Finish help: clear poly, glow and pearl pigment

[basillio]

I have been researching for a while and can't find any conclusive answers. This is my first build/Franken bass. I purchased the unfinished body from guitar fetish I have some unique plans using pearl pigments, glow in the dark powder, etc. so here is my plan:

1. Route a design into the body around the border ~1/2 in. deep. Clean up the lines with a razor blade if necessary.
2. Dye the Paulownia body with transtint purple and black (diluted in water). Highlight the grain with a darker black/purple first, sand it back and go over with purple across the whole body. Go around the edge of the body with black and then blend the whole thing over again with purple.
3. Seal the body and stain. Q: sanding sealer or grain filler? I plan to prep sand the body up to 400 grit and raise the grain with water then sand before dying. This will hopefully protect against blead through of the epoxy
4. Mix glow in the dark pigment powder and clear epoxy and fill the inlays. Q: I'm not sure how to sand back the epoxy and level the body without sanding through the sealer, should I do it another way? I thought to border the inlay with painters tape to protect it as I sand it back
5. Mix pearl pigment powder into some polyurethane and brush down 1-2 layers depending on the "sheen" I want to achieve but still show the color and not cover it.
6. Finish with x amount of layers of poly.
7. Final sand/polish.

I have been looking at Crystalac products and clear grain filler and sand and sealer (still not sure what the crap it's really called).
Does this sound like a good order to do these steps or how might I retain getting a good inlay and using the pearl pigment in the clear?

Last finishing question, I plan to dye the neck as well purple/black fade. How many layers of poly should I apply? Or should I use another finish? *I'm on a tight budget/limited space so that explains the brushing on so please don't recommend using a spray gun cause it won't happen*

 

[basillio]

After I stain the body, is sanding sealer a good choice to seal the body against bleed through from the epoxy?

 

[bobdabilder]

Is crystalac water based? i have used some that is. are you using water based or catalyzed finish for clear coat?

 

[James Collins]

I've done this. I would suggest investing a couple dollars in a Preval instead of brushing it on. On mine, I prepared everything like normal, then dyed the maple blood red and used color shift pearls over it that go from gold to green to red. In normal lighting straight on it looks like a gold top. In bright light from an angle, it turns to a red/sparkle flame top. In darker lighting, it is green. Neat effect. Most of the pearls can be put into any finish is my experience. They are not really dissolved in the finish. They are more like metal flakes floating in the finish, so you have to shake it often to get it to work. That is why I'd be concerned that the paint brush wouldn't work.

 

[Beej]

I'd strongly recommend doing a test piece from preparation to completion, and test each step. The time spent will be well worth the mistakes you'll avoid when you do the real thing...

 

[basillio]

Is crystalac water based? i have used some that is. are you using water based or catalyzed finish for clear coat?

Crystalac does all waterbased finishes, I am avoiding anything too harsh since I live in a studio.

 

[basillio]

I'll look into the preval, never heard of it before. It seems like there alot of mixed reviews but I'm mostly likely gonna have to thin the crytalac poly before I try spraying it.

I had a question about building layers of poly, I've heard different things but generally speaking is it true that I should not wait for one layer to fully cure before adding another layer on top? How long should it be and if so, I'm assuming I don't sand in between layers since it won't be hard. Most people complain of it not fully curing because th layers dried at different times when the layers added were applied to far apart.

 

[Rôckhewer]

You are gonna hate trying to level epoxy inlay...
...and not break through & destroy your stain job.

Maybe...seal it raw...first. To prevent epoxy & glow sh"t, bleeding into the top wood.
Then epoxy ... & level sand ...AND sand OFF the first seal coat.

Then stain /.... then seal again, ...then clear.

I agree you *might* regret trying to brush on clear with pearl...
Or...
You might pull it off.

I would hate trying to spray an entire bass with a Preval can.
I suppose it's not much worse than a bomb can though...
Probably would need to reduce/thin ...a bit.

 

[basillio]

You are gonna hate trying to level epoxy inlay...
...and not break through & destroy your stain job.

Maybe...seal it raw...first. To prevent epoxy & glow sh"t, bleeding into the top wood.
Then epoxy ... & level sand ...AND sand OFF the first seal coat.

Then stain /.... then seal again, ...then clear.

I agree you *might* regret trying to brush on clear with pearl...
Or...
You might pull it off.

I would hate trying to spray an entire bass with a Preval can.
I suppose it's not much worse than a bomb can though...
Probably would need to reduce/thin ...a bit.

Ha, hopefully no bombs go off. So maybe I should try to seal the area that I am applying epoxy, put the fill, then sand the whole thing and stain the whole body? My other option was to do a "rough" inlay with the epoxy, route a finer outline of the inlay and make a "border" around the inlay with a hard material:wood, plastic, shell and glue it it. That way I would rid myself of any potential bleed through.

 

[Rôckhewer]

Ha, hopefully no bombs go off. So maybe I should try to seal the area that I am applying epoxy, put the fill, then sand the whole thing and stain the whole body? My other option was to do a "rough" inlay with the epoxy, route a finer outline of the inlay and make a "border" around the inlay with a hard material:wood, plastic, shell and glue it it. That way I would rid myself of any potential bleed through.

When I did this... I put down black Trans Tint first, before cutting in the inlay.
because the black needed to be sanded back anyway. (So if I sanded back a little more when I leveled the inlay...it didn't matter.)
But after the color was applied, Any inlay level sanding , would have disturbed the color.

 

[basillio]

When I did this... I put down black Trans Tint first, before cutting in the inlay.
because the black needed to be sanded back anyway. (So if I sanded back a little more when I leveled the inlay...it didn't matter.)
But after the color was applied, Any inlay level sanding , would have disturbed the color.
View attachment 3289841

WOW! That looks amazing! My only worry is that if I apply the transtint after the inlay or epoxy is that it will color the epoxy, or will the dye not affect the epoxy or inlay? did you dye after you level sanded everything?