Many months ago, I had an odd shaped piece of red oak and decided to see what I could make out of it.  It turned (no pun intended) into a vase.  Oak is not my favorite wood to turn, but I was pleased with the shape, so I kept it out of the burn pile, set it aside, and figured at some point I’d finish it.

A Month or so ago, I decided to add some color to it.  Since it was red oak, I thought I’d dye it red and see what I got.  I filled the vacuum chamber with red dye and left it under pressure for three or four days.  When I pulled it out, it looked like a really dark red.  PERFECT!  I let it dry for a couple days, then put it back on the lathe and figured I’d sand it smooth, since the dye raised the grain.  After a couple minutes sanding, it became clear that the dye barely went into the wood.  Back to the drawing board…

Since the vacuum chamber was a bust, I decided to see what the pressure pot would do.  I filled the inside of the vase with dye, then put it under pressure.  After the first day, the dye level was down about an inch, so I figured I’d just keep it under pressure until I could see the dye coming through the outside of the vase.  Each day for a week, I checked the dye level and topped it off.  After a full week, I took it out of the pressure pot and let it dry.

Below is what I ended with after another round of sanding.  I was hoping that the dye would have been more “stripey”, only coming through between the growth rings, but I think I like the way this turned out.  Makes me wonder what I could get with a lighter wood like maple or sycamore.  Hum…