Blue question

[dmraco]

I am anxiously awaiting my flame maple toped LPS.  I am considering going with a blue top to accent my abalone inlays.  I am thinking somthing like this.  My question is this a straight blue dye or will I have to use a sand-back process using a darker shade of blue or black, sanding back, then applying the blue.

Thanks

 

[Patrick from Davis]

My guess is that it is a straight dye job.  The problem with blue is that the dye tends to turn greenish with time.  It can be augmented with a bit of blue tint in the finish.  But, I would say from that pict it was a straight blue dye job.  If you try it and it doesn't work out, you can just darken things up and sand it back to do the dark dye followed by light dye look.  Also the standard disclaimer, the finish really changes how it looks.  You get a glimpse when the dye goes on and it is wet, but it can be quite a startling change.
Patrick

 

[blue313]

Tips from Tonar.    :headbang:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=1324.0
http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=6790.msg83490#msg83490

 

[dmraco]

Thanks guys.  I wwas planning on using this stuff from StewMac and mixing it with water.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Colors,_tints,_and_stains/ColorTone_Concentrated_Liquid_Stain.html

I am curious about the greening.  Is that from the nitro?  I am still deciding between a nitro or poly finish.  If it is a nitro phenomonon, I will go with the poly.

I think the issues are also yellow-blue make green.  If your wood has a yellow cast to it to start...a greening color may result when adding blue dye.

these are the knobs I will be using and will have abalone fret markers too.  I am looking for a finish that would help accent these....

 

[tfarny]

Thank god! I thought this was going to be another 10-page thread about whether the blues is dead, part of our souls, or a lifestyle choice.
I used the stew mac stains on a flame maple strat a while ago, but it was black. They were very easy to use although getting the right concentration took a little trial and error. I'm pretty sure that the greenishness comes from an interaction with the yellow on the top.

 

[greywolf]

I used the trans blue spray from Guitar Re-Ranch on my quilted Tele , I shot it over a base nitro coat , came out well , and if I ever get tired of blue it's a lot easier to change as the dye isn't in the wood.

 

[dmraco]

Thank god! I thought this was going to be another 10-page thread about whether the blues is dead, part of our souls, or a lifestyle choice.
I used the stew mac stains on a flame maple strat a while ago, but it was black. They were very easy to use although getting the right concentration took a little trial and error. I'm pretty sure that the greenishness comes from an interaction with the yellow on the top.

love to see a photo of that.  Did you use just one appllication?

 

[tfarny]

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=3373.0
http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=4125.0

 

[jackthehack]

If the effect you're trying to get is like that Gibson in the picture, you're going to need to use dye. That looks like it's just a straight blue dye on 5A flame, some stripes are darker as they are naturally in a high quality piece of flame maple. Check out the the links to threads that Tonar posted in the reply above.

I don't know about the StewMac dyes, but if you can get the concentrates like in the picture in Tonar's thread or use the Mixol products from woodcraft.com - http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5522 - (you can order a test board of flame maple from the same site) mix them with lacquer thinner to apply. If it goes darker than you like you can always use a rag dipped in more lacquer thinner to wash it back a bit lighter, or apply more to darken. It's imperative to get a test board and experiment until you get real close with your dye/lacquer thinner mix ratio.