black / dress finish

[munkey]

Anyone have a process for achiving a glossy, black finish ala Dunhill's "dress" finish?

Is this possible with aniline dyes, or what should be used?

Thanks in advance for any info.

-Scott

[KurtHuhn]

Not exactly like it, but this pipe:


has a nearly solid finish. It's black over a very red understain and slightly sanded back to reveal the red. Unusual, admitedly, and the first time I tried such a thing.

However, to answer your question, a black leather dye will give you a *solid* black color. It will be necessary to apply multiple coats to be sure it really penetrates though.

[bscofield]

I would add to let it site for quite a while unless you want to dedicate a buffing wheel set just to this pipe. I never seen anything bleed onto a buffing wheel like solid black dye on wood.

[RadDavis]

Paint.

Rad

[Nick]

Would that be latex or oil based Rad?

Perhaps oil, to aid the oil curing process.

[ToddJohnson]

Black magic-marker or laboratory stain are the only two things I know for certain work and are entirely opaque.

Todd

[jeff]

Just turn a bowl out of vulcanite and line it with carbon coating (water glass or sour cream based--that's your choice).

Jeff

[jeff]

The way magic marker stinks when you uncap it, I'd be concerned about toxicity issues.

I keep hearing about "laboratory stain" but never hear of any sources for it, it is unavailable or a secret?

Laboratory stain is unavailable to the public in most nations. As far as I know, Denmark is the only European nation permitting its sale to non-licensed individuals.

Marker does stink, but you don't taste the outside of the briar. That is unless you approach your pipe like you would a tootsie pop. My understanding is that some of the biggest of the big dogs use marker as their undercoat.

JG

[Nick]

Man, I don't know about you guys, but deep throating a just smoked pipe is one of life's greatest pleasures.

Hhehehehehehe

[sagiter]

Perhaps oil, to aid the oil curing process.

There are oil based leather dyes that are preferred by most professional leather craftsman to the alcohol based leather dyes used by many pipe craftsman.

Neil

[KurtHuhn]

I've tried black leather dye and the grain still shows through, how many coats are you using Kurt?

Half a dozen, with a day's worth of drying time between them, and liberal application of flame.

[Heinz_D]

Here's a possible. I think I'll try it. Dye your shellac. Might work.

Rob

I've tried a mixture of black alcohol based dye with shellac and even with a dozen of coats it's not perfectly black... Some structure of wood will evertime shine through again! The problem seems to be, that this mixture will not permeate enough into the briar and the coating that is left on the briar will disapear very soon or the pipe will bleed color after waxing!

I think, yu must fix the color anyway, but I don't know, how to manage this. Has anyone another idea?


Greetings

Heinz

[KurtHuhn]

Mus be some sort of lacquer. My local woodcraft has some jet black stuf I used to make a pipe satnd for a customer a while back. Unforch, I can't recall what it's called.

[bugsy]

kurt ..when you talk about flame ..are you saying to lightly singe the wood and what does this do?? this newbie wants to learn more...thanks bugsy

[alexanderfrese]

Mus be some sort of lacquer. snip…

I remember some black lacquer spray hidden somewhere in my basement. Used it once on the motor of my motorbike. It even is heat resistant up to 600 deg (Celsius)!

Dunno…
:dunno:

[KurtHuhn]

kurt ..when you talk about flame ..are you saying to lightly singe the wood and what does this do?? this newbie wants to learn more...thanks bugsy

If you heat the wood, the pores open up and allow deeper penetration of stain. Also, it dries teh surface quite a bit, and when you apply the stain, it will get sucked right in. That's one method (flame before stain).

There's another method which is the opposite (stain before flame) where you liberally apply your stain, then you set the thing on fire to drive the stain further into the wood. It's a very dramatic process, and scares the crap out of your wife when she visits the workshop.