doing a green dye on a walnut to advice or suggestions?

[jonn the luthier]

hey im making a  les paul with my dad (im 13) and i have to do the finish and wiring for the guitar.i dont even kno where to begin, how to begin, or what products to use. i'm hoping to do a transparent green finish on a walnut top, was thinking about dying the wood and then spaying it with nitrocellulose (i think thats how u spell it) lacker for a glossy finish. i also wanted to dye the headstock the same color as well(i ordered the neck from warmoth of couse). So i need all the advice and or suggestions as i can get.

 

[Mor Paul]

Welcome to the forum, man!

My first note... Green on Walnut? I can't see that working well at all, man.

 

[pabloman]

DON'T DO IT!!!  Tru-oil that sucker sucka.

 

[Cagey]

Green on walnut?!? Don't do it. It'll look like something a very sick dog left on the floor while you were gone. Walnut is naturally gorgeous. Oil it or put a clear finish on it.

 

[AutoBat]

and as standard forum demands go: PICTURES!!

 

[tfarny]

Wow I totally agree, for the love of Jesus do not put green dye on a walnut LP! If it must be green, it should be solid green, otherwise it needs a simple oil or clear finish, maybe with a bit of stain.

 

[-CB-]

You can do transparent green.... but not with dye.  You need to dye some clear lacquer, and spray it on until you get the shading you want, then use un-dyed clear over that.  You can even "burst" the green doing it that way, going from green to greener!

You can get clear lacquer in rattle cans... but to dye it, you'll need a pint or so in a regular can (stewmac.com) and some dye (stewmac.com), and a small spray outfit.   If you have an air compressor.... you can get a spray setup at Walmart in the auto-dept.  You WILL need clean air - filtered, to shoot lacquer.  Dried too.  Another option is the CO2 powered "spray units" you can get.  You fill the jar with lacquer, and the spray unit screws on top.  The sprayer is disposable... but they do a decent job, not too expensive either.

You'll also want a grain filler....to bring out the grain and color it, and to smooth the mahogany.  I suggest... filling the grain with a dark filler, several coats, sanded back to wood.  Think - 4 to 5 coats.  Then clean lacquer over that - prevents the green from seeping into the wood, and also lets you see if you need to correct the "filling" job.  Then green, then clear again.

 

[jackthehack]

Don't!

 

[m4rk0]

No!

 

[NQbass7]

Yeah, I'm gonna go with consensus here... Walnut should have clear.  If you want green, a different wood would work way better.

 

[erogenousjones17]

If I'm not mistaken, trans green looks pretty good over korina, dudn't it? Surely better than it would over walnut... :dontknow:

Also, I can't help but feel that, given a few recent threads, the OP's user name will get him into trouble 'round these parts.  :laughing7:

 

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

For the sake of argument, I'll say: go ahead & do it  :headbang1: ! It's your guitar, it's your money, it's your choice.  Personally, I think oiled or clearcoat walnut would look much better than with a dye, but I could easily be proven wrong.  There's a few examples of walnut currently on the instock gallery that are quite light in shade (thus easier to dye), and could look kinda cool as a "mint chocolate" finished instrument.

I dunno if walnut needs much grainfiller or not, but as a general piece of advice: "What CB said".

Good luck!

 

[Nando Vallart]

Don't!

No!

NEVER!

 

[stubhead]

who named you "Jonn the luthier?"  :toothy10:

 

[bagman67]

You can do transparent green.... but not with dye.  You need to dye some clear lacquer, and spray it on until you get the shading you want, then use un-dyed clear over that.  You can even "burst" the green doing it that way, going from green to greener!

You can get clear lacquer in rattle cans... but to dye it, you'll need a pint or so in a regular can (stewmac.com) and some dye (stewmac.com), and a small spray outfit.   If you have an air compressor.... you can get a spray setup at Walmart in the auto-dept.  You WILL need clean air - filtered, to shoot lacquer.  Dried too.  Another option is the CO2 powered "spray units" you can get.  You fill the jar with lacquer, and the spray unit screws on top.  The sprayer is disposable... but they do a decent job, not too expensive either.

You'll also want a grain filler....to bring out the grain and color it, and to smooth the mahogany.  I suggest... filling the grain with a dark filler, several coats, sanded back to wood.  Think - 4 to 5 coats.  Then clean lacquer over that - prevents the green from seeping into the wood, and also lets you see if you need to correct the "filling" job.  Then green, then clear again.

Hi, CB -

Would the "CO2 powered spray unit" be the Preval? http://www.preval.com/  I'm working on an ash strat body that won't take the dye so well (as I anticipated, having read these threads avidly) and I'm thinking of going tinted lacquer myself.

 

[-CB-]

Yah Preval is a good one.  I think they make a few sizes, also there is another item called....Sure Shot Atomizer, which also works ok with lacquer.  The latter is a bottle you fill with compressed air from your compressor, after putting a certain amount of mix inside the pressure vessel.  I've used the latter a good deal, no issues except... the nozzles are a little on the "fine" side, I prefer a little wetter nozzle.

 

[swarfrat]

Green Walnut makes me think of the missiles my brothers used to bounce off my noggin when I was a kid. Can't say this gives me warm fuzzies.

 

[CrackedPepper]

I think all the vehement "NO!" shouting may have scared our aspiring young luthier off...

 

[Patrick]

huh. someone needs to learn how to take criticism  :dontknow:

 

[swarfrat]

Okay, let's try it this way.

Walnut is a dark wood, that tends to get darker when finished. Walnut is almost always a rich chocolate brown. Brown with a green finish over it, is going to be dark enough to obscure the grain. (Brown in the red/orange hue section of colors. Add a green filter to that and you're going to get black, or close to it.)  It's quite likely going to be almost greenish black.

If you want a green wood figured finish, you'll likely get much better contrast using dyed maple or transparent lighter wood with a pronounced grain. Do it if you like, but I'd recommend going to the hobby shop, buying some thin walnut stock - try to get different pieces, and trying different finishes on it to see what you like.