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Artisan vs chesnut stains

I bought several of the Artisan dyes a few years ago and was really disappointed when compared to the TransTint dyes that I had been using for a number of years. The Artisan colors were sort of bland and pastel. About a year later I got the Chestnut dyes from Woodworld of Texas and the colors were much more vibrant that either TransTint or Artisan dyes. I talked to Jimmy Clewes about the Chestnut dyes and he said that it also contains a small amount of shellac. Anyway, I haven't used my Artisan or TransTint dyes in years. They both fade very noticeably. On the other hand, I am very pleased with the Chestnut dyes both for the vibrant colors and also for the colorfastness.
 
Bill and Bill - I have not used Chestnut dyes but have used most everything else from Art markers, solarlux dyes and currently use TransTint dyes on my Chaco pieces. They all seem to fade over time. TransTint are more stable but do change over time and the rate of change does seem to vary depending on the wood if that is possible. Have you noticed any difference in the rate of change between using Transtint dyes with water vs alcohol? The change seems faster to me when I use water but need to do further testing. Would love to see a good article on this subject.
 
Jim I have pieces done with Transtint that are 14 years old with absolutely no fading what so ever. Red, blue and green are colors I regularly use and I use Acetone as my carrier.
 
I switched to Trans Tint about 5 or 6 years ago now and find it an excellent dye and seems quite light fast to me. I haven't done a serious test yet but may do that some day soon. I haven't used the Chestnut or Artisan stains yet which is why I'm following this post.
 
So im ordering stains today. Unfortunately live in canada and have to buy from states. Hate shipping charges not like the low rates in the us. Going to try the sun test. Never thought of doing that. I should have been on it last week was 36 deg celcius here . Pushing 100 F for you guys and girls in the us. Will post my results. If any one else has already done this could they post?
 
Bill Blasic said:
Jim I have pieces done with Transtint that are 14 years old with absolutely no fading what so ever. Red, blue and green are colors I regularly use and I use Acetone as my carrier.
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Have you ever thought of adding 5 percent by volume 2 lb cut shellac, so it acts like the chesnut and other stains. I ultimately would like to do plates lie jimmy clewes and others. And at a demo that shellac helped build the stains as each layer added penetrated less after sandback as shellac was sealing as it goes.
 
Glen Gary Sanders did the ultimate sun test a bunch of years ago. He lives in Texas and tried a whole bunch of different dyes and colors. He put the wood in the dash of his truck. Tells you really quickly which ones worked and didn't. The metalic Dyes were the only ones that held up. Can't remember the brands he used but that started many of us reading and researching how wood changes and what dyes are stable etc. My memory is so bad now I do the research, pick a brand, then forget what all I read. Now bad is that. But at least I make an effort.
 
Bill Blasic said:
Jim I have pieces done with Transtint that are 14 years old with absolutely no fading what so ever. Red, blue and green are colors I regularly use and I use Acetone as my carrier.
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I've tried water and alcohol with transtint dyes, but haven't tried acetone. In my experience the carrier matters, and the color looks richer with alcohol as compared to water. I will give acetone a try and see.
 
Well that might be a fun experiment. I have water, alcohol, and acetone in my shop so should be an easy test. The tricky part will be getting the same dilution because it's hard to get the same size drop out of those trans tint containers.
 
Well a good UV finish will affect the outcome but all of the UV finishes I tried seemed to offer about the same protection which in the dash of a truck in summer sun would be almost nothing. The idea is to do both. Find a dye that is as light fast as possible and then cover it with the best finish you can. As a general rule, dye's are the least light fast, stains are better because of the pigment and paint is the best. However even paint will fail color wise in direct sunlight. I used analine dye on my dog house many years ago. I had read that it didn't hold up as well as other dyes. The side that got direct sun faded pretty fast. The 2 sides that never got direct sun were still red when sold the house after almost 10 years. Unfortunately I don't remember what clear finish I used back then.
 
As a fellow Canadian I wish you good luck in getting Chestnut stains shipped to Canada.
I have been using Chestnut stains for several years and have almost run out. I tried to order more but learned that they could no longer be shipped to Canada from the USA. They apparently don't have a Canadian distributor.
I have several pieces of wall art that have been hanging out doors for several years. They are coloured with Chestnut stains and have not faded at all. They are, however, somewhat dull because of accumulated dirt /algae/ bugs from the Vancouver Island winter moisture. I'd welcome suggestions for cleaning and or protecting these pieces.

To replace my exhausted Chestnut dyes I bought a sample pack of "Colour FX" dyes from Wood Essence of Saskatoon. They are soluble in water or alcohol and so far seem OK, but I haven't used them enough to evaluate them relative to others. However I can say that Wood Essence gives good service and I would consider them as a supplier if I were you

John .
 
John Shillabeer said:
As a fellow Canadian I wish you good luck in getting Chestnut stains shipped to Canada.
I have been using Chestnut stains for several years and have almost run out. I tried to order more but learned that they could no longer be shipped to Canada from the USA. They apparently don't have a Canadian distributor.
I have several pieces of wall art that have been hanging out doors for several years. They are coloured with Chestnut stains and have not faded at all. They are, however, somewhat dull because of accumulated dirt /algae/ bugs from the Vancouver Island winter moisture. I'd welcome suggestions for cleaning and or protecting these pieces.

To replace my exhausted Chestnut dyes I bought a sample pack of "Colour FX" dyes from Wood Essence of Saskatoon. They are soluble in water or alcohol and so far seem OK, but I haven't used them enough to evaluate them relative to others. However I can say that Wood Essence gives good service and I would consider them as a supplier if I were you

John .
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Wood world of texas, will send you complete set of 9 for 99 $ and 46 $ shipping to b.c. Canada.
 
Glenn, I've only used the Artisan Dye from Craftsupplies so I don't know how it compares to the others. And I haven't done a lot of coloring either so I don't know how my things I have colored will look in 5 or 10 years. But I just saw an ad for the artisan dyes that said they're now in new bottles, with spouts similar to CA glue. That may seem insignificant unless you've tried dying and gotten the dye all over you, the work bench, and everything else. Not to mention the waste. This is not scientific by any means, but it's my opinion that dying wood is an ongoing experiment that will have different results with each experience regardless of the brand of dye you use.
BTW, I sent you a message in answer to your question about a dyed piece I posted in the gallery. It should be in your inbox.
 
I purchased the Artisan dyes at the beginning of the year and agree that the colors are not very vibrant and that they fade extremely fast. I have a beautifully turned 16" platter, I used the Artisan dyes on the rim. Sitting in my dining room away from any direct or reflected light it only took a few months for the colors to fade considerably and become muddied. The black is the worst of all the colors as its just a dark blue. Even when the black Artisan dye is dry if you wash over it with yellow that black turns green. I don't have that issue with India Ink or black acrylic paints. I wrote a review on CSUSA's web site but it was never approved for publishing.

I recently purchased some transtint dyes and will have to see if I can refinish my platter.
 
I've written several 4 and 5 star reviews that were published. None of my one or two star reviews have ever been published however in some cases I was contacted to discuss my review and given a refund in the form of store credit and the reviews were never published. I don't know if CSUSA does this with all low reviews so I can only speak to the reviews that I have personally written.
 
Bill Blasic said:
Sorry Bill but I have been running a light fast test now for going on 3 years and I will guarantee you that TransTint dyes are one of the best out there. Look for an article coming soon.
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Looking forward to an article about this, like anything else, there are so many options, I like when someone does the homework for us, thank you Bill...
 
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