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PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 12:52 pm 
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Koa
Koa

Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2005 7:24 am
Posts: 830
Location: United States
Hello Friends,
I'm thinking ahead and am interested in using a aging toner on my sitka top.
Martin uses such a toner on their vintage and more expensive model guitars. I don't want an orange color but something lightly tinted.
Can some of you Pros help me with some suggestions and name products to use??
Thanks very much!!
Walter


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:38 pm 
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Cocobolo
Cocobolo

Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 4:23 am
Posts: 267
Location: United States
There are a wide variety of powdered and liquid color tints available through the woodworking catalogs, LMI, StewMac, etal.
What finish are you using...nitro, waterborne, catalyzed type, ???????.
On lacquer, you can do the tint in the 2-3rd coat of finish laquer, after the wood is sealed. That way you don't stain the wood, which is always subject to taking up stains at varied rates, with accompanying blotchy areas. Then finish off the multiple lacquer coats, being careful in your intermediate sanding actions so as not to cut back into the tinted layer.
Do practice this art on some scraps to get the touch and the color gradient(s) you want.

HankMauel38462.985787037


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 3:23 pm 
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Koa
Koa

Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 3:49 pm
Posts: 908
Location: Canada
Every piece of wood takes colors differently, so take the scraps from the top, and practice the colors on it. Otherwise, you can end up with orange tints, or even green-ish tints...

The only thing I trust as a toner, after playing with the available dyes, is plain old orange shellac. It has a wonderful amber tone to it, and it doubles as your sealer coats. Just mist a light, light coat on the top, wait a few minutes for it to flash off, and repeat until you acheive the desired color.

The spruce will age on its own, so do go too drak. How deep you build the color at this point depends on what your top coats will be. If you use nitro lacquer, keep in mind that it, too, will yellow with age, quite a lot, too, so again, don't go too dark. If you're using a waterborn, you can go a bit deeper with the toner.

I don't like any toner at all in the top coats, because you then have to be super careful to keep everything even when sanding and buffing, and it makes drop fills and future repairs all that tougher. Put the color lightly on the wood(seal first if you're worried), then shoot the clear.

Whatever you do, do NOT apply any toner, orange shellac or otherwise, by hand on spruce. Most blotchy....


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