Sandback timeing

[dmraco]

I will be dying a flame top LPS.  I want to use tobacco brown to highlight the grain, then sand back then apply amber. 

How long should I want to sand back?  I want to make sure the promary color is amber.

Also...would I be better served dying the amber, sanding back, and re dying with amber?  Hence the flame grain getting multiple applications of the amber.

I am looking for somthing like this without the burst...

Thanks

 

[Keyser Soze]

I'm not quite sure I understand the question.  Are you asking how long after applying the brown you should wait befor e sanding back and applying amber?

If that's the question then the answer depends on the type of dye you are using - water drying much slower than alchol.  Either way wait until the surface is fully dry - overnight is a safe bet.

Multiple applications of amber with sanding in between will likely result in a subtle difference from a single application - at best.  Alternately it  may not be noticeably different from a single application.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

In my experience, you would want to do the brown, sand back, and amber.  You also might want to have yellow on hand if amber doesn't behave like it should.  What I did was apply the dark color, wait 5 or so minutes and then wipe as much off as I could.  Then let is sit for a good day.  You want it to obviously dry, but give it a chance to bind with the wood as well.  The next day I got out the sanding block and very carefully sanded.  At this point you can sort of work on giving it a burst if you'd like by sanding the middle section through a bit more.  You might have to touch up the dye job a bit later, but we'll get to that.  Once it is sanded, clean up as much as possible of the sanded stuff.  I found Amber to be annoying and went to yellow for a brighter look.  The brown will take care of the dark, but to get some good contrast the amber was too dark.  I found out the amber dye is a blend of yellow, red and black.  After I had cleaned it up I put a coat of yellow on.  This will really warm the brown up.  I did Black, Red, Yellow, and when I added the yellow, the black lost it's blueish look and my dye job started to look like fire as I had intended.  Be careful not to leave to much dye on there for too long, it will stain the finish (the next stage) if you do not wipe it off.  When you are done, let it sit for another day.  It is friggin' difficult at this point, but go finish your taxes or something, just let it sit.  Day three you can get the burst.  I used a q-tip around the edges, and some acetone on a paper towel to blend the dyes together.  Careful at this stage, the more you do here the less the sand back contrast will show.  You might have to wait one more day and do a quick wash of yellow over the burst and then additional one day of drying before you put the sealer coat on.  I used Reranch alcohol dyes and ended up with this, and I love showing it off.

Good luck
Patrick

 

[dmraco]

Thanks patrick...your guitar looks great.  I have seen that the amber can tend to be too brown.  I like the color or your guitar near the ends...the center is a little too yellow.  I am going to start withthe brown as you stated...then go withthe amber.  I am using stewmac water based.  It calls for 1 oz dye per 1 qt water.  I thinhk I may go with a little less dye that it requires.  I can alway add more!!!!

 

[m4rk0]

did you get started on this one???
progress pics would be great!
are you using dyes or stain?

 

[dmraco]

I am almost done!  I am getting ready for assembly.  I have a thread in build progress.  I will post the link.

 

[m4rk0]

:tard:
doh! I have been following that thread