New How-To: Dye/Oil/Varnish finish Process

[Lonnybass]

Alright ladies and gents,

In an effort to help others with their current and future builds I've decided to post a detailed finishing application on my latest bass. I've learned a great deal from the many terrific builders on this site and thought it would be helpful to share some of the standard tips and tricks I use nowadays for consistent results.

The new bass is comprised of a sinker redwood top over ash with a flamed movingui rear laminate. I will be completing the pickup and neck pocket routes over the next week or so, and then the body will go into finish.

Here's what the shaped redwood body looks like:

I have not decided on a final color scheme or layout yet, but will be using the grain patterning and existing combination wood tones as a guide. I recently completed a bass with a similar two-tone grain pattern which I chose to accentuate with a "strawberry colada" finish below.

As I finish up woodwork on the redwood bass I'll be finalizing the color scheme and will probably do an orange to red tigereye on the bottom half (flamed section) with a yet undecided approach for the lighter upper half (birdseye) of the body.

Hopefully this thread is helpful! Let me know if anyone has questions along the way!

Lonnybass

 

[Lonnybass]

Yesterday the body routs were made for pickups, neck pocket and battery box.

Here we have the body being laid out:

And the back of the bass, with a matching woodgrain cavity cover:

Completed pickup cavities and basic milling for the neck pocket:

Completed neck pocket. I've wetted it down with some spirits to see how the burl translates to the grain:

And mocked up with the neck template, pictured next to its fretted twin. Hard to believe the difference between the two right now!

 

[roberthabraken]

Great! Subscribed, of course

 

[Lonnybass]

Haha thanks Rob! A rare break in the action of the last few months from moving our little guy into his big boy room, building baby furniture, remodeling the master bathroom to make my wife happy...at least my bass building brain and tools are being put to good use while I'm not in the workshop!

Lonnybass

 

[roberthabraken]

Haha thanks Rob! A rare break in the action of the last few months from moving our little guy into his big boy room, building baby furniture, remodeling the master bathroom to make my wife happy...at least my bass building brain and tools are being put to good use while I'm not in the workshop!

Lonnybass

Haha LOL... let's not derail this potentially to-become-sticky thread, but that applies to me too.. I used my tools to build a TV cabinet and a coffee table already .

 

[Lonnybass]

And now time for the fun stuff...time to begin the phase of applying color to the body!

First the body is sanded to about 320 to get rid of any fine scratches that would be visible from tiny dye particles. It's then masked to ensure a nice clean line on the ash back, which will remain natural.

Here, I've wiped the bass clean with naphtha to get out all the little dust and residue which evaporates after a few minutes.

Then the bass is dyed black to get the grain to POP. Remember to wet down the body with water - I use an old spray bottle. It's a bit of a shocker to see it this dark, but it's only temporary!

Once the black has been on the bass for 20 minutes, it's dry enough to sand back. It looks like it's nice and uniformly removed here.

And now I'm ready to apply the color scheme. I mixed two Transtints (red and amber) to get three colors - bright red, orange and yellow, and here is the result:

Looking pretty good at this stage. I'll let this dry overnight, and tomorrow will take a look to decide if it needs and slight color adjustments anywhere.

Lonnybass

 

[Lonnybass]

Ok, the top looks satisfactory so we are ready to begin the first step in clear coating. I typically apply a number of coats of dewaxed spray shellac to seal the dye and build a protective layer in between the protective varnish coats.

Here is the dry body prior to applying the sealer. Note the dramatic color difference of the dry dye compared to when it is wetted!

First coat of shellac is applied. It looks blotchy right now as the top wood begins to drink up sealant.

Four coats in...

Five coats in.

I'll let this dry overnight and see how it looks in the morning. This particular top wood has proven to be somewhat challenging to work with - brittle and unstable - and I took the precautionary measure of gluing a thin layer of polycarbonate into the bottom of the control cavity to help stabilize the laminate around where the knobs will be located.

 

[roberthabraken]

How long do you wait inbetween those coats? I suppose it's not very long based on your post.

 

[Lonnybass]

How long do you wait inbetween those coats? I suppose it's not very long based on your post.

Typically I'll give in 30 minutes or so and then shoot another coat. It dries quickly to the touch and is relatively easy to build quick sealer coats.

Lonnybass

 

[Lonnybass]

A couple more blasts of sealer and some more progress shots.
Hard to get an accurate read of color at this point, as the gloss from the shellac combined with the flourescent lighting in my shop really washes things out.

 

[aetheriac]

It still looks great. Kindling my interest in luthier work and cab building.

 

[Lonnybass]

Last night I did a light 320 wetsand of the shellac using some spirits to even out some rough patches, then applied a thin washcoat of orange dye for some added depth and coloration.

Below is a shot of the current result. Unfortunately most of the red hues are washed out by the lighting and the flash, so this coloring is slightly less vivid than in person:

 

[Lonnybass]

A little bit of photo adjustment in the image below to more accurately depict the red tones around the lower horn and upper bout that were washed out from the flash and shop lights. I'm generally quite pleased with how this is turning out.

 

[Lonnybass]

Back from vacation today and made some progress catching up...

Masked off the color coat for final sanding and protection from fingerprints, bumps, etc.:

Final sanding on the back and cavity cover:

Just about ready for clearcoat!

Here the bass is mounted on my homemade finishing rack, constructed from a 2"x4," some piping and a portable clamp table (in the top right corner of the photo you can see the pipe handle). This is my $15 answer to Stew-Mac's $300 finishing jig.

First coat of varnish clear coat has been applied in this photo. This is a VERY thinned coat mix with linseed oil intended to help make the grain come alive before applying heavier topcoats.

Looking pretty good for now. I'll continue to hit this with this thinned varnish for roughly three coats, then aim for a thicker blend.

And now time to begin work on the neck layout!

 

[Lonnybass]

Seven coats in on the finish now, approximately halfway there on the clear coats.

Here I've done a scuff wetsand over the whole body using some 400 and naphtha to remove dust and lint that have settled into the finish:

You can see the cloudy areas from the sanding on the lower horn. Fortunately, I like what I see in the woodgrain coloration underneath

With the wetsand completed, I'll wipe down the whole thing with naphtha to clean it:

Now another couple coats are ready to be applied, and I'll repeat the process.

 

[luzceloffan]

hi LonyBass, for the wetsand do you use sand paper and water? Or paper with water and soap?

 

[Lonnybass]

hi LonyBass, for the wetsand do you use sand paper and water? Or paper with water and soap?

At this stage I typically use sandpaper with naphtha. During final rubout I switch over to use warm soapy water.

 

[luzceloffan]

oh! Thanks

 

[Lonnybass]

Naptha is evaporative so I prefer using as a cleaner between coats. I don't use soap at this stage simply to avoid any surface contaminants or other things that could cause adhesion issues between layers of clear coat.

Lonnybass

 

[luzceloffan]

oh i get it, i will try it, just hope to get naphta w/o problems its use is not common around here...