Transparent Burst Questions

[mushy the shroom]

Sorry, I am a COMPLETE finishing n00b. Ok, so my question is: I want a finish that is dark blue/black on the outside, then blue, then light blue in the middle. I have a highly figured maple cap, and I want to accent the grooves. I can't afford an airbrush, or anything fancy. I was planning on putting a fine satin finish over that, but I don't know if a gloss finish would look better.

So here's what I think: I sand it down finely, then apply sanding sealer. Next, I would rub (can I use a rag?) the entire thing with light black die (if I use the water-based kind, can I just dillute it in water?), and sand deepest in the center and out. Next I would rub the entire thing with blue die (dilluted in water), and sand until it's very light blue in the middle, and blends outward to a dark blue/black. Would this method work? And do I actually need sanding sealer?

Now, for the actual finish, I would spray that aerosal stew-mac satin laquer on it. How many cans of that would I need? HELP!!!!

Thanks for your help,

Ryan

[skibum5545]

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...owtopic=6194&hl

A dye burst tutorial for rubbed on dyes.

[litchfield]

Actually thats sprayed on

Do you have the dyes now? What form are they in?

[litchfield]

That what you are going for? Pic courtesy of David Myka

Here is a nice tutorial (also courtesy of David Myka) on bursting with dyes. Scroll down to the dye process. Just substitute the solors for what you want.

[daveq]

I think a gloss finish would look better on a figured maple guitar but if satin is the look you want - try a scrap piece of the figured maple and see what it looks like. Buy a can or two of the satin and gloss ahead of time and give it a try while you're still in the process of building the guitar.

The number of cans needed can vary but I think you can plan on somewhere around 5 to 6 cans for the body (for gloss - I haven't done a satin body). I have heard of people using less and I've also heard of people using more. For my last guitar, I think I used 6 to 8 cans (plus one sanding sealer).

You'll also need to look into how you're going to buff the guitar (especially if you're going to go with a gloss finish). Stewmac has some good products for doing this also.

Airbrushes aren't terribly expensive but I guess if you don't have a compressor, that might be a problem.