Refin project - advice needed

[Haans]

I'm currently removing the black laquer from an old Peavey Fury. I want to give the poplar body a nice translucent finish in a reddish brown tint. My plan is to sand it down after removing the paint, perhaps burn the wood some, and then stain it and give it a waxed finish. The body looks like it's a single slab of wood.

I was thinking coffee and red food coloring might work, but I'm getting lost in googling. Any advice on what to use to make something that would work? I'd rather make it myself than buying.

I have boiled linseed oil, tung oil, mineral spirits et cetera. How do I go about making a pigmented oil? Can I mix oil with strong coffee and food coloring? Will mineral spirits do any good as a thinner?

 

[Will_White]

@earlysecond didn't you start out using food colouring?

 

[bolophonic]

Aniline dye.

 

[Hopkins]

You are going to want to buy a dye or stain. Don't use coffee and food coloring. Trans tint is pretty expensive, but you can get leather dye for a decent price
Amazon.com: Eco-flo Leather Dye 4.4 Oz Range Tan Leather Colour Leathercraft Tandy 2600-07

 

[two fingers]

Coffee bass. I bet it smells great every time you take it out of the case. I would be on stage craving scrambled eggs.

 

[Will_White]

Make Wood Stain - 7 Ways! - A Piece Of Rainbow

 

[Hopkins]

Coffee bass. I bet it smells great every time you take it out of the case. I would be on stage craving scrambled eggs.

Make sure its decaf or you might start playing ahead of the beat

 

[Haans]

Stripped. Looks nice, two slabs glued in the middle, of course. Slightly worried about a crack I found, but I might not have to be?

It's the dark line in the middle. It doesn't appear to open up if I try to press on it. Tension from the strings will hold it together, I suppose.

I will possibly try staining with coffee, then red wine, then seal it with several coats of linseed oil. Got some burn marks from the heat gun, will have to sand it for a while before finishing.

 

[Hopkins]

A crack like that is common when you have a tight fitting pocket. It won't hurt anything structurally. Just leave it be.

 

[Haans]

Thanks, glad to hear.

 

[earlysecond]

Will Yep several food coloring basses. Seem to be aging OK too. I won't necessarily recommend it. I have moved on to the aniline dyes. I found a bunch for minimal prices and have a broad range of colors.

I would NOT likely recommend food coloring IF you are not using a solvent based top coat with a bunch of UV protection. Food coloring, if you think about it, is not meant to last.

The first bass kit I finished relies heavily on food coloring to make it maroon. Also has other paint pigments and pearls and is topcoated with auto clear coat. Currently it is 10 months old and NOT faded. It lives in my church sanctuary and also gets some sunlight (well sunlight through stained glass windows which are 125 years old)

Look for aniline dye on amazon. I also bought some from a known wood working supply Penn (something or other) on the recommendation of the guy in the local cabinet shop who knows a thing or 2!

Good luck!

Brent

 

[Haans]

I will definitely check out aniline next time. Thanks for all your tips.

 

[Haans]

Done. I've burnt the wood some with a gas burner, sanded it slightly, and then oiled it with two coats of teak oil and one or two coats of linseed oil. Made a new pickguard from a piece of plyboard and coated it with teak and linseed oil. Sanded the back of the neck with some super fine sanding paper. Looks quite nice. The back has a leopard pattern from using a very small gas burner, but I didn't bother too much with it as it won't be visible. Red wine and coffee did close to nothing. The pictures don't look nearly as good as in real life, of course.