Yes, test on scrap or somewhere unseen first. I usually mix my crystals using denatured alcohol as it does not raise the grain on my carving. That said, on test pieces I have tried using a water mix and that seems to have a more reddish hue. I usually mix at 5 parts (DA or H2O) to 1 part FN by volume. Apply using a brush or dawber, let set for a few hours, then heat blush. I usually do this twice. After the second application, I wash down the stock with a lye water mix (2 tablespoons to 10 oz water), I do this more for the color it gives than to neutralize. Let that dry overnite and rub back the stock using 4/0 steel wool. Just a note on rubbing back, you might need to really shred some steel wool to get the desired effect of striping contrast on curly maple,, just be cautious around your edges. Depending on what color you're after, you can add additional color using analine dye stains
