Tinting Shellac

CDuda

Newbie
Messages
11
Well, I was all set to finish my all mahogany LP with Target Coatings water-based finishes and then saw a gorgeous, oil finished (tung oil) Tele that made me think I want to do this to my LP.

So on to my question...

I want to slightly tint my LP with a trans-dye (either antique maple or brown mahogany).  Before I was going to tint one (or two) of the top coats to get the color I wanted.  Now I am thinking I could tint the shellac I was going to use a sealer before I applied the oil (I am thinking of using Tru-oil instead of tung oil).  Will this work?  The trans-dye recommends a ratio of 1 part dye to 32 parts finish.  Another idea is to tint the oil…will this work?  If I decided to go with tung oil, would the same apply (e.g. tinited Shellac and then tung oil -or-  tint the tung oil)?

Thanks in advance!

Chris
 
Might be easier to apply dye or stain directly to the wood to get the coloration you want in the mahogany than jacking with tinting the Tru-oil.
 
Tinting shellac is no problem.

Here are two pics of my DIY SG. The colour is 10% Feast Watsonproof tint -Red- in shellac. The shellac is applied in separate thin coats until the colour is the intensity desired. (That's  the way to apply shellac tinted or not.)

It was then sprayed with rattlecan nitro clear coat.

1. http://users.bigpond.net.au/fanlee/SG_Pics_61119_012.jpg

2. http://users.bigpond.net.au/fanlee/SG_Pics_61119_004.jpg

Shellac is way under-rated & extremely useful. Also now there is a 'toughened' shellac available.

see: http://www.ubeaut.com.au/hardshell.htm

Shellac can be wiped on brushed on or sprayed on. It is easy & NOT dangerous. Just wipe on really thin coats & let dry. You don't have to french polish. It can be buffed to satin or gloss like any other lacquer type finish. Just make sure there's enough on before grabbing the wet 'n dry :laughing7:
 
CDuda said:
Well, I was all set to finish my all mahogany LP with Target Coatings water-based finishes and then saw a gorgeous, oil finished (tung oil) Tele that made me think I want to do this to my LP.

So on to my question...

I want to slightly tint my LP with a trans-dye (either antique maple or brown mahogany).  Before I was going to tint one (or two) of the top coats to get the color I wanted.  Now I am thinking I could tint the shellac I was going to use a sealer before I applied the oil (I am thinking of using Tru-oil instead of tung oil).  Will this work?  The trans-dye recommends a ratio of 1 part dye to 32 parts finish.  Another idea is to tint the oil…will this work?  If I decided to go with tung oil, would the same apply (e.g. tinited Shellac and then tung oil -or-  tint the tung oil)?

Thanks in advance!

Chris

I'll go with Jack on this. Dyeing the wood would be easiest.
That being said, you can tint shellac. Be careful that you're using compatible tinting/coloring agents. Water based dyes/tints probably won't work, nor will lacquer/xylene based pigments.
 
RobSm said:
Tinting shellac is no problem.

Here are two pics of my DIY SG. The colour is 10% Feast Watsonproof tint -Red- in shellac. The shellac is applied in separate thin coats until the colour is the intensity desired. (That's  the way to apply shellac tinted or not.)

It was then sprayed with rattlecan nitro clear coat.

1. http://users.bigpond.net.au/fanlee/SG_Pics_61119_012.jpg

2. http://users.bigpond.net.au/fanlee/SG_Pics_61119_004.jpg

Shellac is way under-rated & extremely useful. Also now there is a 'toughened' shellac available.

see: http://www.ubeaut.com.au/hardshell.htm

Shellac can be wiped on brushed on or sprayed on. It is easy & NOT dangerous. Just wipe on really thin coats & let dry. You don't have to french polish. It can be buffed to satin or gloss like any other lacquer type finish. Just make sure there's enough on before grabbing the wet 'n dry :laughing7:

Thanks for the input!  Your SG looks great (I bet it sounds great also)!  I am going to try tinting the shellac on a test board this weekend.  Hopefully I will get the results I am looking for...if not I will give oil-based stain a try.

Chris
 
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