theboatcandream Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 Does anyone have any pictures of refinishing mahogony guitars using Kevan Geier's method as per http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/3d.htm ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 umm...that does not work as well imo on mahogany...all the pores really soak up the stain and obscure the figure...imo you are better off using toner coats to color it(see through colored paint coats) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 that one is bleached and stained...it actually obscured the figure and i sanded it off and i am redoing it now in clear nitro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 hmmm i never really noticed, but that right horn looks a little off but i like how that fingerboard is aging Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 This is similar to Kevin's method, but without the veneer. Its a solid mahogany neckthrough. Prior to filling the grain I laid three heavy coats of dark red mahogany stain down and worked it right into the grain with a rag. Then I sanded everything right back down leaving the remains of the stain in the open grain areas. (Sorry about the irritating rhyming) This was a good way to enhance the grain of the wood, especially if its a relatively nonfigured wood. Then fill the grain and apply clearcoat. In this case polyurethane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 Hmmm... "The stain's remains are mainly in the grain..." Seriously, looks good to me, Southpa - <old codger moment> in the old days, furniture finishers used to fill mahogany with a red oxide filler, sand it smooth and cover it with a dark transparent toner to give cheaper (and lighter colored) mahogany a richer look, and Gibson used a red filler on their heritage cherry finishes</old codger moment>. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page_Master Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 wow, they all look excellent, even your's does Wes - although you probably can't really see the figuring in reality, it looks alright in the picture. and southpa, i can't see your pics, so i fixed the links up: i want to stain a Mahogany guitar black. i am not really bothered about the figuring, i just want a black guitar, but not a solid black poly guitar if you know what i mean. so would i just stain the wood black, fill it and poly it? if so, what filler would you recommend? who would i apply it and so on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 I guess I should have shown what the wood looked like originally, ie. before staining. And thanks for straightening things out Page_Master, what did you do, btw? I've been thru too many picture hosting sites that eventually want money or folks need a password just to view my pictures. And there are always a few hitches in posting the pics elsewhere like this site. Anyway, back to the wood. You can see a BIG difference in color tone from beginning to end, namely because mahogany is such a porous wood. If you want a black guitar but still want to allow some of the figure/grain showing thru then I would imagine the darkest stain you can find would do the trick. Experiment with black walnut, maybe? You can rub it in with a rag or brush it on. Sand lightly and evenly then apply a clear grain filler. Read LGM's tutorial on finishing and choose your poison, . He likes polyurethane and so do I as long as it remains uncontaminated throughout the finishing process. Poly also lays down thicker and actually helps fill the grain quite nicely. My next guitar will be similar to this one (stolen) but I'm going to go a different route in the finish. Kingfisher blue stain and then clear grain filler then laquer clearcoat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 hmmm i never really noticed, but that right horn looks a little off but i like how that fingerboard is aging **sigh** no the horn is not off..the crappy camera just makes it blend with the chair.this is the same picture as in the gotm thread...if the fingrboard aged in the picture inside the computer then wow...i got problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 or do you mean the carve on the horn does not flow well?because that was something i changed when i stripped it back down...new pics soon... i think the grain stands out much better now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page_Master Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 hey Southpa thanx for the info. i was thinking of that, i just wanted to be sure. anyway, to fix those pics up, all you have to do is get rid of the ".ori" in "http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid101/pc19c8991026205ecfdc271bc2730eb95/f9e003e6.jpg.ori" in other words, the URL was named incorrectly. if you ever want to show a single picture, make sure that the picture format, whether it is ".jpg" or ".gif" ".bmp" is at the end of the URL. for example, like this: http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid1...95/f9e003e6.jpg so then all you have to do is click the IMG icon on the top and copy that URL in the box like so. and here is the finished product: enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morben Guitars Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 There is a picture in the gallery of a telecaster I built and finished in a natural mahogany. Here is the best process I found worked best: 1) Sand back to 220 2) Apply DARK grain filler 3) scrape with Credit Card and back with 320 - repeat 2 & 3 until all grain is filled 4) shoot a few coats of sanding sealer 5) sand flat (no bumps in the finish) 6) at this point you can apply a dye (water or alcohol, I prefer alcohol) 7) seal with a few more sanding sealer coats 8) sand flat again 9) apply nitro finish I choose not to apply any dye since I really liked the look after just the grain filler. The dark grain filler will darken the wood a bit. Do not use the light grain filler - it will leave little white specks in the grain and really looks pretty bad. hope that helps. -Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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