Food Colouring - Anyone tried this ?

[JollyJim]

Hi All,

I rather fancied making the workshop clutch pencil, and, as it
did'nt need to be a top class finish, I tried a bit of an experiment.

I had previously bought some food colouring from Tesco so that
I could impress the grand-kids with some 'magic youtube shows'
with these and some MandM's. Naturally, I ate all the MandM's
before they arrived, but that's another story ......

I found some really soft pine, turned them down to the bushings
and sanded to a really good finish. Then stood them on end in
a couple of pots of the colouring (undiluted). I turned them end to end
in different colours and gave them a week to dry and was really
pleased with the result.

So, how to shine them up.... I really did'nt know, so thought I would
try a dab of cellulose thinners, but that started to leech the colour out.
After much head scratching, I just put them back onto the lathe and put
a first coating of CA on. This did'nt leech, but it started to give off
some really pungent fumes together with the paper towel pad becoming
very hot very quickly. So, I put another coat on very quickly and that
seemed to calm everything down. I carried on to put eight coats of
CA on before I sanded it down. I did'nt worry about a sooper-dooper
finish as you can see from the piccie, but I was really pleased with
the unusual result.

Anyway, I thought you might like to see the end result, even the
crack in the pen looks kinda ok. I shall try again fairly soon.
I've already had a cocobolo blank on end in the colouring for
a week but I think hardwoods are going to be too close-grained
for this to work.

If anyone has any experience of doing this or can give an
explanation of the fumes, I would love to hear....

Regards to all - Jim

[Bryan Milham]

I've never tried Food dyes, but might give it a go sometime. The issue with any colouring agent is it's ability to withstand fading over time, due to sunlight. Let us know how this stands up to fading at some time in the future please.

I am sort of surprised that you never closed and sealed the crack with the CA glue, as you were using it. Not sure how long the pencil might last with that in it.

I've tried an awful lot of things and about the only thing that did not work (and you'd think would) was kiddies wax crayons. The logic goes, wax & colour all in one, must be a good thing, but nope, not enough pigment to achieve anything.

As for the CA fumes, please read the following;
http://www.mercuryadhesives.com/index.php/2015/07/16/why-do-ca-fumes-burn-my-nose-eyes-and-make-my-eyes-water/

[Derek]

The link that was posted in the previous post is one of the reasons that when I make pens I no longer use CA glue but now use Melamine lacquer. The problem is that it may affect the dyes you are using so, in that case, I would use an acrylic finish.

There are a number of different finishes that can be used here are some.

Melamine Lacquer

Dipping

A list of finishes by Walter Hall a well-known pan maker

[JollyJim]

I've never tried Food dyes, but might give it a go sometime. The issue with any colouring agent is it's ability to withstand fading over time, due to sunlight. Let us know how this stands up to fading at some time in the future please.

I am sort of surprised that you never closed and sealed the crack with the CA glue, as you were using it. Not sure how long the pencil might last with that in it.

I've tried an awful lot of things and about the only thing that did not work (and you'd think would) was kiddies wax crayons. The logic goes, wax & colour all in one, must be a good thing, but nope, not enough pigment to achieve anything.

As for the CA fumes, please read the following;
http://www.mercuryadhesives.com/index.php/2015/07/16/why-do-ca-fumes-burn-my-nose-eyes-and-make-my-eyes-water/

Hiya - thanks for the reply.

I'll let you know if the colour fades.I was really pleased with the 'abstract' way the colouring appeared,
but unless I can make it work on hardwood, then it's not really going anywhere. So, I shall
keep experimenting and see where I get to.Stupid question coming......are there any 'hardwoods' with wide 'pores'?
By standing the blank on end in the food dye, I'm relying on capillary action which hopefully,
is what will give me the abstract look. Laying the blank on it's side is not the effect I want.
As for the crack, It kinda got left out because I really was'nt sure which way I was going with
the finish.
Good try with the wax crayons !!!! They are too soft presumably ?
Thanks for the CA link which I read and was quite surprised at the content but, yes, that's exactly what happened.

Thanks again, really appreciated

Regards - Jim

[JollyJim]

The link that was posted in the previous post is one of the reasons that when I make pens I no longer use CA glue but now use Melamine lacquer. The problem is that it may affect the dyes you are using so, in that case, I would use an acrylic finish.

There are a number of different finishes that can be used here are some.

Melamine Lacquer

Dipping

Hi Derek, thanks for the reply.

I was planning to use Melamine,but when I applied a drop of cellulose sanding sealer, it leeched
the colour from the blank. Again, because I was only trying it out for myself, I was'nt too
worried about the end result and that's why I went straight to CA. Btw, that was an interesting
CA link from dr4g0nfly eh.....

I've got some Colron stains in green, red etc so I might give that a try, it's all quite interesting.

Thanks also for the links, I'm not sure about dipping, but it was an interesting read.

By the way...... It's a great pencil and it's the one you recommended in a previous post.
I've put a 6B lead in it  and it writes like a dream.....no good for accurate marking, but,
a joy to use, so thanks for that.

Also, the Melamine was on your advice also - I've finished a few pens with it
and just getting used to it, so , thanks again.

Have a good day - best wishes , Jim

A list of finishes by Walter Hall a well-known pan maker

[Bryan Milham]

Jim,

There are several open pore/ring porous woods, oak and ash are the most easily available. But for what you seem to be describing, you want a fibrous wood, something like American White Oak, to allow the capillary effect to occur.

[JollyJim]

Hi dr4g0nfly,

Excellent, thanks for that, I'll try to get hold of some.

I've also got four bottles of really flash nail varnish in the workshop but
they are going to have to wait their turn !!!

Thanks again and best wishes , Jim