Getting Swamp Ash to take oil color(s)

LowFatZ

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Hi All-

First post ever....hang in there.

I have read here that Swamp Ash doesn't like oil stains but the last relevant post is from 2017.  Any new advise floating around out there?

Here's my two cents so far.......

I have a swamp ash Diamondback bass body and a roasted maple neck (Warmoth headstock).  I'm a hippie so I'm trying to use Osmo Oils Stains and /or Wood Wax finishes (very natural stuff) to get to a yellow-brown-black burst thing going.  I'm also hard headed which is why I didn't just let Warmoth paint it the way I wanted. ???

What I'm finding is that the Osmo Oil Stains only color the grain.  It seems that the Samp Ash pores don't hang on to the color.  The attached picture shows two samples, one with nothing and one with three coats of the Osmo Oil Stain Cognac 3543.  Yikes!

Osmo makes a line of Wood Wax finishes that they call "Intensive Colors."  Those finishes are "high solids."  The "Intensive Color" Wood Wax finishes do a great job on Swamp Ash (sorry no pictures yet). Osmo sells both Black 3169 and Yellow 3125 I the "Intensive Colors" but not brown.  I'm going to try to mix the Grey/Beige 3132 and the Red 3104 to get a bourbony brown color.

If anyone out there has any advise, I'd be happy to hear it.

Thanks in advance.
 

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Welcome to the forum.

You seem to be doing the right thing and testing on scrap. If it doesn't work out you can always take another course of action.
 
:headbanging:

I've got an update.  First I can say that the Super light Swamp Ash that I got from Warmoth (beautiful piece of wood) is a different wood from the "Ash" pieces that I was using in my tests.  No fault or blame intended to anyone here, the woods behaved differently because they were different.  In my case this was a great thing.  I got tired of testing and decided to go with the two Osmo stains that were yielding the best results: Cognac Oil Stain 3543 and a Flame Red Wood Wax Finish 3104.  I'm usually a "wing it" kind of guy anyway and I'm not so sure why I was testing so thoroughly.

The Warmoth body responded like a champ and showed of the stains really well and much better than my samples had.  I've included a teaser photo of the finished bass (I intend to enter this bass in the next GOM "Owner Finished." contest) just so you can get a sense of Osmo on Swamp Ash.  I'm super happy with the results and will write a more detailed methodology post after the contest.

 

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I've entered my bass in the November 2021 Guitar of the Month Contest.  Her name is Ghulah.  Go vote!

Here is my methodology to applying Osmo Products to A Warmoth Super Light Weight Swamp Ash body.

The Osmo Oil Stains are a lot like any other stain in that they are thin and soak right in.  Multiple coats make the wood take more stain. I had NO PROBLEM with splotches.  The Osmo Wood Wax Finishes are very vibrant and have a lot of wax in them.  They fill up pores fast and there comes a time when the wood will take no more wax and you're really putting wax on wax.

First, use a WHITE srcubby pad (3M 7445) to apply the stains.  Osmo is natural stuff and a swirling motion (think Karate Kid) helps the good stuff into the wood. You don't need very much stain, work efficiently to get an even coat over the entire piece of wood.  If you want a darker color, let it dry for 12-24 hours (see the instructions on the can) and then hit it again.  I only needed on coat of the Cognac Oil Stain (3543) to get Ghulah to that pretty brown which is incidentally very close to the same color as the roasted maple neck.  Just remember use the white scrubby.

Second, the Wood Wax Finishes are really bold, a little goes a long way and it doesn't come off, there is no going backwards without sandpaper.  I used the white scrubby to apply the Flame Red Wood Wax Finish (3104) to the outside edge and the SG type bevels.  Scrub it in well, until there is no free standing wax. Then use a lint free paint prep wipe (I got mine at a local Auto Paint wholesaler, there is no solvent or compound in these, just paper) to "pull" some of the wax onto the body.  Let it dry for 12-24 hours in between coats ( this is really important because the "wet" wax will just wipe right off if its not "dry.")  Each coat of the Wood Wax will make the edges darker and add a little to the blend (burst).  I found that 4 coats of Wood Wax was about all the wood could take and I spent 30 minutes each coat blending (bursting) the color on to the body.  Osmo is natural stuff you can really "move" it around.  Take your time.

Finally, I used Osmo Polyx Oil Gloss (3011) to put a top coat on.  This gloss will never look like a poly or nitro finish its glossy but still very natural looking.  There are 9 coats total.  The first 3 were applied pretty heavily with the white scrubby only this time there were no swirls just straight lines up and down the body again with 12-24 hours in between coats.  After the third coat was dry I used 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper to "level" the surfaces. The reason for the three coats of Polyx Oil before sanding was to protect the color from the sanding.  For the next 6 coats of Poly Oil I applied it with the lint free paint prep wipe, again taking special care not to "flare" or "shine" the oil. This time letting it dry in between coats and stepping down the sandpaper each time (1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 and 3000).  There was no more oil applied after the 3000, I did let that dry for a week and then hand buffed it with with a soft Terry cloth rag.

Incidentally, the Osmo products that I used were designed to protect floors.  Its bomber stuff, so far Ghulah has a few dents but no scratches.  I'm super satisfied with the over all results.
 

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I gotta say, that's a nice instrument.  Thanks for sharing how you did the finish!
 
Mayfly said:
I gotta say, that's a nice instrument.  Thanks for sharing how you did the finish!

Update:  quick question:  Do you think the wax or the stain would, er, stain binding?  I'm thinking that would be a great finish on something like a mooncaster, but I don't want the binding to be stained

What do you think?
 
Hey Mayfly-

Thanks!

I don't think that the Wood Wax would stain the binding, as its not super penetrative.  It's hard to say if the Oil Stain or Polyx Oil would stain the binding.  I think that in both cases the right type of tape could protect the binding.  Ghulah is my very first build so I'm not super qualified here. 

I did test and test and test.  I bought 15 different colors in the 0.125L size.  I could have done 10 Swamp Ash Bodies with each.  My point being is they sell this stuff in tiny units and it would be easy (and smart) to test it first.  One hint, buy all the colors that you think that you might ever want at the same time to save on shipping.  I paid for shipping 7 times............. :sad:

https://www.midwest-flooring.com/collections/osmo

 
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