Does Anyone Know Anything About Coloring Inlays?

[thegarehanman]

I probably won't ever use this, but it'd be really nice to know how it's done(propperly). Does anyone have experience with dying(i assume) the woods or MOP pieces used in an inlay? The thing that confuses me about it is that you can't dye it before you radius the fretboard, but it would be really hard to dye everything correctly with the fretboard radiused and all of the pieces next to each other.

Edited June 24, 2005 by thegarehanman

[Shamrock]

With all the different materials available for inlay, (i.e. recon stone, shell, metallics, etc, etc,etc) you really shouln't need to dye anything. But if you are dead set on coloring your inlays, you could use thin acrylic sheeting and paint the underside. I know there is a good tutorial on this technique somewhere in the tutorial section of this site.

[Batfink]

The only 'dyed' shell i've ever seen is laminate sheet thats been pre-dyed before it's epoxy coated. I'm not quite sure what you could dye normal shell with as it's not very (if at all) porous, so as soon as you sand, away goes the colour.

I think the acrylic suggestion above is what you're perhaps looking for.

Jem

[frank falbo]

For wood, you can soak it for a long time, and the color will penetrate. But if you're inlaying into maple, for example, then your colored dust from leveling those pieces will easily stain the maple. I would bury them slightly below the surface in a superglue bath, or cover them with plexi or epoxy. But even before that, I'd try to find an aptly colored material.