Adding Dye to TruOil?

[esetter]

Can you add die to truoil?

 

[Ira7]

Can you add die to truoil?

There's a better way:

Lindseed oil-based artist paints, available at craft/hobby shops.

Let me look for the link of a member here who posted about this on my 12-string build.

 

[Ira7]

Scroll down here and look for posts and references by Tomasi.

http://www.tdpri.com/threads/why-is-my-unfinished-maple-neck-acting-like-its-finished.700061/page-2

 

[Jupiter]

I tried unsuccessfully to add ColorTone/Transtint liquid dye to T-O. Spent a few days messing with it. I ended up just dyeing the wood first instead.

ColorTone POWDERED dyes are supposed to mix okay, though.

 

[bender66]

Just got done adding the linseed oil based paint to some old tru oil just to see after my first failed attempt (someone recommended wrong brand that wasn't linseed oil based). Can confirm that I'm happy with the result.

I also have Transtint dye. Going to do a wood stain neck & a tinted tru oil neck & compare the two. I think that will just come down to the 2 different colors involved.

 

[El Tele Lobo]

Just got done adding the linseed oil based paint to some old tru oil just to see after my first failed attempt (someone recommended wrong brand that wasn't linseed oil based). Can confirm that I'm happy with the result.

I also have Transtint dye. Going to do a wood stain neck & a tinted tru oil neck & compare the two. I think that will just come down to the 2 different colors involved.

Please post your results. Look forward to seeing them.

 

[BC-Rush]

I wonder if novocolor II tints would jive with Tru oil? On its own (the tint) will never dry, but mixed with a stain/paint it will. I like the linseed oil idea; I'm gonna try mixing a few small batches up with various colorants and see what the heck happens. Might even be cheaper than getting custom stains mixed up.
Have also wondered about mixing colorants with polyurethane, lacquer, spar varnish, etc. to create your own tinted clears. I bet a water base clear would look nice, but the main concern would be if it's sandable or not.

 

[Greenmachine]

What about universal tints? The stuff they use a computer to squirt into paint cans at the paint store? Does that work?

 

[Jupiter]

Water-based stuff won't work.

 

[DrASATele]

Tru Oil is of the Polyurethane family. To get it to take a tint you'll probably need to tint something that you can thin the TO with like Mineral Spirits. The issue for those of us who use transtint there are a few colors that just won't work Red being a big one if I remember correctly. I've gotten greens and yellows to work but I had to be very specific about my mix. So you don't want to over thin an oil product or it will never dry properly. So for tinting I kept the thinner at no more than a cap (full) 1 tablespoon of Mineral Spirits to 4 to 6 oz of TO or wipe on poly I then would add 4 or more drops of the transtint to the mineral spirits, mix that, then add that to the 4-6oz of TO. Far more thinner is used when doing lacquer and a mistake I made when I first tried it. Less thinner, more color mixed well. I may have come across this info here but I can't remember where.
The issue with the red is that it won't separate into the finish it becomes a bunch of dots/specs of color suspended in the finish rather than changing the color of the finish.

 

[Greenmachine]

Yeah this is getting complicated, I'm a gonna skip the tint.

 

[flyingbanana]

Methoxylated alcohol is what you need to properly break down the surface tension between dye or tint and tru oil in order to mix them together well enough to apply to wood.

I never could find the stuff on my own, and was very fortunate to meet the owner of a company that used the chemical and sent me a couple gallons.

Good luck.

 

[loco gringo]

(link removed)

I have an unopened bottle of this. If anyone wants it, I will make them a deal on it. I Never got around to trying it.

 

[DrASATele]

I couldn't for the life of me remember what that stuff was called. I came across a few finishing threads awhile back that said that Transtint or Mixol actually sold the Methoxylated alcohol that made the mix way easier that what I ended up doing at the time. I forget why exactly, probably the California laws, but they stopped selling it at least 10 years or more ago.

The easiest way to do what I think you want is to use shellac as a tinted sealer on the first 2/3 coats, level that with synthetic steel wool and then lay on the TO. Which is what I kind of did here. Instead of a tinted shellac I choose Garnet which is a brownish reddish shellac. The wood is Cherry 3 layers of the garnet, each smoothed with synthetic steel wool then 8+ coats of TO applied with a pad on the back

There's 15+ coats on the head stock

I found that the cotton pads in the women's make up section work great as disposable applicators.

 

[mtnpicker]

Japan colors work great for making your own stains or tinting clear and opaque oils, varnishes and laqs. It mixes well and will dry unlike most other oil colorants/tints.

(link removed)

 

[hopdybob]

i don't know what the difference is between truoil or Danish oil, but Danish has some dye's to use with there oil.
maybe you could use the Danish dye with Truoil?