Alkanet Root "Red dye".

[KMW 1954]

After following the other topic on this subject and becoming quite intrigued by it I was able to obtain some and mixed it up two separate ways. One with BLO and the other with Mineral Spirits.

Both have been simmering for about 9 weeks now. So I think it is now usable. Side by side they do look a bit different to each other.

Now I also just received my Richards stock along with a few strips of scrap walnut to play with using this dye.

On the largest strip I used one side with the BLO mix and the other the Mineral Spirit mix. The BLO applied deeply with just one application, while the Mineral Spirit mix was very light and took two coats to actually color the wood evenly.

Am now considering mixing the two mixes together. Still need to determine what to use as a final finish after the dye is applied.

 

[ELR LVR]

After following the other topic on this subject and becoming quite intrigued by it I was able to obtain some and mixed it up two separate ways. One with BLO and the other with Mineral Spirits.

Both have been simmering for about 9 weeks now. So I think it is now usable. Side by side they do look a bit different to each other.

Now I also just received my Richards stock along with a few strips of scrap walnut to play with using this dye.

On the largest strip I used one side with the BLO mix and the other the Mineral Spirit mix. The BLO applied deeply with just one application, while the Mineral Spirit mix was very light and took two coats to actually color the wood evenly.

Am now considering mixing the two mixes together. Still need to determine what to use as a final finish after the dye id applied.

I played with an axe handle I was trying to make fancy lookin
sanded, dyed, stained, rubbed, polished, applied several repeated thin coats of BLO etc
After I got the color and smoothness I was looking for....
it finally looked best when i simply applied some clear minwax polyeurethane over it.