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sand blasting / pre paint prep?

#4
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Anyone have a clue as to the process needed to get this result?
I had a piece of oak (similar grain to ash) that I sandblasted, which highlighted the grain, gave it a coat of sanding sealer, dried and some black stain then wiped off which got the same results sans the red color. How to get the depth of red yet keep it out of the black filled open grain??
 
#8
Bumping to see if anyone has sandblasted wood for paint prep? I did a couple pieces of Ash, then stained and sanded back, highlighting the grain in black. Stewmac supplies should be here soon for doing the inbetween in red.:hyper:
 
#10
I have read and re-read the ceruse thread, but I am still confused. Has anyone here done a black with white grain finish successfully? If so, what were the steps used to achieve it? I saw that a couple of gentlemen had experamented, but I don't see where it was actually fully executed on an instrument. I love the effect, and I am building an ash explorer body style that would look really cool with that finish. Anyone know how F-Bass does that sort of finish? Thank you. Your wisdom is very much appreciated.
 
#12
Camera wasn't working for progress shots but this is after sandblasting, staining completely black with some Olympic exterior stain (ebony), drying for a day, sanding down, then staining red using stewmac color tone cherry mixed w/ rubbing alcohol. The pics are after 3 coats of sanding sealer, no sanding done yet.
The second shot shows a scrap piece of ash I got from a wood shop. The color is lighter due to experimenting with ratios. I wanted it darker and like the shade I came up with.
I'm disappaointed with how the wood came out after sandblasting. Very pitted and splotchy. Could have been due to previous finish and/or quality of wood. I was hoping for the distinguished grain of the practice piece. or F bass, Sandberg, etc.
After I'd stained it black, (very 'Warwick' like) I almost wish I'd just done it a solid color red. I liked the texture it left but don't care for black instruments.
Will start sanding and finishing with some satin water based poly. I considered laquer but since it's not going to be smooth and shiny, this was going to get me to a Fender forum jam by September.
*edit. difference in post sandblast texture may be due to wood types. Body is swamp ash and scrap piece may be northern ash (much harder)
 
#13
I see how the wide bands were "attacked" quiate a bit by the sandblasting, and the narrow ones not so much. I wonder if there's any modification that could be done as far as , grits, grit stream speeds/forces (if that can be manipulated?), distances, pre-blasting prep, or anything else.
 
#14
I wish that I would have seen this topic earlier. I may have been able to help out.

Sandblasting wood is nothing new. It is a technique used in restoring old exposed wooden beams in buildings....It cleans a century of paint and grime off of the surface to give it that weathered/texured look. The secret is that the abrasive that is used is CRUSHED WALNUT SHELLS!!!!! The shells are much less abrasive than the sand or "Black Beauty" slag abrasives that would commonly be used on metal. The less aggreesive nature of the shells allows for more control over the amount of texture desired. There are other milder abrasives available for blasting wood also.

Hope that this will be of help in the future.
 
#15
Since I work in a machine shop (Caterpillar) I used a standard blast cabinet that used glass beads. Still, the scrap piece came out nice , the bass did not, imo. It looks kinda cheesy in the pics cuz the sealer looks glossy but that'll tone down once I finish it. Hope to get black hipshot hardware when done.
 
#16
Tdog said:
I wish that I would have seen this topic earlier. I may have been able to help out.

Sandblasting wood is nothing new. It is a technique used in restoring old exposed wooden beams in buildings....It cleans a century of paint and grime off of the surface to give it that weathered/texured look. The secret is that the abrasive that is used is CRUSHED WALNUT SHELLS!!!!! The shells are much less abrasive than the sand or "Black Beauty" slag abrasives that would commonly be used on metal. The less aggreesive nature of the shells allows for more control over the amount of texture desired. There are other milder abrasives available for blasting wood also.

Hope that this will be of help in the future.
Click to expand...

I've seen sand blasting of old framing structures with baking soda to remove the moldy growths from them.
 
#19
pilotjones said:
I've also heard of using Grape-Nuts cereal, and IIRC on metals.
Click to expand...


Crushed corn stalks also work well. I didn't know that baking soda was used, but it makes a lot of sense. Just send one of the crew down to the local supermarket and ask for 500 boxes of Arm and Hammer!!!!!.....With all the choices of abrasives, you can dial in your desired level of distress!!!!

I missed the smallmouth bass tournament banner.....Them's good eatin'!!!!!
 

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