chatoyancy is a &!%(#

[Cocobolove]

Hey guys. I am working on a new knife handle now. I chose curly maple, (I saw a nice guitar that inspired me). This is my first time working with this wood. I tried staining it, to bring out the chatoyancy, but come to find out you can't use pigmented stains. I have tried to find a stain that is a dye instead of pigmented, but no luck. I have a strange idea I plan on trying this evening. I got some fabric dye. I'm gonna try to dye the wood, then finish it. If anyone has any experience with this, or knows of a dying stain, please inform me.
Thanks, Matt

[Don]

Careful, Coco - your brains are showing. You're leaving the rest of us behind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatoyancy

dawjr

[toddj99]

what i've used is transtint dye - waterbased type. what you can do is dye it a dark color, sand it back to take most of it out then dye it the color you want. you will then get contrasting colors. then try either tung oil, blo, or seal a cell to pop it. i've even dyed it, then sanded it back 3 times to get it to take more of the dye and get a good contrast. the cheapest place that i found to order transtint from was from veneer supplies:
http://www.veneersupplies.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=transtint&image.x=0&image.y=0&image=Find

[Cocobolove]

The fabric dye worked like crazy. I sanded it and it soaked way in deep. I am gonna check out that trans tint though, sounds a lot easier. Plus I won't have to go to the fruity craft stores to get it.:eek:
thanks

[Cocobolove]

I'm gonna try to get some pics up soon, my hard drive took a dump last week so I'm still putting my software back on.