Should I document my kit builds here?

[Markshan]

Turns out I was right about the finish making it easier to sand off any runs or drips with the dye. However, what I failed to account for was that with the open grain of the cove some of the dye would seep through the edges and show up from inside. You can see it particularly at the top point of the cove. I'm not even sure how I would have prevented that. I don't know if maybe I should have just put a coat of neutral first so that that wicked up into the wood without any color? I mean it's not terrible. It's not like I'm going to throw the neck away over it or anything like that, but it is an error that I can't correct because as I continue to sand down it only gets to be more pronounced, not less. Anyway, I still think it was a cool idea even if it didn't go 100% the way I wanted it to.

 

[definenredefine]

Turns out I was right about the finish making it easier to sand off any runs or drips with the dye. However, what I failed to account for was that with the open grain of the cove some of the dye would seep through the edges and show up from inside. You can see it particularly at the top point of the cove. I'm not even sure how I would have prevented that. I don't know if maybe I should have just put a coat of neutral first so that that wicked up into the wood without any color? I mean it's not terrible. It's not like I'm going to throw the neck away over it or anything like that, but it is an error that I can't correct because as I continue to sand down it only gets to be more pronounced, not less. Anyway, I still think it was a cool idea even if it didn't go 100% the way I wanted it to.
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If you haven't finished it yet, you could paint the rest of the face of the headstock black. That would cover up some of the seepage and may provide a better match against the darker shade of green of the body.

 

[deff]

Extend the cove a little further on the right. It will look like it was intentional.

 

[Markshan]

Extend the cove a little further on the right. It will look like it was intentional.

Interesting thought. I'm going to have to chew on that a little bit.

 

[deff]

Interesting thought. I'm going to have to chew on that a little bit.

Mistakes are just more opportunities to find creative coverups.

 

[deff]

also stain and end grain or even paint in some cases are just so annoying. I had to find a way to fix the end grain on a bass I refinished recently. I basically made the bevel edges darker with a defined line because the black brush on paint the previous owner used had sunk in too deep.

 

[Markshan]

Mistakes are just more opportunities to find creative coverups.

I couldn't agree more and that has been my approach throughout this journey even from before the time that I ordered the kit. Back a few pages somebody said I shouldn't have bought a cheap $89 kit I should have bought a better kit. I went into this with the goal of overcoming mistakes so I appreciate the reminder.

 

[Markshan]

also stain and end grain or even paint in some cases are just so annoying. I had to find a way to fix the end grain on a bass I refinished recently. I basically made the bevel edges darker with a defined line because the black brush on paint the previous owner used had sunk in too deep.

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When you talk about end grain on your project you're actually hitting the nail on the head of what went wrong for me. I didn't think about the fact that in coving out that decoration at each end I was creating end grain. If that had occurred to me I would have still dyed the middle section just like I did but instead of loading the ends with dye I would have just tapped them with the damp rag after I had already colored everything else. I loaded them up the same way as the rest and you see the result..
I'm hesitant to extend the cove with the router because I kind of like the way that the wood that is left has that circle at the top. It's almost like a nod to the telecaster headstock without being a copy of the telecaster headstock. I am thinking however that maybe since yesterday I tried to clean it by sanding the edges that weren't dyed, perhaps if I did a little sanding of the inside of that curve where it is dyed that I might be able to bring it out just a shade and have it blend a little better that way. Seems counterintuitive but it isn't a regular situation with the way the dye kind of seeped in there.

 

[deff]

When you talk about end grain on your project you're actually hitting the nail on the head of what went wrong for me. I didn't think about the fact that in coving out that decoration at each end I was creating end grain. If that had occurred to me I would have still dyed the middle section just like I did but instead of loading the ends with dye I would have just tapped them with the damp rag after I had already colored everything else. I loaded them up the same way as the rest and you see the result..
I'm hesitant to extend the cove with the router because I kind of like the way that the wood that is left has that circle at the top. It's almost like a nod to the telecaster headstock without being a copy of the telecaster headstock. I am thinking however that maybe since yesterday I tried to clean it by sanding the edges that weren't dyed, perhaps if I did a little sanding of the inside of that curve where it is dyed that I might be able to bring it out just a shade and have it blend a little better that way. Seems counterintuitive but it isn't a regular situation with the way the dye kind of seeped in there.

Mohawk and Rockler have small paint jars to use for blending and making furniture repairs. They work well and can be clear coated. You could always go that route.

 

[Markshan]

Mohawk and Rockler have small paint jars to use for blending and making furniture repairs. They work well and can be clear coated. You could always go that route.

Paint may have been better if I had thought of that before staining. Live and learn.

 

[deff]

Paint may have been better if I had thought of that before staining. Live and learn.

Mohawk makes a series of touch up products for covering these sort of things. Like if someone spills wine on a table that gets through the finish. They can be found here. Mohawk Finishing Products
I bet there are a bunch of Youtube videos on the subject as well. I used to be a mobile furniture repairman. I've saved a lot of furniture.

 

[Markshan]

Mohawk makes a series of touch up products for covering these sort of things. Like if someone spills wine on a table that gets through the finish. They can be found here. Mohawk Finishing Products
I bet there are a bunch of Youtube videos on the subject as well. I used to be a mobile furniture repairman. I've saved a lot of furniture.

I just ordered the
Mohawk Finishing Products Ultra Mark Wood Touch Up Marker for Paint or Stain (Natural Maple)from Amazon. Supposed to arrive on Sunday. I can't wait to see how it performs. Thanks so much for the tip.

 

[Markshan]

I never would have thought to try to cover it. I'm probably over posting, but input like that is exactly why I'm throwing this stuff out at every step. You guys that have done this before have skills that I've never even considered.

 

[Markshan]

Maybe it was too much of an ask to try to cover green with natural maple. Or maybe the first coat has to soak in and dry and then the second coat will lay on top of it. I will try to hit it with another coat tomorrow, but so far it looks more like a clear coat and it actually brightened up the green rather than covering or subduing it.
BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

[deff]

That looks like the marker and not the paint. They have a bunch of options and how to videos here. You need something opaque to cover up the green.

https://youtube.com/@MohawkFinishing?si=pDJ_wZ_ggmOCN_DN

 

[Markshan]

That looks like the marker and not the paint. They have a bunch of options and how to videos here. You need something opaque to cover up the green.

https://youtube.com/@MohawkFinishing?si=pDJ_wZ_ggmOCN_DN

Yes, it is the marker. I bought the wrong product? It wouldn't be the first time, lol.
I was under the impression that the marker was going to be opaque.

 

[deff]

Yes, it is the marker. I bought the wrong product? It wouldn't be the first time, lol.
I was under the impression that the marker was going to be opaque.

The markers are basically loaded with stain. It is just an easy way to apply stain to a small affected area. Stain won't cover over another darker stain.

 

[Markshan]

The markers are basically loaded with stain. It is just an easy way to apply stain to a small affected area. Stain won't cover over another darker stain.

I'm sure it's a great product for touching up surface scratches, I just misunderstood what it was. That's okay it'll come in handy having it at some point. I'll try again with some of the paint.

 

[Markshan]

So I didn't find a paint that said natural maple. However, I did have this glazing putty that was close to the right color but a little darker. And of course the glazing putty is made to stay soft. So I thought to myself I'll take a little dab of it and mix it with some wood glue. Perhaps then I'll get the coverage from the putty and the solidness and sandability from the glue.
This was enough of a gamble though that I decided to make a test run before I put it on the instrument. This scrap of wood you'll see I had dyed green from a previous experiment. The blob in the middle is what I mixed up and the little section to the right is a very thin layer of this to see how much it covers the green if at all. This photo was taken right after I did the mix. Tomorrow I'll sand that spot and take another photo to see how much coverage I have once it's dry and leveled. Sanding it will also be a good test of adhesion for this science experiment.

 

[Markshan]

The adhesion is decent but not great. It took sanding just fine but I was able to knock a piece of it off with a straight edge. But since this wood was treated with tung oil already I'm hoping it will stick even better to the headstock. Coverage is also as good as I had hoped. You basically can't feel it at all on this wood when you run your finger past it but it does a decent job of covering the green. So I feel good enough about this little science experiment that I'm going to try it on the headstock.