Help with dyes/stains mixed with natural finish

I'm new to woodworking and have a lot to learn. However, I'm working on a mahogany sculpture and having trouble with the finishing. I want to add an ebonized section to the wood and not sure how to do it. For example taking a plank of mahogany say 24" wide and then adding a 3" ebonized stripe down the middle. I'd like to get crisp sides, so would I use dye and does dye bleed? How can I allow the grain to show through the dye or other color technique but still be "ebony". I plan on finishing the rest with a clear seal-coat dewaxed shellac (I think). I'm trying to put some depth/richness in the wood and want a semi-polish look so hopefully the shellac will work.

So really I have two questions:
1. How to achieve the ebony stripe with crisp sides and with grain pattern shown through.
3. Will the clear seal-coat dewaxed shellac be a good choice for depth of grain and semi polish look (and applicable for a novice)?

Any suggestions appreciated.

(see attachment, note the sides are much darker and were put on by some sort of stain/dye not sure how this was acheived. Sides are crisp to faces of natural wood - also not sure how this was finished)

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...titleddddd.jpg

G'day!

And welcome to the little madhouse we like to call home. :U

Getting the grain to show through is really basically a case of experimenting on a piece of scrap wood and either keeping notes of your dye:medium:thinners ratios or mixing up enough in the one hit to do the whole job.

Keeping notes is way less wasteful, but even with them it can be difficult to replicate a fiddly mix.

As for keeping crisp edges, there are a couple of ways. The best - IMHO - is to score a crisp line along the border of the strip with an exacto knife or similar. Even then the dye may bleed across if the score isn't deep or wide enough, so it's best (again) to experiment on an offcut first.

An alternative is to seal the timber with whatever finish you're using and, once dry, paint on the strip. Possibly with a second coat of clear finish over the top, but be aware that the top coat may "smear" the dye, even if applied after the dye has dried. If you aren't spraying it on, then careful brushwork - never going from the dye onto "clear" wood - is seriously recommended.

Even when you know what you're doing (or think you do :; ) it is always, always a good idea to experiment on an offcut first!

Thanks for the advice and well taken.:2tsup:

How about dyeing edges of boards, are there any tricks to keep that from bleeding on the faces of the board.