Mike,

I tried using a waterbased stain to get an accent strip of forest green. I soaked the strip for a good amount of time before putting in on the boat. It didn't work because the stain only penetrated to a surface level and when I started sanding the coloring came out uneven. Luckily I was able to sand it all out and recover. I thought of masking off the strip and retouching but stain is difficult to get a clean line.

I think the dying process involves using a PCV pipe, with capped ends, 1/3 full of dye to soak the wood for a week or more. Presumably the dye prentrates deeply enough after drying out the strip that you can sand the boat and not loose the staining effect. I have not tried this.

Jack

> Thank you Nick Schade for an excellent book and sharing your designs.

> question: could I use stain (like "minwax") on some strips
> before assembly to give me two (or more) colored strips for accent - after
> pre-treating the soft wood with their conditioner? I'm planing to use
> pine.

> question: would cove and bead be necessary on the flat sections of the
> Great Auk deck?

> Hint: after drawing the half forms on graph paper I put them upside down
> in a photo-copier and set it for the darkest setting. The machine was able
> to see my marks through the paper and I have perfect mirror (left) half
> forms with no additional work.