Parafin interfering with water based dye on Hal Taylor rocking chair

[Ken Vick]

Hal Taylor uses paraffin to lubricate the back supports going into the seat and head rest. I really like the water based dye I have used in the past on mahogany furniture pieces I have built. Because of having to go through the grain raising steps, I tried to find a non-grain raising dye but none of the dyes I tried looked as nice on Honduran mahogany as the water based dye I have used before. Anticipating the possible problem I might have with the paraffin on the ends of the back supports, I carefully scraped off the excess paraffin, sanded them and then washed them thoroughly with mineral spirits. I applied the dye tonight and found several small spots on the bottom of the supports just above the level of the seat where the dye was not absorbed. Obviously, the bottoms of the supports still had paraffin contamination that interfered with the dye absorption. What I am thinking about is touching these spots up with oil based stain. Anyone got other ideas?

For those who build these chairs, do you always use the paraffin? I will certainly keep the paraffin to just the tip of the back support but even that might not work since the paraffin is scraped off the support when you push the support into the seat, the paraffin building up at the top of the seat hole. Ken

[Rich's Woodcraft]

Hi Ken,

I had this problem on the first chair I made, it would not absorb the Danish Oil on those spots, took quite a bit of work to clean it up.

My solution has been to add the paraffin after the fact, once the finish is on. The slats will move in the slot slightly without the lubrication. I put a strip of blue tape along the seat side and melt the wax and using a wood skewer drip it into the hole, while flexing the slat, seems to seep in quite nicely.

This is my solution.

Rich

[jteneyck]

Ken you should be able to remove the paraffin with MS without it affecting the dye that's already on the chair. Once the paraffin is off I would try wiping on more dye, recognizing that you might end up having to feather it out or even do the entire back rest and seat again.

John

[Ken Vick]

Thanks, Rich. Good idea. Ken

[Ken Vick]

Thanks, John. I'm going to give that a try. I hadn't thought about using more MS after the dye treatment but see that that should work. I'll go slow and when the paraffin is off, I'll work on the spots with a quetip. I don't want to have to redo the seat and back supports. Ken

[Ken Vick]

OK, I think I got the back supports taken care of. I scraped them with a scraper, washed with mineral spirits, did a little judicious sanding and then used my original water based dye and walnut and mahogany touch-up pens to feather new color on to the unstained places. I was concerned that the touch up pens might lift out of the wood when I use the oil finish but a trial on some scrap mahogany showed that the color stayed put. The fix is not perfect but unless you know where to look, I don't think any one will notice. So note to self: figure something out before doing another chair that needs water based dye

[FrankAtl]

I'd love to see some pictures of the chair when you get a chance. I plan on doing one of these in the near future.

Frank

[KC]

FrankAtl said:

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I'd love to see some pictures of the chair when you get a chance. I plan on doing one of these in the near future.

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Me too. Still. 'Near future' I think has stretched on 8 years.

[Superglide]

I'm on chair 5, and only dripped wax into seat holes. Nothing else. I think it is overkill. Just my $0.02.

[Superglide]

Oh yea. Post pics!!