Timber dye question

The guitar body I got has a veneer back on it.
I have cautiously sanded the back smooth without going through the veneer.
On my build thread, post member @Franken Washie mentioned he had troubles with a veneer and suggested seeling it with a shellac.
I am wanting to stain the timber with water based emerald green dye made up from Dylon fabric dye powder.
I have tested on some pine and it looks pretty close to what I wanted.
My questions are:

Do I need to be worried about the veneer lifting if I am staining with a water based dye?

Will water based dye still penetrate the wood if it is sealed in shellac?

Would I better mixing the dye powder in Isopropyl alcohol?

Cheers
Trev

Once wood has been sealed it probably won't take a stain.

Water based if too wet can cause swelling and presume using alcohol or spirit based medium should get around that.

Have you tried the alcohol solution on scrap to see how it comes out compared to water based? If the same look, alcohol should be the safer way moving forward.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wazkelly

Have you tried the alcohol solution on scrap to see how it comes out compared to water based? If the same look, alcohol should be the safer way moving forward.

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Will try mixing the dye up today in alcohol base and test it.
Cheers
Trev

Alchohol works well and have used a lot , but when mixed it does tend to gradually evaporate in your container while your working it can deepen the colour as you apply particularly with darker colours like blues and greens.

So always use a jar with a screw top and put the lid back on the moment you stop for any length of time. You can also use metho for dissolving the dye, you might find it cheaper.

However, even spirit-based dye will have a hard time penetrating dried shellac. If it does, then it's because you've not put enough shellac on to seal the wood. That's why it's called sealer, as it should prevent the wood absorbing anything else put on top of it. Stain first, then seal. Never the other way round. You can paint over sealer, but not stain properly. Any stain that may takes will probably be sitting on the sealer, and not in the wood.