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New Dye Project


BeerHunter

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hey all,

I've done a 1 color spray project before and now I'm on to a translucent finish. I have a PRS style body with a quilted maple top that I would like to stain red. I've been to reranch etc and have browsed these forums for quite awhile now.

Can someone please double check my plan?

I'm thinking I can get a box of red fabric dye. Anytime I've dyed stuff I've done it in hot dye. Should the dye be hot when I dye wood? Is it a bad idea to use fabric dye (it is available in the color I want).

When using dye like this, how do I keep it from seeping into the bindings? Am I better off to do a burst?

I then plan to do the same thing as I did with my other guitar and that is spray it with clear acrylic laquer. Is there any prep work that you should do to the dyed body before spraying the clear? I was going to spray about 10 coats of clear and then wet sand to remove any orange peel. Then bring up the finish with Autoglaze 3 (I think it is) and then Autoglaze 1.

Is this a good plan?

Oh ya, I'm in Canada and I can't get solvents/sprays and such across the border very easily so reranch/others is out.

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I would go to great lengths to help you out any way I could, but sorry to say you lost me right here: I'm thinking I can get a box of red fabric dye

If you intend to do that, typing lots of paragraphs for the rest just seems a waste of time. :D

The VERY FIRST thing I would do is find an anilyne dye supplier in Canada, I KNOW they must exist, someone here should be able to hook you up.

PS, I LOVE your tagger! Great name! I can't wait to see the avatar to match that. :D

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Ya, I saw the other thread about (dare I say) food coloring and such but I would have thought that fabric dye is pretty color fast. I used to dye nylon parts with it on my R/C car and it has not faded after 10 years. That's using the car in direct sunlight as well.

I will without a doubt, go with the masses if it is a bad idea. I just thought it would work as well and is available in the color I want. I'm in no way looking to cheap out.

Also, I Googled "anilyne dye supplier in Canada" and the first hit was a leather dye. Is it th same thing?

Edited by BeerHunter
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Even I use it!  :D

Given the fact that I live beside one of the biggest rodeo towns in Canada, we have saddle shops all over. This is why I ask. Easy access to a wide variety of colors.

Cheers guys!

BTW - thegarehanman, I looked for LGMGuitars but I couldn't find his username listed on this site. Is there a typo? There were two Jeremy's but it didn't look like either one of them.

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Lee Valley Tools carries aniline dyes in Canada.

FWIW, any dye that works well on cotton should work well on wood (they're both cellulose fibers, after all), but I'd be very suspicious of the light-fastness of any fabric dye.

Hey thanks a lot lovekraft! This place is really close to me.

BTW - I've dropped the fabric dye idea - lol. Seems like a touchy subject. Sorry guys, not trying to rattle anyone's cage. IMO, it never hurts to ask.

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BTW - I've dropped the fabric dye idea - lol. Seems like a touchy subject. Sorry guys, not trying to rattle anyone's cage. IMO, it never hurts to ask.

I've dyed 2 guitars so far with Dylon multi-purpose dye. No problemo. One guitar was done about 2 years ago and the color is still solid. The stuff is extremely potent, readily enters wood fibres and gives uniform results. A tiny bit of this stuff goes a long way, cost per guitar? about 50 cents. I've actually gotten better results with this stuff than some water-based aniline wood dyes I have used. But you go with what you want to use. All I'm saying is that it works for me and I will continue to use it.

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It's not that it's a touchy subject, some people choose to do it, others don't, but as a RECOMMENDED product to use when people come here asking for help to make a fine quality guitar, it's not in the mix, that's all. :D

If you came here and asked if it was OK to make a guitar out of plywood, some people would say they've done it, but it wouldn't be a RECOMMENDED product to use to make a quality instrument, that's all there is to it.

Also, AFAIC, the colors available with real anilyne dyes blows the fabric colors clear out of the water, the colors available with real anilyne dyes are just gorgeous, and come in many many many colors, whereas the fabric stuff is rather limited in variety, not to mention the colorfastness issue which I will just avoid alltogether.

PS, in response to Southpa's cost accounting, I have had the same 2 oz. package of lemon yellow anilyne powder dye for 10 YEARS, and have made probably 50 batches or more out of it so far, and there's still more left over, at $8.00 a package, you can do the math on that one. B)

And I would be more than willing to throw up pics of my guitars using anilyne dyes and have someone else (hell, everyone else for that matter) throw up pics of their fabric dyed guitars and let you be the judge, no problem. :D

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Something thats worth everyone's while - befriend a local lacquer manufacturer if you have one.

My local guy will mix a litre of any colour spirit stain that can dream up for less than ten dollars. And if I dont think its close enough, he'll tweak it until it is. When I am happy with it, he gives it a code so that it can be duplicated at any point in the future.

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real anilyne dyes blows the fabric colors clear out of the water, the colors available with real anilyne dyes are just gorgeous, and come in many many many colors

This I didn't know which is why I started looking at alternatives. Very cool. When I was looking a ReRanch they didn't seem to have too many colors (only 8 water based and 11 alcohol based).

Thanks for all the tips and such. I'm going to head down to Lee Valley Tools and pick my dye up from there. :D

One other question though. How do you keep the dye from bleeding into the binding? Or can you? I read that you just have to scrape it off but doesn't it seep in quite deep?

BTW - this site contains a huge amount of information and it is a little hard to find and digest what I read. Thanks for your patience while I ask questions that I'm sure you have answered many times before.

Edited by BeerHunter
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While I won't recomend for or against using fabric dye I would like to point out that not all fabric dyes are created equal. Hot water dyes like RIT in the box are not durable or lightfast. It is not good for wood or fabric dying.

Cold water dyes like Dylon and Procion are as lightfast as any dye out there. I have shirts that are 18+ years old and show few signs of fading and I'm not carefull with my laundry. I had a shirt in the store front window for three years baking in the sun to demonstrate that they won't fade. I still wear that shirt.

While wood dyes have a far better collection of wood friendly colors there are nowhere near as many colors as fabric dyes. Check out the selection. They have four kinds of black! "Better Black" is the best but I never used "New Black". :D

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There are two ways(of which I'm aware) to solve the problem of dying your bindings(unintentionally, of course). First, you can mask off and cover the areas you do not want dyed as well as the areas that will not get a final clear coat(fret boards etc.), and then spray the guitar(including your binding) with a sealer. This will allow you to dye the top without dying the bindings. Another method is to simply be carefull when dying the top and then clean up the binding with the scraper. Which method is more effective is determined by the specific circumstances and details of your build as well as personal preference.

peace,

russ

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Hi everyone,

I've decided that for this (my second project - noob here) I would build a Grizzly guitar kit. This kit comes with a quilted maple top. I plan to do a blue burst on it.

I've learned a lot from this site and have a pretty good idea how to aproach this (I think).

I've gathered a bunch of info and this is the plan so far

-prep body, wet, sand do this twice with 220

-mask and spray binding with clear vinyl lacquer

-dye it black with aniline dye. Use strong solution. Let dry and sand back.

-spray with sanding sealer

-spray black for burst

-spray sealer

-dye bright blue until desired brightness

-spray with sealer

-mask neck pocket etc

-spray with clear (no gear, gotta use rattle can) lacquer.

Am I missing any steps??

Can you use a spray (mist) bottle to do dye work?? It seems to me that it would work well for the burst but it is just an idea.

Thanks and take care,

Lonnie

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Grizzlys guitar have a veneer top! It won't take stain (dye), you will need to paint it with a toner coat instead!

And the sequence of steps that you posted is way inaccurate! You don't have to wet sand until you are on your final stages of painting, please, do your self a favor and go to this link

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showforum=31

and read the tutorials that are pinned on this page! All the info you need is there! And you will get it faster than if you ask the questions here!

The link that Marksound gave you pretty much answer most of your questions, but again, will only work on figured wood, NOT veneer like the guitar you are buying. Instead of staining, just replace it with transparent color paint! Ah! one more thing, the black goes last on the burst!

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Grizzlys guitar have a veneer top! It won't take stain (dye), you will need to paint it with a toner coat instead!

Too late my friend. I already did it prior to reading this post. I have been reading for days on this site and there is references all over the place to dying vaneers. Is this your opinion or why can't it be dyed. FYI - it was not sealed when I got it. Just the back was sealed. It has been 2 days and so far no problems are showing. Is this a problem that is going to rear its ugly head later? I plan to seal it tonight so I guess I need to know if I should still proceed.

Thanks,

Lonnie

Oh ya, I had the order messed up. I did the black and sand back first. then the blue dye. I decided against the burst so that step will be taken out.

Edited by BeerHunter
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Setch if the top is not sealed, and I'm pretty sure Wes posted it was (not to the extreme of a Saga bullet proof sealer), but it is still a venneer. amd he is staining black sand back, I don't think that a venneer is going to like that very much.

just be veeeeerrrrryyyyyy careful when sanding back, most veneers are paper thin, I haven't had the grizzly on my hands, but the one on Sagas, Epiphones, and most all the guitars out there won't take much sanding to go thru it.

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