What do you think of this dyed wood?

A.McPherson said:
I would agree with @Hengelo_77, the undyed looks better. But I don't like dyed wood either, so...
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Agreed. I also like the natural better (and I have about 20 blocks of the stuff. :-). ).
Interesting .. I had used some dyed buckeye burl which was beautiful ... but the dye penetrated that in a totally different way. K&G indicated little experience with dying cherry burl, hence the single block experiment.
 
weo said:
Don't forget, Cush, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The only person who's opinion really matters should be the person who's knife it is.
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True enough William! On this one I honestly just kept going back and forth between “that dye pattern looks kind of cool” versus “that just looks kind of dirty”. I guess I’ll keep it around and occasionally offer it to someone. :-)
 
Cushing H. said:
True enough William! On this one I honestly just kept going back and forth between “that dye pattern looks kind of cool” versus “that just looks kind of dirty”. I guess I’ll keep it around and occasionally offer it to someone. :)
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I have the odd piece like that...it's funny but eventually someone decides that is what resonates with them and some of them look much better than I thought they would.
 
When I first started seeing dyed woods years back I was kind of turned off. Now certain ones I really like. Maybe cause lots of my customers do? Anyhoo. I did do one a while back where the scales finished just looked dirty or muddy was the term I used. Still it sold, so somebody liked it.
 
Now you have me curious cushing. Sand that to 180 and splash some water or poly on it and lets see what it might look like....
 
Randydb said:
Sand that to 180 and splash some water or poly on it and lets see what it might look like....
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Ohh...I thought it was already sanded to 800....but was that before stabilizing? If so, then I agree, you won't really get an idea what it'll look like after dyeing/stabilizing unless you sand it a bit (but I would probably go to 400g).
 
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It came back from k&g that way. Looks like sanded to 600 or 800. It IS stabilized. I can certainly put some water on it...
 
I havnt posted my pictures yet of the experiment soaking stabilized wood in dye but the piece I had left in the dye for a week was only dyed on the surface (kinda surprised me) and if the knife saw a lot of use the color would wear off is what I think will happen.
 
Cushing H. said:
It came back from k&g that way.
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If you haven't done anything to it, you should sand it to remove all the excess resin and dust from their process before making an opinion on how it looks.
 
weo said:
If you haven't done anything to it, you should sand it to remove all the excess resin and dust from their process before making an opinion on how it looks.
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Lol ... I guess I was not clear. On my request k&g sectioned the block, sanded it, and polished it. We were both interested in the extent of dye penetration to the middle of the block, and wanted to verify (they have not done much dying of cherry burl). What you are looking at is a sanded and polished surface through The midplane of the block
 
weo said:
Ok, got it. I didn't know they would do that.
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It seems they can be really accommodating. I called and asked about dying the burl .. and they said “I don’t know”. I said “how about I include one test block that you can section”. They said “sure, just include the written request in the incoming box”. :-)
 
I thought that was just a rough piece. Hmmm....that looks different than I expected it too. It could be a cool accent on a handle.
 
Randydb said:
I thought that was just a rough piece. Hmmm....that looks different than I expected it too. It could be a cool accent on a handle.
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Yeah. What was interesting to me is that the dye appeared to penetrate in small fingers .. but it did penetrate all the way. Different, but kind of interesting
 
Looking forward to seeing how this turns out on a finished knife. I have a bunch of cherry burl I was planning on getting stabilized but didn't really know what the outcome would look like.
 
Squirt a little water or alcohol on it to get an idea of what it might look like after a surface finish like Tru Oil is used. I like both natural and dyed burl woods, just depends on the specific wood and piece.
 
Spalted said:
I havnt posted my pictures yet of the experiment soaking stabilized wood in dye but the piece I had left in the dye for a week was only dyed on the surface (kinda surprised me) and if the knife saw a lot of use the color would wear off is what I think will happen.
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Dyeing & stabilization is done under a process of Vacuum & then pressor . It sits in the tank for weeks as this process goes on. Drawing all of the pressure out. Then forcing the dyes & stabilizing element in!
 
I'd be curious to see what it looks like after it's been shaped, profiled and polished (I.E, finished). As it sits now, I don't think it looks bad, and it'll probably look pretty dang good on a knife, if finished properly.

I can guarantee one thing: It doesn't matter why kind of wood it is, or whether it's colored one way, or another, or not. Some people are going to love it, and some people are going to hate it. Either way, somebody will buy it regardless, and the important question will then be whether YOU liked it enough to have it made again.
 
Drew Riley said:
I'd be curious to see what it looks like after it's been shaped, profiled and polished (I.E, finished). As it sits now, I don't think it looks bad, and it'll probably look pretty dang good on a knife, if finished properly.

I can guarantee one thing: It doesn't matter why kind of wood it is, or whether it's colored one way, or another, or not. Some people are going to love it, and some people are going to hate it. Either way, somebody will buy it regardless, and the important question will then be whether YOU liked it enough to have it made again.
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Lol. True. So true.
 
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