Timberking Posted July 19, 2003 Report Share Posted July 19, 2003 Hi everyone, I am new and must say that this is an awesome site. My good friend Guitarfrenzy has gotten me interested in trying to build a guitar. I would like the first attempt to be a black translucent finish on an ash body. Can someone steer me right on what is the best stain, where to get it, and how to go about finishing it? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted July 19, 2003 Report Share Posted July 19, 2003 For a Black Translucent finish your best bet would still be just about any aniline dye for wood since you can easily control the degree of color you put on the wood. Just remember to test it out on a piece of scrap wood before you get started so you know what to expect as far as overlaps and such. Aniline dyes can be purchased at most hardware stores as well as on the web at places such as Guitar ReRanch, Stew Mac and Luthiers Merchantile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberking Posted July 19, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2003 Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted July 19, 2003 Report Share Posted July 19, 2003 I see you finally found time to register... lol... I'll call Stew-Mac for you to see what they have... I had no idea you was wanting a translucent finish... just thought you was gonna paint it metallic black... Did you get your book yet? I got mine couple of days ago.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberking Posted July 19, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2003 No on the book. lotta crap at work this week. Will order the book next week. Have read alot about staining.Still somewhat confused. One place said fill the wood first. The other said don't fill the wood. I'll get it figured out when I get my ash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrowheadguitars Posted July 19, 2003 Report Share Posted July 19, 2003 I used black stain on this tele I made for a friend, plus stain mixed with Danish Oil for the top finish, both on the body and the (maple) neck Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted July 19, 2003 Report Share Posted July 19, 2003 Depending on what you want to clear with, I add about 15% base color into clear for trans finishes. It works very well, and you have perfect control with your spraying, want it a bit darker, put on another coat. It works very well, I don't particularily care for stains a whole bunch, but I don't know if my technique would work well with laquers at all, I spray Poly Urethanes (component types, not the minwax household stuff.) Works well yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberking Posted July 20, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2003 Thanks arrowheadguitars and LGM for the pics. Both really nice. The thing that has got this dummy here stumped is actually the wood prep and steps to finishing a stained ash body. Not necessarily the clear coating part, but the wood sealing procedures. Like, for an ash body, do you just sand the wood, stain, clearcoat, and buff? I read somewhere about filling the wood pores on ash before staining and another article I read didn't mention that. Please excuse my ignorance, but my friends I am still confused. (Old guys like me stay alittle confused anyway) LOL. Thanks for you patience. I really envy you guys making all these beautiful guitars that I have seen at this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted July 20, 2003 Report Share Posted July 20, 2003 Timberking, If you want to stain the body, you can't use a sealer on it first, try this procedure. 1: Sand the body until dead smooth (finish sand) to 400 grit paper. 2: Dampen the wood with some water to raise the grain. Let it dry 3: Sand again to 400 4: Dampen one more time to raise any remaining graing. Let it dry 5: Sand again to 400, then 600, then 800, make SURE that all previous sanding scratches are gone, the stain will fill and enhance any and all scratches. 6: Apply your stain, THEN you can try a compatible sealer. OR: 6b: Start clearing over your stain. The quilt top guitar I showed was done as follows. 1: Since the veneer was incredibly thin, the glue even though applied VERY thin, still saturated under pressure for curing in a few spots. That being the case, any stain would look splotchy. So first I sealed the wood with a good wood conditioning sanding sealer. 2: Once cured, I sprayed to coats of RM Diamont DC92 clear. I then sanded that dead flat. 3: Then I mixed 15% gold amber into another batch of clear, and started spraying my tinted clear onto the now totally sealed body. 4: Then I mixed 40% gold amber into a batch of clear with 10% black for the chocolate burst (the wider burst) 5: Then I mixed 40% black into clear for the very final edge burst, and back and sides. 6: Followed by many many coats of clear and lots of polishing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted July 20, 2003 Report Share Posted July 20, 2003 I'll have to say that guitar looks totally awesome.. very good tips also... I'm still working on my Polishing skills.. I finished the guitar and got a good glossy finishy.. except I can still see very tiny scratches that go with the grain of the wood.. I musta done something wrong... I did it all by hand and didn't use a drill with nylon finishing pad... would that make the difference... also I had some orange peel I had to deal with.. so basically learned alot of hard lessons.. but I bet I'm in for some more.. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberking Posted July 20, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2003 LGM.... thanks bud, this is exactly what I needed to see. This I can understand. I'm gonna follow these steps. I'll let you know how my first try turned out. Thanks again. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted July 21, 2003 Report Share Posted July 21, 2003 Let's just hope its good looking wood.. lol.. and Swamp Ash at that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberking Posted July 21, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2003 Hey Matt, the book is ordered. Will get it this week. And if the wood doesn't have a nice grain pattern, we'll paint it a solid color or veneer it. Also, got a friend who has a plunge router if we want to try it. Never used a plunge router before. I have plunged a commode though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted July 22, 2003 Report Share Posted July 22, 2003 OMG.. tell me he's not serious.. lol... And I have never seen anyone have to plunge a guitar out before.. but oh we'll.. lol... seriously though.. my brother-in-law has all the stuff we need.. and also I talked to my uncle today and he has even more than him... lol.. he has a way to sand it after it's planed... don't know what the device is called.. but he said we could use it.. he makes cabinets, computer desks.. tables, chairs.. you name it.. he does it.. just not guitars.. lol... But I have no idea what a plunge router is.. gonna have to look that one up.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerdguitar Posted August 7, 2003 Report Share Posted August 7, 2003 this isnt really a serious question, but could you stain the wood with RIT dye? just wondering because I used to tie-dye and seem to have quite a bit of it left over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted August 7, 2003 Report Share Posted August 7, 2003 Try doing it on a scrap piece of wood then clearing over it to see how it reacts to the top coat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermopyle Posted August 12, 2003 Report Share Posted August 12, 2003 i'm about to start on a mahogany body, my first finishing attempt. body is routed but not yet drilled. i plan to drill before starting on the finish. If you want to stain the body, you can't use a sealer on it first, try this procedure. 1: Sand the body until dead smooth (finish sand) to 400 grit paper. 2: Dampen the wood with some water to raise the grain. Let it dry 3: Sand again to 400 4: Dampen one more time to raise any remaining graing. Let it dry 5: Sand again to 400, then 600, then 800, make SURE that all previous sanding scratches are gone, the stain will fill and enhance any and all scratches. 6: Apply your stain, THEN you can try a compatible sealer. OR: 6b: Start clearing over your stain. any variations on these that i should know for mahogany? i planned on doing a sealer on such a porous wood. but should this be before or after i stain it? also any recommendations on brands/colors from home depot that can get close to that dark red transparent you see on the back of a les paul? going with a nitro lacquer to finish. thanks thermo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted August 13, 2003 Report Share Posted August 13, 2003 I think you prpobably mean a grain filler, not a sealer. Depending on the nature of the grain filler, you can fill either before or after staining. Many waterbased fillers will happily accept stain once dry, thus allowing you to fill your grain, sand prefectly smooth, and then stain. The compatability of your stain and filler should be mentioned in their respective instructions, but always test of scrap first.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermopyle Posted August 13, 2003 Report Share Posted August 13, 2003 yes, you're right, i confused grain filler with sealer. so what i'm looking at now is: 1. sand. dampen to raise grain, sand again. 2. apply grain filler, sand smooth. 3. stain. 4. sealer. sand. repeat until nice and flat. 5. nitro. i've got some scrap pieces, i think i'll play with those first. compatible brands for any of this stuff would be appreciated. home depot or canadian tire is where i plan to buy. i don't think reranch ships to canada. thanks thermo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romano Posted August 17, 2003 Report Share Posted August 17, 2003 in my opinion dye colors have not good results applied to not figured wood try to finish your ash body with a trasparent spry color, dye ones look better to flame maple or quilt maple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.