Question About Staining

[Daniel Sorbera]

Quick question. When I put stain on my quilted maple guitar right away it looks amazing but after about 15 minutes it's dry it doesn't look nearly as good. It looks all washed out and not very pleasing at all. Whats going on here? Is this normal? How do I stop it? Do I just need to keep putting stain on until it looks good when it's dry? Will it look okay when I put clear on?

This is my first QM staining project...

Heres what It looks like right after I put stain on it.

[jer7440]

Hey man, try this on a piece of scrap, but, I'm pretty sure as the stain dries it gets dull. When you shoot the clear on it comes right back.

[jnewman]

How does the bare wood look when wet vs. dry? Why would the stained wood be any different?

Once you put clear on it, it'll look "wet" again - that's why people wet or naphtha their fancy figured woods to see how it'll look with clear.

[Mattia]

Stained, dry wood looks dullety dull dull. Colorful, but not vibrant in any way. A nice coat of clear (as long as it's something that pops wood, like shellac, nitro; straight waterbased finishes simply don't have much 'popping power') will bring the figure to life and then some.

[frank falbo]

I don't know what your gloss will be, because you were talking about minwax stuff and whatever in the progress thread. But for me, when I have a piece like that, I want to get a super thin washcoat of something that's really glitzy. Usually that's nitro for me. But then you need to be sure it's compatible with your topcoat. Basically I'm saying the same thing as mattia. I'm just adding that a super-thin washcoat first will make certain the gloss penetrates deep. (as deeply as that stain was penetrating) Thicker finishes will just rest on top. You want the gloss coat to basically be as though the guitar is under water. So anything that is too thick to penetrate will decrease that effect you have when the body is wet. Like if you took plastic wrap and covered the top with it, it would be shiny but really look no different than when it's dry. And don't be tempted to add more amber stain because it lightens when it dries. How it looks wet is how it will look under the gloss. And it looks perfect right now!

With that guitar, anything you do will be gorgeous.

[Daniel Sorbera]

Ok I kinda figured it out. I rubbed in some clear grain filler and that REALLY made the figure and color come to life. Than after a few minutes I wiped it all off really good leaving a level smooth beautiful surface ready for finish. Yes I am using the minwax poly. I just now put on my third heavy coat and it's looking sweeeeeeeet.

[whoofnagle]

Ok I kinda figured it out.  I rubbed in some clear grain filler and that REALLY made the figure and color come to life.  Than after a few minutes I wiped it all off really good leaving a level smooth beautiful surface ready for finish.  Yes I am using the minwax poly.  I just now put on my third heavy coat and it's looking sweeeeeeeet.

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Can't wait to see pics. Are you spraying the poly or wiping it on?

Bill

[Maiden69]

!st of all, carefull "rubbing" anything to the already stained body!!! Especialy if you are using Stew Mac's Colortone! This is water based and even when dried it will bleed a little bit.

And yes the colr of the stain will come brighter again once you start shooting the clear. And this is maple, you don't need grain filler! All you need is a light pass of Sanding sealer at the least, and you can do it better by using clear alone.

I like the way the stain came out! Very nice, reminds me of my blue which was my first stain job too! I can see that the scrap practice payed off!

Here isa a shot of mine before and after clear.

before (I did washed this one out a bit because it was too dark, the result looked like yours but blue!) after sanding sealer and after clear

As you can see, the stain comes back to life after the clear goes on.

[Daniel Sorbera]

well I already did it and it came out fine. I've already put on 5 heavy coats of poly and tomorow I'll level sand and start shooting the top coats.

[Drak]

1. You are freaking me out with the clear grain filler, I was fine reading everything up to that point, I hope to hell you know what you're doing and that the grain filler is compatable and 100% transparent, you were doing OK up to that point and I hope to God you're still OK, the grain filler part made me hiccup big time!

2. Godin, you are SICK SICK SICK SICK SICK!!!!!

That guitar is SO freaking absofrigginlutely gorgeous I'm am a' crappin' my Drak self!

You are one SERIOUSLY talented 15 year old, and I sincerely mean that, and I bow to your talents at the ripe old age of 15, you scare the crap out of me when I think of where you might be at 25 if you continue with this.

Real talent cannot be hidden under a rock, for it shines like a beacon for all to see by.

PS, as you now know, dye looks like poop when it's dry.

The day you pick up a spray gun and start gunning your finishes on, I am RUNNING FOR COVER!

[Daniel Sorbera]

LOL Thanks Drak that was really cool and really ment alot coming from you. Your a the guitar god

Yes the clear grainfiller is clear and 100% compatable. I just used it to seal the wood. It doesn't want to soak up the finish and it looks much better.

I want to get a super thin washcoat of something that's really glitzy. Usually that's nitro for me. But then you need to be sure it's compatible with your topcoat.

Thats basicly what I used the grainfiller for. I just put it on that wiped it off about 5 minutes later. It soaked into the grain just enough to seal the wood and really make the figure pop. the minwax stuff I'm using doesn't really make the figure pop and look wet as much without putting on the grain filler. I did tons of tests and accidently came across this concoction.

I hope to have it done in two weeks or so and I'll put up some really good pics than.

Edited October 18, 2005 by Godin SD

[Marzocchi705]

I compleatly second Draks post, you ROCK!! I wish i was as good as you, oh well, maby in 10 years time i'll be at the standard you are now. Great work!

[mikhailgtrski]

Very nice work, Godin!

What method did you use? I'm assuming dark brown/sand back, then amber... details please? Again, great work.

Mike

[Daniel Sorbera]

Black, sand back just a wee bit, dark brown, sand back, amber, light red (very light, just to give it some orange color insted of very yellow) than another coat of amber. Thats all there is to it.