Are water or alcohol based dyes best for veneer?

Question:

I make drums. I am planning on applying a wood veneer over some 6 ply maple shells. I usually use water based dye to stain my shells. I find that the wood grain shows up more than when using alcohol based stain.

My question is: With the use of an extra veneer ply glued with white or yellow glue, is it a good idea to use water based stain or not? Would the glue inhibit the possibilities of the stain absorbing properly? Would the use of a seallant be appropriate?

Thanks Eric

Answer:

We assume we are talking about paperbacked veneers here: We suggest alcohol based dye instead of the water based for the simple reason that water based dye will cause the veneer to swell and present possible problems.

Even with the alcohol dyes, be careful not to saturate the veneer. The only time glue interferes with the veneers’ ability to accept stain is when you’re using raw veneer. In some cases with raw veneer, the glue can actually bleed through the veneer and prevent stain penetration. This is rarely if ever a problem with a paperbacked veneer.

You can’t seal the veneer prior to staining if that’s what you’re asking. If you’re talking about sealing after staining but before top coating, that would be fine. This will prevent any stain from bleeding into the topcoat. We hope this helps. Good luck with your project!

Oakwood Veneer Tech Support