Gold Perarl-Ex filled Dyed Ash Bowl

[Bob Bergstrom]

Ash trees in the Chicago area are dying by the hundreds. This is a bland piece that I used to experiment with dyes and grain filling. It was first dyed black and sanded back, then dyed blue and steel wooled back to remove some of the blue but not too much. Last layer was a red dye. All were Transtint. I mixed up some bright gold Perarl-Ex in paste wax and pushed it into the pores. Gave the wax a couple days to dry and sprayed it all with lacquer. Bowl is about 9" across and 4 1/2" deep. Open for discussion good or bad. I know the form is off but it was not my purpose.
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[jared herbert]

I have just started experimenting with transtint on ash wood. I live in northwest Iowa, no ash borers here yet but I am sure they are coming, sorry to hear yours are all dieing. I do like how your bowl looks, as far as the colors go. Jared

[Russ Massery]

Looks great Bob, Are you going to bring it to the meeting on Monday? I hope to make it My work schedule has lighten a bit. Little more time for the hobby. I would like to see it person.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Sure. No problem.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking bowl. Colors are nice.

[Richard Madden]

I think the coloring looks very nice...and I see nothing wrong with the form either! I have some ash bowls drying, might have to experiment with color one or two.

[John Keeton]

Bob, ash is a challenge with dye, but the results can be dramatic. I think you succeeded here - very unique!

[Jeff Myroup]

Looks great Bob, I have been watching this piece since it's beginning. At one point I was not sure how it was going to turn out. It was pretty ugly. Bob had dyed it black and sanded it all back. It was a terrible lavender color. The amazing thing is that I never would have guessed it was all black just an hour or so before.

[James Roberts]

I kind of like the form of this piece and you centered the grain very well. I'm a sucker for a nicely done functional style piece such as this and I love the dye and finish experiment. I'd be proud to claim this as one of my own.

[Scott Lux]

Very nice. I go back and forth on the dying vs natural debate. I find I like ddyed pieces that still look like wood. This is a great job.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Looks pretty good to me Bob! Hard to judge when you sand back a dyed piece ... did I remove too much color, not enough? This one came out looking really nice!

[Bob Bergstrom]

I really didn't want too much of the light ash wood color to show. The pictures don't capture the gold powder in the open grain. It does help the effect. I would like to open the grain a little more and would love to have a sandblaster to do that. To everyone thanks for the comments and I will do some more.

[Jeff Myroup]

you can get a small cheaper sand blaster at harbor freight