Help achieving a finish

[Mumbles87]

I am thinking about starting a small project using a warmoth body, and was hoping for some advice on how to create this effect
[url="http://www.roscoeguitars.com/bass_images/CenturyStandard5.jpg"]http://www.roscoeguitars.com/bass_images/C...ryStandard5.jpg[/url]
Best guide i have found is this wood working one
[url="http://www.woodworkersinstitute.com/print.asp?p=1420"]http://www.woodworkersinstitute.com/print.asp?p=1420[/url]
So i think liming wax is the way forward, but i am not really sure what to use for the black colouring really Also how to finish it off at the end, currently thinking about the idea of just spraying a coat of satin nitro cellulose over it. Any advice would help loads, thanks all.

[henry norton]

That actually looks like a good way of doing it although you might have a problem getting a clear lacquer to stick to a wax based liming paste. If you want it all sealed in you might be better off spraying it up in a few coats of black then blowing over that with a coat of white and cutting back through it with wet & dry so it rubs away on the flat bits exposing the black but gets left in the grain. That way you can lacquer it to your hearts content.

Do you really need to put a clear coat over the top of this? I thought one of the nicest things about open grained woods was feeling the texture of the grain, something you would lose if much clear coat was used.

[Mumbles87]

I wasn't sure how robust the liming wax would be to wear, so didn't know if a bit of Danish oil or the like would protect it enough. So would it just be left to leave it as just liming wax then a bit of Danish oil? Also any ideas what would be best bet for the black?
Thanks

[Bloodaxe]

[quote name='Mumbles87' post='1040485' date='Nov 28 2010, 09:36 PM']I wasn't sure how robust the liming wax would be to wear, so didn't know if a bit of Danish oil or the like would protect it enough. So would it just be left to leave it as just liming wax then a bit of Danish oil? Also any ideas what would be best bet for the black?
Thanks[/quote]
I like the stuff on the Woodworkers Institute page, inventive yet tasteful.

Reading up on [url="http://www.liberon.co.uk/colour-with-wax-and-dye/liming-wax,434,464.html?&args=Y29tcF9pZD0zMDQmYWN0aW9uPWZpY2hlUHJvZHVpdCZpZD0xODMmfA%3D%3D"]Liberon Liming Wax[/url], they suggest final finishing with Oil. There are no restrictions on the number of oil coats you can apply - one old regimen I have somewhere calls for "A coat of oil a day for a week, a coat a week for a month, a coat a month for a year... after that as required" - so around two dozen!

Liberon stuff is excellent. If you went with their spirit-based dyes, liming wax kit, & Finishing Oil I'd be very surprised if you had any problems. They don't seem to do an Ebony stain, but Tudor Oak should be virtually black.

Avoid their water-based dyes though.

Pete.

[~tl]

Jon Shuker has a similar thing on his stock page at the moment:

[attachment=65299:stockbla...uberhorn.jpg]

[quote]4 string fretted Uberhorn. 5 piece laminated neck, matching as head veneer. [b]transparent black stain and white grain fill[/b], satin finish. chrome hardware. Delano PMVC and JMVC pickups. Glockenklang 3 band eq.[/quote]

I guess it might be slightly harder to get a "pitch black" effect with a stain than with a lacquer though.

I believe Alan at ACG uses a similar process (albeit with black grain filler and a greenish stain) for his "Dirty Ash" finish. It looks fantastic in person. Trust me.