Tinting Tru-Oil?

fretmeister

I have a Warmoth neck that needs finishing. Warmoth do a quick dip seal so unless I wanted to sand down the entire thing (I do not!) I can't actually colour the wood.

If I go with another Tru-Oil approach, what things are good to tint the oil to be it a bit more vintage amber? Doesn't have to be drastic, just not bright maple.

Would this work:

dartfords Amber Interior Spirit Based Wood Dye - 250ml Bottle : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

 @stickyfiddle did link a different product in his black strat thread but it's astonishingly expensive in the UK and I'm not going to need a litre of the stuff either!

All ideas welcome!

stickyfiddle

Mine is General Finishes "Transtint Honey Amber".  Ingredients say it contains: Ethylene glycol monopropyl ether; Diethylene glycol monobutyl ether; Acid Brown 282; Propylene glycol monomethyl ether; Propylene glycol

I'd be happy to order another small bottle and bring it home but I don't think I'm allowed to take it on a plane...! 

I'd drop Rothko & Frost a line and see what they suggest - I see they carry the Dartfords stuff so will probably know

WezV

if it's a spirt based stain it should work fine with the tru-oil

fretmeister

I'll get a bottle of it and try it on a bit of scrap I have.

And then I'll need to control myself and not order some Chestnut Products Purple Spirit Dye instead.... although that might be cool!

WezV

I think it works best as a light tint for this job, built up slowly over a lot of coats.  I wouldn't try doing a strong colour this way, but it will take the rawness off the maple quite nicely

I've just ordered a bottle of green and blue chestnut stain. That will be mixed with lacquer though, where it really lets you get a strong colour

fretmeister

What's the best approach for mixing a dye with tru-oil?

Do it fresh for every coat or mix up a small bottle of Tru-Oil's worth and then seal it up?

Roland

Tru-oil solidifies if you expose it to too much air. I’d mix it fresh to avoid this, although this makes it much more difficutl to repeat the same colour.

Tru-oil already contains a walnut coloured stain. So no problem if you want a deeper orange colour. If you’re going for something else I would use Osmo as the substrate.

stickyfiddle

Roland said:

Tru-oil solidifies if you expose it to too much air. I’d mix it fresh to avoid this, although this makes it much more difficutl to repeat the same colour.

Tru-oil already contains a walnut coloured stain. So no problem if you want a deeper orange colour. If you’re going for something else I would use Osmo as the substrate.

Yeah this. 

I tried to seal a small amount of dyed oil overnight and it had a chunky skin on it by the morning - too much to save anything underneath. 

Thankfully with amber it's quite forgiving to blend slightly-differently-dyed coat over an existing layer

If you were trying to mix colours it would be a big problem

Winny_Pooh

I did this last month with Crimson amber water based stain and Crimson finishing oil. Stain, diluted 50/50 with water went on with a sponge, maybe a 2nd coat here and there on light areas, blended fine. Then oil on top later with no issues. 

victorludorum

Osmo would work too.

fretmeister

I am unfamiliar with Osmo and their website doesn't help as I don't know what I'm looking for.

Which of their products would be the right choice please?

Roland

I like Osmo 3032 Satin. There is also a Glossy version, but it’s not high gloss.

victorludorum

I used 3011 Clear Gloss