General Finishes Water Based Dye, 1 Quart, Reducer

I am using this on ash hardwood, which has a lot of mix of grain densities depending on where in the tree the board was, and also a lot of color constrast between heart and sapwood. This color is almost driftwood-grayish in some places, almost a kind of aged (graying) walnut in others. Really satisfying.Two warnings: first, as with any water based dye, this will raise the grain on your wood. Strongly advisable to pre-sand to your usual preference (I wouldn't go much beyond 220-300 grit), brush some water only onto the board to swell the grain some, and then re-sand, before applying this. You will want to apply by brushing on a fairly lot of it and then wiping down after a min or two to penetrate, to get good color. If you don't do the after-wetting pre-sand, expect to want to sand after first application and then apply again.Second: DO NOT use any sort of linseed oil soak to try and 'pop' the grain after this. I don't know why but doing that, even after waiting a long time for this finish to dry, and then waiting a week or more for the thinned BLO to cure, resulted in a lot of orange peel and "fisheye" of the final top finish (polyurethane oil based). I tend not to like the water-based poly finishes as much but it is much safer atop this. Some of the alkyd resin varnishes might work as well but I have not attempted. But even a simple wiping oil-based poly (thinned with mineral spirits or naptha) WITHOUT any BLO seems to be fine, after my first uh-oh attempts.EDIT I have used a 'spar varnish' (alkyd resin, not polyurethane) atop this now. Diluted the first 3 coats about 50% with mineral spirits and rubbed on with a rag, very lightly sanding with 400 grit if necessary to remove dust nibs. Final coat less diluted and brushed on, maybe 30% to build a good layer and gloss. Came out beautifully, even on the boards I didn't pre-water-swell and sand before applying the color finish.Remain very pleased with this dye. In some places where the boards have some curl and figure you get almost iridescent colors, almost a hint of greenish tones. I see why they call this Pewter it really does give an almost 'metallic' feel.

If you enjoy working with oil based stains and hesitant to use water based stains this is the material to use. In the early days of water based stains it was impossible to hide where the stain edge overlayed a previous wipe of stain. You ended up with dark edges on even the best jobs. Those days are long past, especially with General Finishes.I always tell my apprentices that if you are going to color a grain there are two significant differences between dye and stain, and that is this: Stain softens and obscures the natural appearance of the grain and dyes highlight them. You can water dye down to diminish its depth, stain not so much.Try any of the General Finishes and tell me they are not a huge step forward in quick reliable finishes.Here are two pictures of interior and exterior finishes with General Finishes products.

This goes on more like a poly, and dries FAST. You don't have to wipe it off, and it levels out really well with little or no pooling as long as you brush it out. It levels about like a thin polyurethane. You can recoat with more stain within 10 or 15 minutes. It puts down a lot of color quick, and you could get 3 coats down in 20 to 30 minutes. It makes Minwax stain stain seem like stone age technology by comparison. It will feel dry to the touch in 5 to 10 minutes (or less) under normal temps and humidity, but you'll want to wait an hour or so before clear-coating it, or you'll be pulling stain off with your topcoat brush. You will pull some up anyway, but about an hour seems to be a good balance. You definitely don't want to be double dipping in your topcoat can or you may taint it with trace amounts of this stain. Also, this stain will cover over everything. I used light green bondo to fill some holes, and this covered it the same as the wood, and I quickly had it a cherry color to match everything else. I'm going to experiment with mixing in a bit of topcoat to see if I can keep the stain from bleeding onto my brush with the first topcoat, but I'd be more than happy to just use it as it is. This product is a home run, and well worth the almost 3X cost compared to oil based stains. It will last forever, and save SO many hours waiting. You'll finish projects the same day. I hate waiting.

If you've used the big name, big box store, consumer stains in the past, you know that they don't work all that great on certain types of wood. On a recent project I wanted to stain/dye a piece of birch plywood to match the very dark factory finish of a purchased display case. Having worked with birch in the past I knew that the stuff from my local Lowes, Home Depot, etc, wouldn't give me the results that I was looking for. Doing a bit of research on some wood working forums lead me to this product. I ordered the ebony and was very pleased how dark it turned the plywood. I'm not sure about how different application techniques or desired finishes work with this type of stain/dye, but if you're looking for more penetration on difficult to stain woods like birch, I'd recommend skipping the common store stains, and trying this out instead.The first photo is of the raw materials and the second shows it all assembled. The plywood was dyed using this product and is used as a custom holder base inside display case. The blue masking tape was later replaced with an engraved brass plate.

This is a great base stain. The price is a little as you can buy for $25 from a dealers

This is one of the few products that actually penetrate hardwoods such as maple. All their products create beautiful colours as represented.

Great wood stain, the colour is vibrant and stunning.

Excellent backing color