Transparent Dye Help

[Timmsie95]

As a few of you have seen, I'm straying away from warmoth parts for a set-neck Explorer kit.

It will have a 4A qiult maple cap, mahogany body and neck, with maple veneer on the headstock, and an ebony fretboard.

I will be finishing it myself, and I'm looking to do a Transparent black
(similar to this)

but I don't remember the procedure..

If my memory serves me correctly, aniline powder would be easiest to control, and I would do a coat and sand it back to bring out the ripples, maybe a few times to bring more depth, then do the normal coats of less concentrated dye, and sand lightly between coats, and on the last one sand smooth, then do my poly? That would give me that finish, correct?

Also, has anyone ever used india ink to dye their fretboards?
I like my ebony boards to be none more black, and I have a slightly brown ebony that I'd like to tint to be darker.

 

[Tonar8352]

I would use this straight out of the bottle and I don't think it would need to be sanded back but I would suggest a test board first. If I thin it I use lacquer thinner and lacquer retarder mixed as a vehicle  to apply it. Make sure to put clear finish on the test board after the color so you can see what the finished product looks like because clear changes things. (FMDYMEKBK MEK-based, dye concentrate, black, 2 oz.) Here is where you can buy it. http://www.lmii.com/products/finishing/dyes/dye-concentrates

 

[stratamania]

Stewmac seem to now be selling some type of India ink for fingerboards now.

I'm sure they used to sell this stuff which is a leather dye.

http://www.amazon.com/Fiebings-Leather-Dye-Black-4oz/dp/B000HHM20M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453830288&sr=8-1&keywords=leather+dye

I can't speak personally for either.

 

[Timmsie95]

does anyone know if binding absorbs dye, or would it sit on top? (hopefully the latter...)

 

[Fat Pete]

As you're pretty new to the forum Timmsie, I'll just point out that Tonar is a finishing expert maven of the highest order - have a search for some of the work he's done for forum members. So you'd be well-advised to take his suggestions as good ones!

 

[Timmsie95]

As you're pretty new to the forum Timmsie, I'll just point out that Tonar is a finishing expert maven of the highest order - have a search for some of the work he's done for forum members. So you'd be well-advised to take his suggestions as good ones!

Thanks, I definitely will!  ccasion14:

 

[Ace Flibble]

The dye will just pool on top of the binding. If you let it sit there it could stain the plastic, but it'd have to be very concentrated and you'd have to leave it for quite a while for it to stain.

With binding, you can either get some pinstripe frog tape to cover it, or you can scrape it after any heavy layer of finish. When using dyes, my preference is to tape most of the binding, but I don't try to get the tape right to the edge, where the binding meets the top wood. If you do that, I find the dye will pool and form a really strong black line. I still scrape the binding after any heavy coat of a dark colour, and after the clear coats.

For dying a quilt top, you have the right idea. Go for a concentrated mix to start, sand back, give it another concentrated coat, sand again, then start to slightly dilute the dye. I usually do two 'passes' of each stage of dye mixture, but for a strong colour like black, you may be best off getting to the diluted stages quicker; too much black dye and you might find it hard to sand back properly.

If you want the black dye to look properly black, don't forget to add a little hint of blue/purple to the middle dye stages. Not much, because you don't want a blue/purple dye finish, but just enough to neutralise the brown of the wood. Of course if you want the hint of brown, don't do this!

 

[Timmsie95]

The dye will just pool on top of the binding. If you let it sit there it could stain the plastic, but it'd have to be very concentrated and you'd have to leave it for quite a while for it to stain.

With binding, you can either get some pinstripe frog tape to cover it, or you can scrape it after any heavy layer of finish. When using dyes, my preference is to tape most of the binding, but I don't try to get the tape right to the edge, where the binding meets the top wood. If you do that, I find the dye will pool and form a really strong black line. I still scrape the binding after any heavy coat of a dark colour, and after the clear coats.

For dying a quilt top, you have the right idea. Go for a concentrated mix to start, sand back, give it another concentrated coat, sand again, then start to slightly dilute the dye. I usually do two 'passes' of each stage of dye mixture, but for a strong colour like black, you may be best off getting to the diluted stages quicker; too much black dye and you might find it hard to sand back properly.

If you want the black dye to look properly black, don't forget to add a little hint of blue/purple to the middle dye stages. Not much, because you don't want a blue/purple dye finish, but just enough to neutralise the brown of the wood. Of course if you want the hint of brown, don't do this!

Thank you so much! this is exactly what I was looking for.
Also, you scrape back after clear coats? wouldn't the clear coat make everything look uniform?

 

[Ace Flibble]

Depends on the style you like. ESP and regular Fender leave the clear over the binding; Gibson and Custom Shop Fender scrape it off.

 

[Timmsie95]

okay, considering it's a flat top explorer, I think i'll leave the clear over the binding so it looks like glass.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Tonar8352]

You can scrape binding after dye with no trouble. Here is a thread I did that shows pictures of the process. Hope that will help you out. http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=4976.15

 

[Timmsie95]

You can scrape binding after dye with no trouble. Here is a thread I did that shows pictures of the process. Hope that will help you out. http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=4976.15

Thanks, Tonar!
Beautiful guitar, by the way!  :icon_thumright: