vaxination Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 since i have finished my build and am ready to begin the finishing process, i have been reading a lot of posts for using epoxy grain filler. during my searches, i see that a lot of you dye the mahogany which is what i would like to do. i was thinking something like a dark reddish brown to darken the mahogany. i also believe that many of you are mixing the dye with the filler. i haven't decided whether i will dye the wood directly and apply the epoxy filler or mix it. anyway, here are my questions... should i dye my quilted maple top first (i am also doing the natural binding thing) before dying the mahogany back? i also plan on taping and spraying clear on the natural binding area first to kind seal it from the dye. ok, so if i mix the dye into the epoxy and apply it to the mahogany back, how do i keep the mixture off the maple when i get to the edges? if i tape it, it seems the tape will be trapped under the epoxy. searching and reading the posts sure answer a lot of questions, however, it also brings more questions to mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 There are two common ways of getting the faux-binding effect. Sometimes people will spray a sealer coat over the areas they don't want stained including the binding, then stain the top. Sometimes people will stain the top then use a cabinet scraper to clean up the edges. Taping the edges is, most likely, not going to get the clean edges you'll want. Also, you don't have to use epoxy as a grain filler if you want a colored filler. You can get stewmac's clear grainfiller and use dye to color it. It will sand much more easily than epoxy. If you want to stain the top and the back and have faux-binding, I would recomend you spray a sealer coat only on the areas that you want faux binding. That will provide seperation between the stained top and back so you can't accidentally hit either with a scraper since you won't need a scraper to clean up the edges. Hope this helps. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaxination Posted January 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 yeah, i'm gonna go ahead and tape off and spray (seal) the natural binding first to keep the dyes from the top and back from leaching into it. i have some behlens water based grain filler that i used for a project a couple of months ago. i guess i can use that, however, i have read so much about filling with epoxy that i wanted to give that a try. i was just wondering how i would tape off the faux binding to protect it from the epoxy (especially if i dye it). even tho it is sealed i was concerned that the dye'd epoxy would "stain" the top of the sealed faux binding. if i taped it off then the epoxy would glue down the tape. i guess i could just dye the mahogany and apply the filler over it. it probably won't make much difference if clear epoxy gets on top of the binding. oh, btw, using any stewmac or even reranch stuff is out for me cuz they can't send finishes and painting stuff by air (i live in hawaii). however, we have a woodcraft here that sells behlens stuff and from what i understand that is pretty much the same as the stewmac stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 1. Seal the natural binding, after it is dry I always use tape as an added protection. 2. Grain fill the mahogany. I think that the water base sands a lot easier but the epoxy cover the grain a lot faster and easier than the grain filler. And if you work fast, set the epoxy, and before it hardens use a scraper and take the excess out, this only work on straight surfaces, but it will save tons of time in sanding! 3.Stain away!!! whatever you choose to stain first make sure that you place tape on the natural binding to protect it from that area, even if you sealed it first, if you go to wet on the stain it can seep in on the heavy figured wood. 4. start having fun with the clear.\! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 (edited) You shouldn't have to worry about epoxying your binding to the body. The "correct"(by correct I mean smart) way to fill the grain with epoxy would involve removing as much unnecessary epoxy as possible before it dries. If you're still worried about it, just take off the tape after you apply the epoxy. The tape serves no purpose once you've finished spreading the epoxy. When people mask off designs with tape then paint over everything, most times they'll take off the tape immediately after they finish spraying. The paint is still wet, but the tape is no longer needed. In this case, the tape is removed early on to avoid paint from leaching under it creating a less than clean edge. Edited January 6, 2006 by thegarehanman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaxination Posted January 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 thanks guys, i appreciate your input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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