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Simon, that is such helpful advice. I definitely plan to go with that thin black gradient like on a real tuff dog. Good to know about not using cardboard. If I dye just the middle and then use the black lacquer to do the burst, will it leave a noticeable ridge? I assume that I can fix it with lots of coats of clear and sanding?
Also, I don't have a spray gun so I plan to use cans. Any idea how many cans of clear I will need?
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OK, I am the impatient type so after watching about 1000 hours of youtube on dyeing along with your super helpful feedback, I decided to go with brown as the first coat to highlight the grain. I didn't want the bluish black to mix with my amber and give me green. So, brown it was. Here is a pic after one coat of brown Keda dye (1/2 tsp to 1oz water and 5oz of isopropyl alcohol). I gave it a super light sanding and then vacuumed and wiped it down with isopropyl alcohol to get a sense of what it will look like. I must say, I love it. I am now going to make amber dye and coat the entire face in it. Later I will hand spray black lacquer on the edges using the advice above. I have no intention of sanding anymore until after clear coat. Note that I didn't see the glue marks when I wet it with isopropyl before dyeing. However, no biggy as I plan to paint the edge black.
Yes, do the whole top with your finish stain.
Spraying won't leave any noticeable ridge between the wood and the finish (partly because it's a feathered edge anyway rather than a solid line) and the clear coats, rubbing down flat and polishing it up will hide any of that.
I'd normally expect to get three good coats from a 400ml/14oz spray can, (though it does depend on how thick you spray each coat), so I'd budget for two cans for the body and another for the neck (if you plan to clear gloss that as well).
Perfect! I ordered just enough. I am glad to report that the gold dye went perfectly. I am now terrified at the thought of spraying the black lacquer :).
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Practice on some cardboard first. Always better to aim the spray well past the edge of the body and then bring it back until you get the depth of burst you want. It is very easy to overdo it and have the burst as too thick a line around the edge. There's not a lot you can do about that apart from live with it, or sand it back and start again. And that's not easy with a thin veneer top.
I actually ended up picking up some Mohawk Brown lacquer that is transparent. My hope is that it will be a little more forgiving. I also still have the black lacquer. I am also considering using the approach shown at 7:30 here: https://youtu.be/fpuI_Rb55BE
That seems safer than doing it totally free hand. My thought is to use a bigger piece of cardboard and raise it less above the guitar to make the dark fade closer to the edge like the real tuff dog.
I also bought a can of sanding sealer to coat the dye layer first and then apply the burst lacquer. All of the videos I am watching suggest doing it. Is there a downside besides cost and time?
I personally can't see the point of using sanding sealer over the dye. Sanding sealer often contains small particles that act as a filler, so can give a slightly cloudy finish. Fine if you are doing a solid colour paint job, but less desirable for a stained top with a clear finish over that. But some sanding sealer is just thinned clear finish, so it does depend on what's in the can.
You also want to make sure that all your paints/lacquers/sealers are compatible with each other, even if they are by the same manufacturer, so test on scrap wood first in the order you will use them.
I don't think a lot of that cardboard burst method. The guy hasn't ended up with that good a burst. It might look impressive at first glance, but to me, it's very wide, and certainly hasn't got much of a gradual fade towards the edge. It's more of a solid band with some light feathering. The width of the band isn't very controlled either. If you look at a pic of a Tuff dog, you'll see that the burst is a very even width thin band all around the outside.
I haven't attempted that method, but I do think you'll have far more control spraying directly. But with either method, you'll need to practice first. With cardboard, the template needs to be just smaller than the body outline, maybe 1/2" maximum.
So I ended up using the mask approach and the encore brown lacquer from Mohawk. I didn’t use the sanding sealer because it is delayed getting to me. I am happy with the burst and can’t wait to spray the lacquer coats. Anyone notice any issues I should take care of before I spray the instrument lacquer?
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So all went really smoothly up to the burst. I got overexcited and sprayed the nitro and forgot to remove the tape on the edge. I also applied the coats too quickly I think. I have some drips and pretty significant orange peel. However, I am not too worried, from what I have read, I can clean up the border with a razor blade (I did this with the dye and it worked beautifully). I plan to wait 48 hours and then wet sand the current 6 coats of clear nitro until it is a bit smoother (but not through to the color) using 600 grit sand paper. I will clean that with Naptha. I will then apply 2 coats of clear waiting 1-2 hours between. I will do that again 24 hour later and again 24 hours after that. I will then wait 2 weeks for it to cure before doing final sanding and buffing.
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Spent some time this morning cleaning up the binding with a razor. Next I will lightly sand out some rough spots with 600 grit, wipe down and spray 3 more thin coats of clear once per hour. Tomorrow, I will spray 3 more and then leave to dry while I work on the neck. Waiting to sand and buff for 2 weeks is going to drive me nuts :)
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