AbramT80 Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 Working on a neck, I’m curious if I can dye it and then walnut with tung oil? I’m pretty sure it’s alcohol based dye, not certain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 You "can". The biggest issue would be that oil wears out much faster than lacquer and when that happens some dye will come off and stain your hands. That may be a problem or then again not. I've got at least one guitar with a stained fingerboard and I can't remember having darkened fingertips after playing. Then again a sweaty palm has much more diluting power than fingertips. There's other ways to darken wood, the walnut stuff described here might be of interest: https://mamaneedsaproject.com/how-to-darken-wood-without-stain/. Not saying that it won't stain your hands but at least it would be a natural food safe ingredient used in cosmetics as well. The above also compares tung oil to linseed oil, it seems that linseed oil builds up faster and might be a bit darker. But tung oil gets harder. Maybe mixing them, linseed as a darkening base and tung for surface? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbramT80 Posted January 9 Author Report Share Posted January 9 I’ll check out the links you sent, thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 I'm a bit late to the party on this one. Although I can't remember ever staining and oiling a fretboard, the answer ref the neck is yes. This is a mahogany LPJ that I did a few years ago in red calligraphy ink and finished in Tru-oil. The body was brought to a light gloss but the neck was done in a modified version of the Tru-oil 'slurry and buff method'. It was an experiment on one of my own guitars as I'd always been told that 'slurry and buff' with a stained finish was no good as it would just sand/slurry the stain off. And, just done the normal way, yes that is right. But to my surprise, done in a modified way, there was no sign of the stain wearing off or 'red left thumb' in sight! And I was left with a silky-smooth, very organic-feeling stained neck. That said, at the time I wasn't an exceptionally regular gigger. However, the following year - with due warnings and disclaimers - I refinished a Gibson LP Studio in stains and inks for a VERY regular and heavy gigger. He was happy for me to give his Gibson the same treatment and so that's what I did. It went from this: ...to this... As you can see, pretty heavy staining! And - and I specifically asked him for feedback - no wear or staining of his fretting thumb either!! The modified method is simple, but there are some important steps that need to be incorporated. Shout if you want any more detail. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 @Andyjr1515 that white mahogany stain job is lovely, what was the stain you used to achieve that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 49 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said: @Andyjr1515 that white mahogany stain job is lovely, what was the stain you used to achieve that? Thanks, Ash The whole job was a bit of a mix of stains and thinners. I'm pretty sure that all of the stains I used were from the Chestnut Spirit Stains 'sampler pack' - things like light mahogany/light oak/teak/etc, with, I think I remember, a teeny bit of yellow from their poster-colour sampler pack. The only problem with doing it this way is that if you run out of the mixed quantity mid-application... That said, I'm actually not a huge fan of those particular stains - they seem to leave a glossy skin in some applications. But their sampler sets have such a variety of colours that, in this kind of application, they are very useful. For non-wood colours, I still favour pen inks - although admittedly you have to either stick to 'permanent' and calligraphy inks, or do a bit of research to choose the colours and brands that are less prone to fade. Luckily, there are loads of 'fountain pen enthusiast' forums around with just that kind of info. This below is all fountain pen ink: This was recently retired after around 10 years faithful service - and it still looked the same colour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 Oh I have that same sampler pack and I've used up a few of the colours, I wasn't a big fan of the colours themselves though. I do really like their regular wood stain colours, like black mahogany brown etc. I use those to tint my lacquer for shaders and bursts. So the white mahogany stain you did, that was with calligraphy ink? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 Ah - we maybe at crossed purposes. When you say 'white mahogany stain', do you mean this? If so, then no - that was the 'before'. It was a finish that Gibson produced for a while - a bit like chalk-paint in the way it looked and behaved but, as far as I know, was actually a nitro finish. Happily, the owner hated the above (the photo is, actually, flattering. In real life, I had to agree with him..it was a bit naff) which is why he asked me to strip it all off. This is the tru-oil slurry and buffed chestnut stain mix on top of the light mahogany neck that was under the chalk paint: So, is the change an Andyjr1515 triumph or an Andyjr1515 act of vandalism, we're all wondering 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Woozle Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 I vote for triumph - the original finish looks pretty awful to me and if someone gave me a guitar like that, I'd be wanting to strip it back and do something else, anything else! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted February 8 Report Share Posted February 8 12 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: Ah - we maybe at crossed purposes. When you say 'white mahogany stain', do you mean this? If so, then no - that was the 'before'. It was a finish that Gibson produced for a while - a bit like chalk-paint in the way it looked and behaved but, as far as I know, was actually a nitro finish. Happily, the owner hated the above (the photo is, actually, flattering. In real life, I had to agree with him..it was a bit naff) which is why he asked me to strip it all off. This is the tru-oil slurry and buffed chestnut stain mix on top of the light mahogany neck that was under the chalk paint: So, is the change an Andyjr1515 triumph or an Andyjr1515 act of vandalism, we're all wondering Oh never mind! I really liked the grained blonde look 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 8 Report Share Posted February 8 11 hours ago, ADFinlayson said: Oh never mind! I really liked the grained blonde look And there's nothing wrong with that! Happily for me, the guy who asked me to refinish it didn't - otherwise he'd be REALLY p****d about what I did to it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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