dying swamp ash..

bassgasser

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ok i'm about to start finishing my 1st guitar which is a swamp ash bass body out of a warmoth blank. my goal is to do an amber dye then tru-oil it. let me see if i am getting this right. I need to seal it, then dye it, then tru-oil it. Now what should i use to seal it because i have seen so many things out there. Secondly, are aniline dyes good, and should i go alcohol or water soluble? I was thinking about getting the tru-oil and tru-oil sealer from lmii.com and useing that. I just want some sound advice before getting all the supplies. Thanks in advance!
 
since you're going to oil finish this project, have you considered any of the Woodburst products?

http://woodburst.com/

all the best,

R

 
I'm experimenting with it for the first time, so I can't say for sure just yet

my first application last night was pretty easy, and the color looked spectacular on a scrap piece of flamed maple. just like advertised - all of the color is there, and so is all of the figuring

I've seen on another forum that it might be possible to shoot nitro and/or poly over it (maybe with an in between application of something?) this is where I plan to eventually lean my testing towards. until then, I'm experimanting with just the woodburst product application

all the best,

R
 
Have you seen this product be used on Swamp Ash?  Dying Flame/Quilt Maple is one thing, but Swamp Ash is a whole different animal which to our knowledge doesn't dye well at all.  This is why we don't dye Swamp Ash at Warmoth, we only use Transparent finishes on it.  I don't mean to burst your bubble with this, but I would really make sure that this stuff is suitable for Swamp Ash before applying it.
 
In your experience what is good to use then? I really want an amber color for this. What product have you seen works well on swamp ash?
 
Warmoth does actually use yellow and amber dye on Swamp Ash. You just have to be careful as the white portions of Swamp Ash can get blotchy looking as the dye is absorbed more in some areas than others. That's the reason to stay away from the darker dyes with Swamp Ash.

Shooting a transparent color (when the pigment is just contained within the gloss) like Jay was suggesting is a much safer way to get your Ash colored.
 
What would be the ideal application of amber dye on swamp ash? Just a few diluted coats of dye to get the final darkness? Are there any good aerosol transparent sprays out there? I don't really have the equipment to spray w/ a gun.
 
Jay Davidson said:
Have you seen this product be used on Swamp Ash?  Dying Flame/Quilt Maple is one thing, but Swamp Ash is a whole different animal which to our knowledge doesn't dye well at all.  This is why we don't dye Swamp Ash at Warmoth, we only use Transparent finishes on it.  I don't mean to burst your bubble with this, but I would really make sure that this stuff is suitable for Swamp Ash before applying it.

Jay -

No bubble to burst here - you did read the first line of my post, right? I said that
I'm experimenting with this for the first time, so I can't say for sure yet
I've never claimed that this is a good product to use for anything

As with anything new ... always test on scrap materials first!


To date I have tested the Woodburst product only on figured Maple and Alder. My initial post noted I had only tested on figured Maple.

- The Maple results are looking promising, but I still have a lot of testing to do before I would consider this a go for specific use cases. I am sure that certain selections of Maple would not be suitable for use of this product, and spalted Maple comes quickly to mind since the spalting would act more like a sponge that a surface to accept the dye evenly.

- The results to date on Alder are not so promising, as the colors lose much of their brilliance. I need to test additional pieces with a primer to see if there is any significant improvement in the coloring. Black might be a good color for Alder, but that is yet to be proven thru testing.

- I will begin testing on Ash only this coming weekend. I see that Ash as a wood type has a great potential to use this to fill the graining with color that would remain after sanding off much of the applied staining. But this is just hypothetical right now, as I have done ZERO testing.


As with all finishes, what works for one person may not work for another due to MANY, MANY reasons including application technique, application environment, age of the materials used, pervious wood preparation (sealers, fillers, and sand paper grit), etc ... Just because I have good results with my techniques does not imply that someone else will. The opposite is also true - just because someone has a bad result does not mean that this would necessarily be true for everybody. In every case when working with a new product test, test, test, and test some more before making the commitment to using it on the real piece of work you intend to keep. A small investment of similar wood from a local hardwood store could easily save you the frustration of messing up a body and/or neck that you paid good $$ for. Beyond just testing, you should also use this material to perfect your technique prior to application on the body/neck.

It is clear that I am NOT saying this is a product I would currently recommend to use, right?! I am only saying that it is a product worth investigation, and at $5 for a bottle at your local Woodcraft/Rockler it is definitely economical to experiment for yourself to see if it works for you. If it proves to be a good product for dying Ash (I say Ash, as Swamp Ash is purely a marketing term for light weight Ash), then this is great for the home finisher without a spray booth to know about.


back to my testing ....

R
 
====What would be the ideal application of amber dye on swamp ash? Just a few diluted coats of dye to get the final darkness? Are there any good aerosol transparent sprays out there? I don't really have the equipment to spray w/ a gun.========

Reranch.com has some transparent colors available in spray cans; haven't tried those but use their Fender Neck Amber in a spray can on all my maple necks. PRACTICE on scrap wood till you get the hang of it; I imagine the transparent colors work like the Fender Neck Amber, you have to BARELY dust the color down in short light bursts till you get it down in an even controlled manner and I will gurantee you that will take some practice on scrap wood.
 
Updates

1) I heard back from the Woodburst rep, and he notes that this product can only be used with the following finishes: most any kind of oil finish, Polyurethane, and Acrylic enamel. You cannot spray Nitro over the top of this product.

2) on my Alder test body, I applied two coats of the Phthalo Blue dye, and it was looking reasonably good and even. I let it cure 24 hours as recommended and then attempted to apply a coat of Tru Oil with some 600 grit wet/dry and utilizing the French polishing method I like to use with just the Tru Oil ... eeeeew! seems that the Woodburst stain is sitting right on top of the surface and easily rubbed off with the 600 grit. Because of this, I don't see that I'll be making use of this product on softer woods like Alder. I still need to test further with the Maple

all the best,

R
 
jackthehack said:
==== Are there any good aerosol transparent sprays out there? I don't really have the equipment to spray w/ a gun.========

A company called Mohawk, parent company of Behlen, and reportedly the makers of at least some of the ReRanch items, has a fine set of toners, and aerosols.  I prefer their toners, as they have superior transparency

Not to utterly cause thread drift, but here's an example of Mohawk toners.
bcb4.gif

bcb7.gif

That one started life as an SG Special "faded", and came back to life as a black cherry burst (sorry Warmoth, I had the name in use before ya! :icon_biggrin:)

Mohawk has enough colors (except a decent blue it seems) to satisfy most everyone.

 
hey CB - got a link to their on-line store?

I'd definitely be in the market for an alternative to reRanch if it is of equal quality and (just as important!) will ship out in a timely fashion from when I place my order.

I could also dig a little broader color offering

all the best,

R
 
The main page
http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/

distributor page
http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/dist_lookup.asp

I buy from Glue Products in West Palm Beach Fl, very professional "pro" outfit.  Most of the Mohawk distributors are professional distribution for auto finish, boat finish, epoxies, all that sort of stuff.  Most have all the accessories you'll need (ie, 2000 grit paper, micromesh, etc etc)

FWIW I used dark red mahogany on the middle of the body and deep red mahogany on the edges

All toners are nitro based, but also need to be clear coated for depth of finish and protection.  My lacquer of choice is Deft (Walmart, about $4.65 a can, think 8 cans for a body and neck, maybe six if you're REALLY careful and REALLY do a great job of prep and REALLY dont have a single problem)

 
SkuttleFunk said:
2) on my Alder test body, I applied two coats of the Phthalo Blue dye, and it was looking reasonably good and even. I let it cure 24 hours as recommended and then attempted to apply a coat of Tru Oil with some 600 grit wet/dry and utilizing the French polishing method I like to use with just the Tru Oil ... eeeeew! seems that the Woodburst stain is sitting right on top of the surface and easily rubbed off with the 600 grit. Because of this, I don't see that I'll be making use of this product on softer woods like Alder. I still need to test further with the Maple

I don't have a lot of experience guitar building, but in my limited experience with wood projects,  alder is a blotch prone wood.  That is to say, it doesn't take dye evenly.  Hence, it is a great candidate for a painted body  :icon_biggrin: 

The cure is to use a wash coat.  Or so they say, I haven't actually done this, but I am getting ready to dye an alder guitar body with dyes and a wash coat that I got at Rockler.  Wish me luck. 

 
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Colors,_tints,_and_stains/ColorTone_Concentrated_Liquid_Stains.html

:eek:ccasion14:
 
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