used this method to make a chessboard on a cheap table top and it worked flawlessly. He even added a 3 tiered colored boarder around the edges of 1/4" strips of alternating colors and nothing bled into anything else. The downside, of course, is the score lines. A few coats of poly mostly filled them in, but there was still a hair of texture you could feel on it.

Just depends on what you want. If you want it perfect, the only way I know of is to use alternating woods. If you are okay with a little "character" on the piece to saved cost or use the tools you have, this method might be a decent option.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

There's a wood store in the city which has barrels of "guitar" off cuts of mahogany and rosewood. All sorts of lengths and widths, some imperfections/splits/knots and so on, BUT, all 1/8" thick and cheap.
I do glue-ups of 6-8 layers to make my own handles for wood carving tools. Plane off the glue squeeze out, taper and shape the rest of it. . . . .


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## timoat (May 6, 2014)

Thank you all for the replys!

Steve; Yes I tried taping off with masking tape, but as you said, it bled right through to the adjacent wood. I like your idea of using a mister, but as you say, even better would be to find different types of wood. I managed to find some copper beech in the right dimensions, but I would like it o be even darker. ANy tips or oils I could use to naturally darken it?

Cabinet man and Gilgaron: Yes, I would love to have a proper woodworking space, especially with a table saw. Ive looked in to it, and it seems that there are several woodworking shops that could do it for me, I'm just not sure about the cost yet... I will fill my user profile out, thank you!

Talesspin; Thats a good idea, I will try the scouring method on a scrap piece.

RobsonValley: Thats a good idea, there are a few stores like that here in Stockholm, I shall ask them!

Thank you for all the responses, they have been a great help! I managed to find some copper beech wood, but I would like them to be a bit darker, any ideas on how to naturally darken them?


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