Oak Bandsaw Box - Analine Dye

This is an Oak Bandsaw box with Redwood handle and was my very first attempt using Analine dyes (Water based). The box itself turned out fine and I think the dye job eventually worked out, but I ended up applying the dye and sanding it out multiple times including once after applying the first coat of wipe on poly. I didn’t really get the final result I was looking for, but I knew before ever starting the dye process that it would take a number of trys (read projects) before getting the result I want which is a stronger contrast between colors.

After cutting and sanding the box, I applied coats of black, red, and yellow dye sanding in between each coat. At first, I didn’t do nearly enough sanding of the black so it became the predominant color not allowing much of the red and yellow to show through. So I sanded it out again and reapplied the dyes, this time being a bit more agressive between each of the applications. Ultimately, with all of my fiddling around the colors became a bit muddied which was less than optimal.

So looking back at the process here is what I learned and what I will modify with my next attempt:
- Be more agressive and selective about sanding between each of the coats
- Have a better picture in my head about the end result which fits with my first point about being more selective with my sanding (where do I want the colors to show through)
- Be more careful about getting rid of the sanding dust between coats so that the colors don’t get mixed while being applied ending up in a more muddied look.

One last note: This was the second project I used flocking on and was quite pleased with how that turned out. I learned from my previous Tall Oak and Redwood Bandsaw box flocking mistake and corrected that in this project. Score one for the experience team!

-- CKM - Minnesota