Horn Dying Question HELP

[LURCHWV@BJS]

  I've been following Sibley's instructions on dying the end of a blonde horn.  The first time I tried it, it had a purple tint to it.  It was also darker than I wanted.  So I scraped it of and went with a lighter brown.  Again it has a purple tint to it. 

   Am I doing something wrong?

   And no I won't post pics until it's finished

   Rich

[hookie13]

Had the same problem.
You don't say what color you want to achieve.
If its black use Rit dye and add some dark brown to it.
Try it in a scrap piece of horn till (tip end) till you get the tone/color you want.
I think most black dyes are actually a very dark blue and depending on the horn I have had from purple to deep green to a reddy color.
The dark brown seems to get rid of the problem.
Hookie in New Zealand

[LURCHWV@BJS]

  Hookie,

   You're right and I apologize,  I'm looking to achieve a nice Milk Chocolate Brown  Not too dark,  want to try getting that aged look.

  Thanx for bringing that to my attention

  Rich

[Carl Dumke]

Rich,
Personally, I would start with a Rit Dark brown and add some black to it.  Be sure you are adding a small amount of vineagar to it so that the dye will set.  If you look at many old horns, the tips dont appear black but a very dark brown.  To add age, and after the dye has set, I use some #0000 steel wool to rub off areas of wear.  If you want black, then you have to add some dark brown to tone down the black/purple tint.  The longer the horn sits in the dye the less purple tint will remain & be sure to use vineagar.  Hope it makes sense.

   

[Tim Crosby]

 Are you looking for a Brown like these?  They were done in a boling bath of Brown Dye with shoe polish added while they were still hot. Youl see that the color of the horns makes a difference.
  One thing to remember is each horn will color just a little different.

 Tim C.

PS: I am color blind so I hope there are Brown.TC

[LURCHWV@BJS]

All three examples look great.  Dan Russell nailed the color I am looking for.  I got it close, never thought of shoe polish.  I did find out buffing with suede leather works wonders

Thanx for all the  information.  It has helped me alot,  hopefully my next posted work will show it


Rich