alder

[termite]

i'm cutting some stuff out of alder. does anyone know of a good dye or stain i can use to get a
better red color?

[gap15102]

Have you tried RIT clothes dye? Look at their website for details.

[KarlB]

RIT dye would be a good choice.

You might also look at some of the Minwax stains.

I'm curious as to why you are looking for red in alder.  It's been my experience that alder leans more toward the brown color than red.  Cherry lends itself more to the red (although brown is there as well).  Alder has been used as a "substitute" for cherry, however.

I like the scrolling capacity of alder as it is a bit softer than cherry and I can cut tighter corners without burning like cherry would do.

Karl

[pddesertrat]

I used food coloring to dye white birch once.  Worked very well.  You might try that on a scrap piece of alder.