Tea or Black coffee for a stain?

[Samhain]

I'm building a Roasted Swamp Ash Telecaster and I'd like to stain it a little to make the natural grain pop a little more.
I want to then finish it with Tru-oil or Tung oil after staining.
Has anyone used Tea or Coffee for staining? Can I get some pointers?

 

[rgand]

I haven't used tea or coffee on wood but it should give a little more shading to it. Another thing you can do is ebonize it with vinegar and iron. Dissolve one of those big 0000 steel wool pads in a quart of white vinegar for a few days until the pad is all dissolved. Leave the lid loose since the process will build up pressure. That will make anything from a light grey to almost black depending on the wood. I tried it on the swamp ash I have for my Telerauder and it gave a medium grey tint. Not to my liking but you may get a different result. Try it on a scrap and see if you like it. If you don't have a scrap, let me know and I'll do one and post a picture of it here. It won't be roasted, though. Roasted will be much darker. You could take a Q-tip and put a dot inside one of the cavities to see what it does.

 

[stratamania]

Have a look at the Tele build in my signature. Tea and lots of pics...

 

[Cagey]

What's the advantage of using tea or coffee? After spending big bucks on parts, there isn't $5 left for a bottle of dye? You can make the dye pretty thin - anywhere from barely noticeable to nearly opaque. Seems like it would be a lot more predictable/controllable/reproducible.

 

[stratamania]

It is just another finishing technique using traditional methods. It can look more natural and there is a certain art to it.

Like most things its a choice.

 

[Samhain]

Thanks so much for the info!

 

[stratamania]

Thanks so much for the info!

No problem, do you have something in mind to apply it to?

 

[Samhain]

Thanks so much for the info!

No problem, do you have something in mind to apply it to?

Yes, I have a Telecaster build.
Roasted swamp ash, no grain fill, very thin finish mainly to darken it a touch. Either tru-oil or tung.
I would like to make the natural grain pop a little more without going into a full on stain.

 

[stratamania]

I think tea and tru-oil would work well for that.