Spirit and water based stains, mix with water?

[RocknRolf]

Hi all,

Looking into ordering some stain colours again for the new project.
I have used Crimsons stunning stain shots before as they look great, but also shipping to Aus is affordable.
The two colours I am looking to use are purple (water-based) and phtalo blue ( spirit based).

- Can I just mix both with water or do I have to use acetone or something else for the blue?
- And will the blue react with the purple when applied?

Thanks

[McCreed]

Why can't you get them both in water based? Their water base stain shots are both available in purple and phthalo blue.

And by "mix", do mean use them separately on the same piece of timber (like a burst) or physically combine the two liquids?

[RocknRolf]

With Mix I mean burst, but do note that the burst is often applied wet, so it will 'mix' to some degree.

Their Stunning stains ( pre-mixed in 150ml) come in water based purple and phatalo blue https://www.crimsonguitars.com/produ...32379027161223

Their stunning stain shots ( concentrated 10ml) https://www.crimsonguitars.com/produ...-stains-shots/ come in purple water based and phatalo blue spirit based.

I have used their concentrated shots before because I liked the freedom it gave me in creating the colour that I want. The pre-mixed stains (150ml) give you less flexibility on the darker side of things. Therefor I was wondering whether the spirit based blue could be also diluted with water and then burst/mixed with a waterbased purple.

Hope this clarifies :-)

[McCreed]

Therefor I was wondering whether the spirit based blue could be also diluted with water and then burst/mixed with a waterbased purple.

My initial sense would be no. I'd seek clarification on what they mean by "spirit". From what I've seen, spirit could mean turps (oil) or alcohol (methylated spirits) based because different regions have different terms for each.

I learnt last year that you CAN mix alcohol and oil based stains, but you definitely can't mix alcohol based and water based or oil based and water based. (eg: Feast Watson Proof Tint is alcohol based and can be added to Feast Watson oil based stain.) And I'm reasonably certain you can't mix alcohol and water based either.

I'm still confused on why you can't just order two spirit based or two water based stains. There's no compatibility issues that way.

I'll also mention that there are lots of domestically available choices rather than the Crimson stuff.
There are alcohol based leather dyes (Angelus for one) that come in heaps of colours, and you can buy alcohol based inks from art supply stores (eg: Eckersley's) that you dilute with metho and apply (or applied neat).

[RocknRolf]

Thanks MCCreed,

Thanks for the detailed explanation of compatibility. After doing some more research, I found out that I have already been using some of the spirit based colours on my first guitar without knowing. This has given me the confidence to push on with these colours.

I do know there are domestic options available, but as I mentioned earlier, the availability of the colours I was after and price of product including shipping was higher than ordering from Crimson. I will keep an eye on them for next projects like I did with this one. Also the stain shots aren;t premixed like most other options, this gives you way more freedom in making the colour you're after.

[McCreed]

That's cool. Look forward to seeing the new project!