Interesting experimenting, Shea. Thanks for posting and please do share more as this progresses. I also like the idea of adding color but do not like painting. Despite how accessible and fascinating Nick Kroll and others have made using milk paint recently - and it can be lovely - I always find painting to just feel like ‘work’ that I’m about 5K hours short of being any good at.
Very interesting article and approach, the colors look really vibrant! Looking forward to more on this.
And just to re-up my known bias, regarding the curing issue you mentioned, fresh milk paint has essentially no cure time. Just needs to be dry to the touch. You can topcoat it (e.g soft wax) within minutes of the last coat.
Or just press it into service without a topcoat. Painted a stool quick last week in the morning; MIL had her white purse on it a few hours later without issues.
It will become more durable over the following days/weeks through carbonation of the lime (like mortar curing), but this happens passively and can work through a topcoat as well.
Short story long, I'm usually juggling kids and no workspace and a million other things—a fresh batch of milk paint is exactly the quick and easy option once you get the hang of it.
And if you want a more transparent effect, cut the lime down to 10 grams per batch. But of course dye has an advantage there, the results you shared look great.
Awesome stuff! Making black paste wax in on my ever-growing project list…for after I move. Excited to see the depth it offers, having never used it. Made some brown wax once with the LAP soft wax recipe and burnt umber, but I was new to the game and didn’t add enough, so it just make everything look, well, dirty.
Agreed about paint ironically. I get excited about the colors and chemistry (as you’ve seen with my ongoing quark glaze experiments) but, as my 4 yr old keeps reminding me, “painting is not my passion”
I need to look into making some DIY/all natural varnishes to experiment with. I wonder if Glancy’s No. 1 oil doesn’t have a natural resin added to the oil blend to make it dry so fast and seem like a more durable finish than you would expect with oil.
It’s on the list for future experimentation!
Do you have a particular varnish/varnish blend that you prefer to use?
Fell down a deep rabbit hole last night, and determined that it would be an insane and futile effort to try to make my own varnish from scratch 😅… I will give the Sutherland medium a try! Thanks, man!
Shea, thanks for sharing. I like to have options for color and different means to achieve it. I also really appreciate you sharing both your spirit of experimentation and your process. I think there's a critical inflection point from the conservative* "I'm just trying to get x result" to "playing" for a range of outcomes.
i wonder if you were to add a touch of water to the dye, would that help carry the oxide pigment deeper before the alcohol evaporates. obviously that brings in raising into consideration.
putting it in the fridge might help do the same. i don't remember the rate relationship, but reducing thermal energy should reduce rate of evaporation.
now i'm wondering how a food saver would affect impregnation. components separately of course, unless you have a vacuum chamber large enough for a whole chair stashed somewhere
Chris Schwarz has recently been experimenting (and writing about) using ground pigment in linseed oil. It has drying time issues, but the color range seems great. I haven't tried it yet, but soon.
I've used a lot of water based aniline dye on curly maple. It does fade over time -- but simultaneously the maple is darkening, and the two effects more or less cancel each other out.
But the water-based dyes raise the grain, so I had to wet the surface before the dye, then sand the grain back down. So I thought " I'll use alcohol-based dye, and save myself the extra, grain-raising step."
Nope. On a case piece the alcohol evaporated really fast, and I found it impossible to avoid horrific lap marks. I could never get the color to be even. I should have experimented first, of course, but I didn't. And I had to strip all the color off before proceeding. I've never gone near the alcohol again.
Oh this is an interesting experience. So far in chairs I’ve not had this issue. Although I am wanting the dye as dark as possible so the multiple coats deepen the color removing any lap lines on the first coat.
I’m trying out earth pigments in amber shellac that I brush on. Seems to be working pretty well. I still need to apply the wax, we’ll see how it looks after that.
Have you tried Lockwood dyes at all? I recently got some for the legs and apron of a dining table that sit next to sliding doors and will have lots of light. I didn't think about fading, but just took pop ww's word that it's the best.
Interesting experimenting, Shea. Thanks for posting and please do share more as this progresses. I also like the idea of adding color but do not like painting. Despite how accessible and fascinating Nick Kroll and others have made using milk paint recently - and it can be lovely - I always find painting to just feel like ‘work’ that I’m about 5K hours short of being any good at.
Very interesting article and approach, the colors look really vibrant! Looking forward to more on this.
And just to re-up my known bias, regarding the curing issue you mentioned, fresh milk paint has essentially no cure time. Just needs to be dry to the touch. You can topcoat it (e.g soft wax) within minutes of the last coat.
Or just press it into service without a topcoat. Painted a stool quick last week in the morning; MIL had her white purse on it a few hours later without issues.
It will become more durable over the following days/weeks through carbonation of the lime (like mortar curing), but this happens passively and can work through a topcoat as well.
Short story long, I'm usually juggling kids and no workspace and a million other things—a fresh batch of milk paint is exactly the quick and easy option once you get the hang of it.
And if you want a more transparent effect, cut the lime down to 10 grams per batch. But of course dye has an advantage there, the results you shared look great.
Thank you for this. Dan Raber gave me this run down this weekend. Seems I need to jump on board.
Love to hear it, you know where to find me if you have any questions!
Awesome stuff! Making black paste wax in on my ever-growing project list…for after I move. Excited to see the depth it offers, having never used it. Made some brown wax once with the LAP soft wax recipe and burnt umber, but I was new to the game and didn’t add enough, so it just make everything look, well, dirty.
Agreed about paint ironically. I get excited about the colors and chemistry (as you’ve seen with my ongoing quark glaze experiments) but, as my 4 yr old keeps reminding me, “painting is not my passion”
Alcohol based dye seems very much worth a try.
Also, why don’t you love shellac normally?
Shellac as a top coat is fairly soft. It’s not very durable against water and household cleaners compared to a varnish.
I need to look into making some DIY/all natural varnishes to experiment with. I wonder if Glancy’s No. 1 oil doesn’t have a natural resin added to the oil blend to make it dry so fast and seem like a more durable finish than you would expect with oil.
It’s on the list for future experimentation!
Do you have a particular varnish/varnish blend that you prefer to use?
My go to is Sutherland Wells wiping varnish
High or low luster?
Medium
Fell down a deep rabbit hole last night, and determined that it would be an insane and futile effort to try to make my own varnish from scratch 😅… I will give the Sutherland medium a try! Thanks, man!
Shea, thanks for sharing. I like to have options for color and different means to achieve it. I also really appreciate you sharing both your spirit of experimentation and your process. I think there's a critical inflection point from the conservative* "I'm just trying to get x result" to "playing" for a range of outcomes.
*not a political statement.
i wonder if you were to add a touch of water to the dye, would that help carry the oxide pigment deeper before the alcohol evaporates. obviously that brings in raising into consideration.
putting it in the fridge might help do the same. i don't remember the rate relationship, but reducing thermal energy should reduce rate of evaporation.
These are great suggestions
now i'm wondering how a food saver would affect impregnation. components separately of course, unless you have a vacuum chamber large enough for a whole chair stashed somewhere
That’s the idea
I’ve been experimenting with this for bent laminates to dye before glue up
that's a fantastic idea. now i'm going to make a dyed laminate rainbow headrest. resplendant magnificence
Chris Schwarz has recently been experimenting (and writing about) using ground pigment in linseed oil. It has drying time issues, but the color range seems great. I haven't tried it yet, but soon.
I've used a lot of water based aniline dye on curly maple. It does fade over time -- but simultaneously the maple is darkening, and the two effects more or less cancel each other out.
But the water-based dyes raise the grain, so I had to wet the surface before the dye, then sand the grain back down. So I thought " I'll use alcohol-based dye, and save myself the extra, grain-raising step."
Nope. On a case piece the alcohol evaporated really fast, and I found it impossible to avoid horrific lap marks. I could never get the color to be even. I should have experimented first, of course, but I didn't. And I had to strip all the color off before proceeding. I've never gone near the alcohol again.
Oh this is an interesting experience. So far in chairs I’ve not had this issue. Although I am wanting the dye as dark as possible so the multiple coats deepen the color removing any lap lines on the first coat.
I’m trying out earth pigments in amber shellac that I brush on. Seems to be working pretty well. I still need to apply the wax, we’ll see how it looks after that.
Oh yes. Tinted shellac layers are wonderful.
Thanks for sharing Shea! This is very meaningful research indeed. Much love for you and the craft.
Have you tried Lockwood dyes at all? I recently got some for the legs and apron of a dining table that sit next to sliding doors and will have lots of light. I didn't think about fading, but just took pop ww's word that it's the best.
I have not. They are on the list.