Advice on wood stain

John_A

I’ve got a nice flame maple topped guitar I’m planning to finish a bit like this using dye and tru oil.  Any advice?

Do I use a dark stain first then sand back to make the flame more pronounced?
Water or mineral based stain?

WezV

You can use a darker green to enhance the frain, don't use black or anything that isn't translucent

You may find it goes greener due to the colour of the wood, so you might want to add a touch more blue to the stain.  Unless you have offcuts to test in its hard to predict... also, the oil will yellow it a bit

John_A

Thanks for that.  Much appreciated, I’ll give it a go.  No offcuts I’m afraid, so fingers crossed

hywelg

I found that applying with fine wire wool allowed the stain to soak into the grain whilst keeping it down on the unabsorbent areas. Then a coat of clear followed by a tinted lacquer to colour the lighter areas. 

John_A

hywelg said:

I found that applying with fine wire wool allowed the stain to soak into the grain whilst keeping it down on the unabsorbent areas. Then a coat of clear followed by a tinted lacquer to colour the lighter areas. 

I see the sense in that approach, but hoped to stick with stain and an oil finish and avoid spraying

Fuengi

I used Crimson Guitar stains and their finishing oil over the top on my LP jr. They are good to work with but get your mix right first and add in water. Use a separate bottle for mixing. 

Even if you have no offcuts of the exact wood just get a feel for the stains on something first, even if it's a bit of pin or plywood.

You don't need a lot to make the grain pop. 

John_A

Fuengi said:

I used Crimson Guitar stains and their finishing oil over the top on my LP jr. They are good to work with but get your mix right first and add in water. Use a separate bottle for mixing. 

Even if you have no offcuts of the exact wood just get a feel for the stains on something first, even if it's a bit of pin or plywood.

You don't need a lot to make the grain pop. 

That looks lovely.  Can you talk me through the process?  Did you apply the dark stain then sand back and apply the lighter colour?

Fuengi

John_A said:

Fuengi said:

I used Crimson Guitar stains and their finishing oil over the top on my LP jr. They are good to work with but get your mix right first and add in water. Use a separate bottle for mixing. 

Even if you have no offcuts of the exact wood just get a feel for the stains on something first, even if it's a bit of pin or plywood.

You don't need a lot to make the grain pop. 

That looks lovely.  Can you talk me through the process?  Did you apply the dark stain then sand back and apply the lighter colour?

Cheers, much appreciated.

This is two colours, their Brown and their Yellow Water Based Stains (Stunning Stains). I mixed both separately with water and each other in speare plastic bottles until I was happy, and then applied the Yellow over the whole top. But the Yellow has a touch of Brown in it too, which is why the whole top has a bit of dark pop.  

The Brown mix I then added in from the edges and finished by eye. I didn't let the first stain dry out or touch it before applying the second stain as testing on a spare bit of timber first showed me it was hard to blend the two colours when the first is dry.  

The tricky bit is the bass side of the fretboard, it's hard to wick in the stain evenly there.

The other thing I'm really glad I did was to paint on some oil over the binding before staining, it meant I could clean any overrun off easier after staining the top.    

I might try a Nitro Gloss Clear finish over the top next time, but this is oil and wax which dioes feel great to the touch.

John_A

Fuengi said

Cheers, much appreciated.

This is two colours, their Brown and their Yellow Water Based Stains (Stunning Stains). I mixed both separately with water and each other in speare plastic bottles until I was happy, and then applied the Yellow over the whole top. But the Yellow has a touch of Brown in it too, which is why the whole top has a bit of dark pop.  

The Brown mix I then added in from the edges and finished by eye. I didn't let the first stain dry out or touch it before applying the second stain as testing on a spare bit of timber first showed me it was hard to blend the two colours when the first is dry.  

The tricky bit is the bass side of the fretboard, it's hard to wick in the stain evenly there.

The other thing I'm really glad I did was to paint on some oil over the binding before staining, it meant I could clean any overrun off easier after staining the top.    

I might try a Nitro Gloss Clear finish over the top next time, but this is oil and wax which dioes feel great to the touch.

So the main body of the guitar is just a single colour, and some of the figuring has come out dark and some light?

Fuengi

John_A said:

Fuengi said

Cheers, much appreciated.

This is two colours, their Brown and their Yellow Water Based Stains (Stunning Stains). I mixed both separately with water and each other in speare plastic bottles until I was happy, and then applied the Yellow over the whole top. But the Yellow has a touch of Brown in it too, which is why the whole top has a bit of dark pop.  

The Brown mix I then added in from the edges and finished by eye. I didn't let the first stain dry out or touch it before applying the second stain as testing on a spare bit of timber first showed me it was hard to blend the two colours when the first is dry.  

The tricky bit is the bass side of the fretboard, it's hard to wick in the stain evenly there.

The other thing I'm really glad I did was to paint on some oil over the binding before staining, it meant I could clean any overrun off easier after staining the top.    

I might try a Nitro Gloss Clear finish over the top next time, but this is oil and wax which dioes feel great to the touch.

So the main body of the guitar is just a single colour, and some of the figuring has come out dark and some light?

No. Two mixes.

1. Yellow Stain base, with water and a touch of Brown Stain mixed in. I mixed that in a separate plastic bottle.
2. Brown Stain base, with water and a touch of Yellow Stain, mixed in separate plastic bottle.

First mix applied to the whole body. 

Second mix applied just to the edges for a gentle burst affect. 

Fuengi

John_A said:

Fuengi said

Cheers, much appreciated.

This is two colours, their Brown and their Yellow Water Based Stains (Stunning Stains). I mixed both separately with water and each other in speare plastic bottles until I was happy, and then applied the Yellow over the whole top. But the Yellow has a touch of Brown in it too, which is why the whole top has a bit of dark pop.  

The Brown mix I then added in from the edges and finished by eye. I didn't let the first stain dry out or touch it before applying the second stain as testing on a spare bit of timber first showed me it was hard to blend the two colours when the first is dry.  

The tricky bit is the bass side of the fretboard, it's hard to wick in the stain evenly there.

The other thing I'm really glad I did was to paint on some oil over the binding before staining, it meant I could clean any overrun off easier after staining the top.    

I might try a Nitro Gloss Clear finish over the top next time, but this is oil and wax which dioes feel great to the touch.

So the main body of the guitar is just a single colour, and some of the figuring has come out dark and some light?

Just reread that. Yes. The lighter bit below the bridge is a single mix with one application, and the flame has come out darker in places. 

John_A

Thanks very much, that’s what I thought you meant.  I’ll get done stain ordered and give it a try

Fuengi

Let us know how you get on. 

John_A

Fuengi said:

Let us know how you get on. 

Will do , and thanks again