Cagey
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I finally got around to routing out the pickup cavity for a humbucker at the bridge position on a mahogany Strat body I bought some time back, so it was time to start finishing the thing.
You can see how the wood has started aging already by where the wood is fresh cut. I think the thing's over a year old, maybe two, and still raw.
I debated all sorts of finishes on the thing, from gloss black to tobacco burst to wipe-on oil over stains or dyes until I finally read about Potassium Dichromate. It's known by several names such as Bichromate of Potash, Dichromic Acid, Dipotassium Salt, and Dipotassium Dichromate but they're all the same thing. It's a natural chemical that is good for a number of things, but for woodworking it can rapidly "age" woods that are heavy in tannins such as cherry, oak, walnut and especially mahogany.
It doesn't take much of it to get the effect. An 8oz bag as shown above is probably a lifetime supply, at least for me. Opinions vary as to how much you need to use, but between a teaspoon and a tablespoon to a cup (8oz) of hot water and you've easily got enough to do 3 or 4 guitars. I put about a tablespoon into about 10oz of water, and this is what it looked like...
Apparently, the stuff is quite toxic and will cause contact dermatitus that's difficult to treat, and is especially hard on the eyes and lungs if any gets in them from the dust or splashing. Cancerous as hell, too. All that fun stuff. So, wear all the appropriate protections (rubber gloves, eye cover, breathing mask, apron, etc.) and watch what you're doing. If you're interested, there's a Material Safety Data Sheet available.
I applied it with one of those cheap sponge "brushes" you can get in 6 packs for about $4. You can see the tip of it to the lower left of the poison in the upper picture. Since it's water-based and goes on kinda thin, it appears to dry pretty quick. With one application, this is what I had after about a half hour...
As usual, it's not as impressive in the picture as it is in real life. But, it's nice. The quality of the grain is preserved in a way that isn't with stains and dyes. I expected it to be more reddish, but it may just be that particular chunk of wood. I'll see what it looks like in the sun tomorrow, once I start with the beauty finish.
You can see how the wood has started aging already by where the wood is fresh cut. I think the thing's over a year old, maybe two, and still raw.
I debated all sorts of finishes on the thing, from gloss black to tobacco burst to wipe-on oil over stains or dyes until I finally read about Potassium Dichromate. It's known by several names such as Bichromate of Potash, Dichromic Acid, Dipotassium Salt, and Dipotassium Dichromate but they're all the same thing. It's a natural chemical that is good for a number of things, but for woodworking it can rapidly "age" woods that are heavy in tannins such as cherry, oak, walnut and especially mahogany.
It doesn't take much of it to get the effect. An 8oz bag as shown above is probably a lifetime supply, at least for me. Opinions vary as to how much you need to use, but between a teaspoon and a tablespoon to a cup (8oz) of hot water and you've easily got enough to do 3 or 4 guitars. I put about a tablespoon into about 10oz of water, and this is what it looked like...
Apparently, the stuff is quite toxic and will cause contact dermatitus that's difficult to treat, and is especially hard on the eyes and lungs if any gets in them from the dust or splashing. Cancerous as hell, too. All that fun stuff. So, wear all the appropriate protections (rubber gloves, eye cover, breathing mask, apron, etc.) and watch what you're doing. If you're interested, there's a Material Safety Data Sheet available.
I applied it with one of those cheap sponge "brushes" you can get in 6 packs for about $4. You can see the tip of it to the lower left of the poison in the upper picture. Since it's water-based and goes on kinda thin, it appears to dry pretty quick. With one application, this is what I had after about a half hour...
As usual, it's not as impressive in the picture as it is in real life. But, it's nice. The quality of the grain is preserved in a way that isn't with stains and dyes. I expected it to be more reddish, but it may just be that particular chunk of wood. I'll see what it looks like in the sun tomorrow, once I start with the beauty finish.
