PRS Blue Fade and Eriza Verde dye finishes (Maui Surf, Jungle burst)

[docteurseb]

Finally was able to try Fiebing's leather dyes and I'm liking the results so far.

First I always wanted to do a PRS style blue fade dye. Warmoth did a similar thing for the anniversary run called Maui Surf:

I never was able to achieve the vibrancy I wanted using TransTint or Keda dyes. Their blue is nice and dark but once diluted the lighter blues don't seem to be all that vibrant anymore. Maybe there's a trick.
That changed when I applied pure undiluted Fiebing's Turquoise, Light Blue, and Navy blue straight out of the bottle:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/4cvaL5pTcYA[/youtube]

Without dilution though it's very hard to blend. It dries too fast, and is almost too concentrated. I had to use alcohol to brighten the turquoise as it became too dark after just two passes.

Since I bought some yellow as well I attempted one layer of undiluted turquoise, followed by a layer of undiluted yellow.
I wasn't disappointed, the resulting color looks very similar to Warmoth's Jungle Burst and PRS Eriza Verde. It's just a lot more vibrant, it's so vivid in person it looks radioactive. I edited pictures to show exactly how vivid it looks, the video isn't as representative:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/tXQompHAxAY[/youtube]

I'm terribly tempted to try that on a body and neck..

Trying with a light sand back after the 1st layer would be cool too and should produce contrasting yellow and green curls...

 

[rgand]

Those are vibrant! If they are indicators of how Fiebings dyes do on maple, you may be onto something very cool.

 

[docteurseb]

Worth noting that some of the Fiebing dyes have a chemical reaction with superglue, which I often use to strengthen the piece or either as satin finish or sealer coat for a gloss finish. Never experienced that yet with Keda / TransTint (at least for the colors I use).

The first time I did the green one it turned into an unappealing mix of golden brown/red the moment I applied superglue. Almost threw it away but luckily acetone cleaned up the mess.

 

[NedRyerson]

Their blue is nice and dark but once diluted the lighter blues don't seem to be all that vibrant anymore. Maybe there's a trick.

I don't know if it's the trick, but I was able to get this with TransTint blue:

It's barely diluted, though. Maybe 8:1 or 10:1 ratio of dye to water.  When I started with 4:1, it seemed like it hardly made a difference.

But I'm tempted to try the Fiebings on the next project.

 

[docteurseb]

Just redid a test piece for my collection, here's how I do that green one:
    [youtube]https://youtu.be/InwWbIPTA-M[/youtube]


I did a light sand back on half of the piece to see the difference.

 

[stratamania]

What was the gloss finish you used in the video?

 

[docteurseb]

It's clear epoxy from Art Resin.
Works great for these type of test pieces as it's super fast to do. No need to seal the wood, it just cures/dries with a glass like surface and doesn't sink into wood pores overtime like most other finishes would.

 

[stratamania]

It's clear epoxy from Art Resin.
Works great for these type of test pieces as it's super fast to do. No need to seal the wood, it just cures/dries with a glass like surface and doesn't sink into wood pores overtime like most other finishes would.

Thanks and that explains it. I thought it looked quite wet and glass like though it was obviously dried.