my brother-in-law works for a large cabinetmaking/finishing company, that does everything from houses for the well-to-do to casinos. we got to talking about the best way to get a nice, deep red/brown, transparent, on this mahogany strat i'm building. i showed him a few examples around the web of the color i was looking for.
next day, he shows up with a chunk of mahogany and the most incredible dyed reddish-brown, the grain on this mahogany just shimmering as i move it under the light. had one coat of lacquer on it. the perfect color and the grain was popping... considering that the areas that weren't finished were rather plain, i couldn't believe how alive it was.
he used caustic soda, a fairly strong concentrate, and wiped it on with a foam brush. for those of you unfamiliar, caustic soda is one of the main ingredients in crystal drano. so i bought a can, mixed one tablespoon with a litre (about a quart) of water, and wiped some on a bit of scrap with a foam brush. instant reaction and a beautiful color emerged. let it sit a few minutes then dabbed it dry with paper towel. even dry, the grain is alive under a lamp, and that's with no lacquer on it at all. looks like a top-line aniline dye job. cost me 4 bucks.
i'm going to start on a new piece, drano-stain, grain-fill, sand and shoot lacquer until i get something resembling a guitar-style finish and see what comes out. i'll post when i have more info.
anyone tried this?
thermo