polkat Posted May 12, 2010 Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 Those of you that have tried B&C Tru-Oil as a finish, what have you used to darken it? One suggestion on another site suggested using road or roof tar dissolved in turps first. But it was also suggested that such tar slows the drying process. Anyone here tried it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oded Kishony Posted May 12, 2010 Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 take a little of your tru-oil and ignite it. put a bowl over the flame and collect the soot. use this soot to darken the tru-oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polkat Posted May 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 Quite interesting! Never heard that before. So, just mix the soot into the tru-oil? It will dissolve and not end up a gritty mess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oded Kishony Posted May 12, 2010 Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 That's the theory. It's easy enough to try a small sample and see how it looks. At least there should not be any questions about compatibility with the varnish. It takes a minute amount of this black to tone the varnish. Less is more. Oded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiddleDoug Posted May 12, 2010 Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 Depends on which shade of dark you want. Soot will go towards black. You can buy dye solutions, such as TransTint, that are designed to tint varnishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mauricio Posted May 12, 2010 Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 ... such as TransTint, that are designed to tint varnishes. Is TransTint oil compatible? I was under the impression it was a dye for alcohol or water finishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiddleDoug Posted May 12, 2010 Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 Haven't tried it myself, but here's what it says-- "One of TransTint Dyes most unique features is their compatibility with a wide range of finishing mediums. Simply add the dye concentrate directly to shellac, water-base finishes, solvent lacquers, and catalyzed varnish or lacquers. Add any amount up to 1 oz. per quart. All 19 dye colors (10 wood tones & 9 accent colors) are intermixable to produce custom shades." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainhook Posted May 12, 2010 Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 TransTint dyes are NOT directly compatible with oil varnish. Note that oil is not on that list. The maker once told me how it can be done, but the procedure is somewhat complicated and involves an intermediate solvent that I did not want to mess with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oded Kishony Posted May 13, 2010 Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 from the trans tint web site: Known IncompatibiltiesTransTints are incompatible* when added to the following products: Oil based varnishes and polyurethanes Watco Danish Oil, Minwax Wipe on Poly, Minwax Antique Oil, and similar wipe on oil finishes (excluding gels) All oil based liquid stains (excluding oil based gel stains) Mineral Spirits Tung oil and Linseed oil 2K (2-component) polyurethane finishes * You can always apply TransTint to the wood, let dry, and then apply these products. MSDS for all TransTint Colors are available at: www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/msds.htm Oil soluble aniline dyes are available from Howard Core and other luthier suppliers. Oded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wm. Johnston Posted May 13, 2010 Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 I wouldn't want to try burning an oil based varnish to use its soot as a colorant unless I knew exactly what was in it. There are likely dryers present so burning the stuff sounds like a bad thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oded Kishony Posted May 13, 2010 Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 Here's the MSDS fro Tru-oil I don't spot anything to be overly worried about here. Burn it outside and for heaven's sake don't inhale the stuff. :) If burning the varnish (outside of course) makes you nervous then burn a candle, or rosin etc and collect a bit of the soot. "Dissolve" (actually suspend) the soot in mineral spirits or turpentine then add to varnish. Oded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiddleDoug Posted May 13, 2010 Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 from the trans tint web site:Oil soluble aniline dyes are available from Howard Core and other luthier suppliers. Oded Thanks for the correction. We all get to learn something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polkat Posted May 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 Thanks for the replys guys. I had also heard that roofing or road tar could be dissolved in turps and added to oil varnish. I tried this once, dissolving a large pebble size piece of road tar in a small amount of turps, then adding it to the small bottle of Tru-Oil (3oz I believe). To my surprise, the oil bearly darkened at all, although it did develope a rather nice, if weak, golden hue. Perhaps roofing tar would have worked better. I think I got the idea by reading a Darnton post, but not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oded Kishony Posted May 13, 2010 Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 If you are determined to use asphalt then purchase some from Kremer. While some folks have used asphalt and road tar with no problems I have witnessed varnish totally self destruct from it's use. How dangerously do you want to live? Oded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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