Black Woodgrain Stain?

[czzer]

Thanks Trevor, that blue looks awesome!
I see in that post you used a dye rather than a stain? That's one of the questions I had...what's the practical difference between a dye and a stain? I think a dye might work better?
I've ordered some small pieces of basswood from Aliexpress to use as test pieces before I do anything to the actual body. The problem is all these dyes and stains are pretty expensive, so I can't really justify buying too many different types to see what works best.

[Trevor Davies]

Thanks Trevor, that blue looks awesome!
I see in that post you used a dye rather than a stain? That's one of the questions I had...what's the practical difference between a dye and a stain? I think a dye might work better?
I've ordered some small pieces of basswood from Aliexpress to use as test pieces before I do anything to the actual body. The problem is all these dyes and stains are pretty expensive, so I can't really justify buying too many different types to see what works best.

Thanks czzer.
I'm not 100% sure about the difference between a stain and a dye - but stains sit on the surface of the material, while dyes penetrate deep within the material. I do not have a preference! I use Feast Watson stains for natural wood colours, and Ubeaut wood Dyes for brighter colours. I know that if I sand back too far on either I will get to bare wood I have also used alcohol inks which also sit on the surface of the wood.

Great idea to test on scrap wood. And true that they are expensive, but they go a long way. Are you in Oz?