verhoevenc Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 So I thought I'd share a finishing experience with folks; and also share a fun idea while at it. So I'm doing an acoustic version of my Marlin shape. Since the neck joint, shape, etc. fly in the face of the traditionalist acoustic mantra, I figured, "Why not go balls out?" So I decided I wanted black limba back/sides with flamed maple binding -dyed blue- and a blue-burst to spruce on the top. Here's the mockup: I did it by lacquer sealing the top, sides, and purflings. Then I dyed the binding, sealed everything, then sprayed the burst with my air-brush. The process got complicated a bit when I got to the real thing and remembered "Oh yeah! I have to pore fill limba!" That means I couldn't seal before dyeing the binding, cause it's risky to put epoxy (high adhesion) over any kind of finish (comparatively lower adhesion). So I masked off the sides and side purfs with blue tape and then went at the binding (using my eye for the top edge, not masking) with the water-based transtint blue and a QTip. Top edge, the one I eye-balled, came out great! Side edge... blue tape doesn't do JACK against dyes! Thankfully, the dye didn't go that deep and I was able to scrape the sides and side purfs with a razor blade with a burr edge put on it. Next step is pore filling. However it's now dawning on me that I used a water-based dye that just so happens to ALSO dissolve in alcohol (that means epoxy too)... I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. However, if you have to pore fill and want to do this, I'd recommend LMI's water-based aniline dyes for the binding and then trans-tint in the lacquer for the burst. That way, you have no fears of bleeding at any of the steps (if you too use lacquer finishes). That's what I did on the mock-up, which now makes me wonder why I didn't stick to the original plan?! Either way, I still have high hopes she'll survive just fine. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 Looking way cool there Chris. mk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripthorn Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 I thought I read somewhere that it was common practice to seal before pore filling. Is this not so? I've always only ever pore filled wood for a natural finish, so I skipped sealer as there was no color to worry about. I've got a build going on right now that will be mahogany dyed black, so I just want to make sure I don't do something stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 I think buying acrylized wood and then cutting it into binding would work well.I am really unimpressed with Cook Woods' available colors though.Seems as if your color choice is much nicer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Turns out the zpoxy went on just fine Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Very nice, as I was looking through the pics I said "oh sht, that won't come out of there". But you clean it up very good. And the tone of blue is perfect against that limba. You could had masked the binding and do the pore filing fist, then do the stain and be 99% worry free about staining the sides as you stain the binding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 That's DEFINITELY how I'm doing it next time. Just literally tape off the binding and do the zpoxy fill. It goes on thin enough that the "ledge" where it meets the binding wouldn't have mattered. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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