Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm contemplating the finish for #3, a flamed mahogany dread, and I'm thinking I want to lightly stain it in order to highlight the flamed character of the wood. Looking for a kind of "Fireweed Honey" amber. My questions are what kind of stain? It will be an FP finish. And I'm thinking of sealing with Z-Poxy on this one- how does Z-Poxy interact with stains? I assume it is applied after the stain?

Regards,

-Mark

_________________
Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
Find me on Facebook

Trans-Tint Honey Amber is nice...

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Thanks guys.

Hesh, would West System stuff work? I have a bunch of that - the stuff used for boat building.

-Mark

_________________
Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
Find me on Facebook

The StewMac ColorTone products are TransTint products relabelled for StewMac....very good products. Might just as well buy them from our OLF Sponsor StewMac!

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Mark, West Systems will work but it has a longer cure time. You'll need at least 24 hours and probably longer to be able to sand it back. Even then, it tends to goop up the sand paper.

[QUOTE=Pwoolson] Mark, West Systems will work but it has a longer cure time. You'll need at least 24 hours and probably longer to be able to sand it back. Even then, it tends to goop up the sand paper. [/QUOTE]

Like any epoxy, if you don't mix it right, it won't cure right. I've used West Systems and had no issues with it, other times it's been problematic. I have a feeling the issue was more me than the product.
I've had the same issues with the System 3 product too.
Never tried Z-poxy though.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Mark-

What does "Fireweed Honey" amber look like? How does it differ from the normal amber color?

Thanks-

_________________
John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

[QUOTE=Mark Tripp] I'm contemplating the finish for #3, a flamed mahogany dread, and I'm thinking I want to lightly stain it in order to highlight the flamed character of the wood. Looking for a kind of "Fireweed Honey" amber. My questions are what kind of stain? It will be an FP finish. And I'm thinking of sealing with Z-Poxy on this one- how does Z-Poxy interact with stains? I assume it is applied after the stain?

Regards,

-Mark[/QUOTE]

Crusty old academic, with mahogany fixation, screams quietly to himself.

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

John,
The fireweed honey I used to get when I lived in western WA was usually a dark reddish amber, although I have seen it lighter color.

Almost as if you mixed regular colored honey with some molasses and some red dye #2.

-Mark

_________________
Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
Find me on Facebook

Sorry Colin!

Maybe I should burst it instead?

-Mark

_________________
Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
Find me on Facebook

Hmmmm.

Okie Doky. I'll try it "Au Naturale"


Thanks for the input guys!

-Mark

_________________
Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
Find me on Facebook

Natural Sounds good to me Mark

heheh Hesh!

I alluded to that after Colin's remarks, but that was just to get him riled a little.

the more I think about it the better natual sounds. One less step too. This will be the first guitar with wood bindings also - EIR.

-Mark

_________________
Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
Find me on Facebook

Me get riled when someone messes about with the natural look of the wood? Never!

I think you must be talking about some other Colin.

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I guess your mind is made up Mark about the tint so I guess the point is moot, but, I heard that the big difference between the System Three and West System epoxies is that West System will change colors when reacting with UV rays. It might darken the original color/tint of the guitar down the road. Maybe not a bad thing, but I'd stick with Z or Three just to make sure that the color remains the same...

_________________
I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

[QUOTE=Mark Tripp] Hmmmm.

Okie Doky. I'll try it "Au Naturale"


Thanks for the input guys!

-Mark[/QUOTE]

Pottassium Dichromate gives it a very nice "old" color without resorting to adding color. You might try some on a piece of the cutoffs to see what you think. I like the look on Mahogany.

That way Colin can still sleep at night.   

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

TAP plastics sells an epoxy that has a nice amber color. I used to use it for fiberglass layups on radio controlled airplanes. I found it to work a lot like Z-poxy. I also used to use West Systems, and never noticed any color change. Our planes would be exposed to direct sunlight for several hours at a time. None of these like cold during the cure cycle. Some will not kick off at all below their minimum temperature. I know nothing is cold right now, but I like to build all year Just be sure that it is above 70F until fully cured. Cure times can be greatly accelerated by heating to 100-110F. A hot box or heatlamps will do the job nicely.

Al

[QUOTE=Brock Poling]Pottassium Dichromate gives it a very nice "old" color without resorting to adding color.[/QUOTE]
I'm told it's quite toxic, much like using amonia to fume oak...so use caution. It does give a nice warmth to mahogany, though, and an amazing golden glow to sapele, too.

[QUOTE=CarltonM] [QUOTE=Brock Poling]Pottassium Dichromate gives it a very nice "old" color without resorting to adding color.[/QUOTE]
I'm told it's quite toxic, much like using amonia to fume oak...so use caution. It does give a nice warmth to mahogany, though, and an amazing golden glow to sapele, too. [/QUOTE]

Toxic is nothing new to us. Just wear your respirator and nitrile gloves -- well ventilated and all that.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

[QUOTE=Brock Poling] [QUOTE=CarltonM] [QUOTE=Brock Poling]Pottassium Dichromate gives it a very nice "old" color without resorting to adding color.[/QUOTE]
I'm told it's quite toxic, much like using amonia to fume oak...so use caution. It does give a nice warmth to mahogany, though, and an amazing golden glow to sapele, too. [/QUOTE]

Toxic is nothing new to us. Just wear your respirator and nitrile gloves -- well ventilated and all that.

[/QUOTE]

Potassium Dichromate is one of the worst carcinogens known to man. I don't know how anyone could be careful enough with the stuff. If you use it please be careful my friends. Thanks-

_________________
John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Any reason not to use good ol' Minwax stains? I've used them before on
several (furniture) projects with good results - wide array of colors,
generally locally available (at least in the US), inexpensive, mix well if you
need an "in between" color...