Printable View
Hi, I am a new member. I am not a musician, but I am going to attempt to build a SG-1 from Pit Bull kit for my grand-son. He wants the whole body Karijini Red, but am worried the body is a very porous wood (basswood I think it is called) and I don't think it will be as easy as Ding Tone video makes out. Should I use some form of sealer before I start with the stain itself. I think the stain is going to show all the overlaps.???
Ian.
SG1 is basswood. Basswood in general is a very flat wood - (think pine, but not yellow) as opposed to some of the ash woods (much more porous). As such I have never used a sealer on basswood before staining. Dingotone is surprisingly easy to apply - couple of suggestions though - work in the cooler parts of the day. Take your time, but keep working your edges.
In terms of absorbtion - the first coat will seem to be soaking up a lot of stain. This is normal. It might feel like its using a lot, but in reality its not using a much at all. For peace of mind, Dingotone was developed for Pitbull Guitars, so there should be plenty in a bottle. I often have enough for 1 1/2 - 2 guitars in a bottle of Dingotone - depending on how sparingly you use it.
Hi Brendan or anyone else,
I put three coats of Dingotone stain coat on an Ash body, allowing a few days to dry between each coat. I ended up with some spots that didn't blend/merge fully. I'm wondering if I have to sand and start over again or if a fourth coat might help blend the overlap marks.
Send us some pics - may be able to help.Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven
I am in the middle of using Karijini red on my rcm12 build, neck and body. It's mahogany and I think basswood is of similar density/porousness. The only prep I did was a pretty basic sand and then I grain filled to get the grain to "pop" with the satin, but no sealing at all and it's come up very nicely. In terms of application it really is as easy as described and shown, you can see where the satin has "taken" and where you've missed, it doesn't dry on you immediately so you can dig in a little and get things very smooth and pro looking. Dig in! I'm at the intensity coat stage and the red is suddenly more prominent and more "flamey". Very satisfying
Could be a number of things, as Brendan said, pics can help us decode the mystery
Pics as requested showing a few of the more visible/prominent uneven absorption problem spots.
Most of these occurred after coat 3 of basecoat/stain and were a consequence of either pooling or missed unblended overlaps when I moved from working outdoors to indoors to avoid overly bright light. Coat 3 seemed to take forever to dry (due to cool ambient temperature at the time ???) which might have contributed to the uneven absorption and pooling. Another contributing factor to some blotches might have been smearing from inadvertent contact with my gloves or the work bench when I flipped the body over to do the bottom side (I have since made a jig to hold the body clear of everything).
Paler stripe left of pic centre is actually from glue residue and most of this will be hidden by the scratch guard, but the central blotches won't be hidden.
Attachment 25436
Side pic shows a missed overlap.
Attachment 25437
More blotches towards tail.
Attachment 25438
In looking back over pics from previous coats some of my problems might relate to inconsistent application of filler - I put more onto end-grain and cross-grain areas than elsewhere.
Do I need to sand back to bare timber and start again or could a 4th coat help in some way ?
(I previously tried some selective spot sanding on blotches and overlaps but this was not precise enough and just seemed to tear off the whole finish).
I've dropped a line to Dingobass to see if he has any ideas.
Hi Raven.
Try giving the whole body a very light sand with 320 grit paper togive the surface some "tooth" and apply another coat of stain.
Hopefully that should even out the coverage.
If you run out of stain or intensifying coat, send me an email at the address on the instruction sheet and I will send you some more.
Hi Raven,
DB is the expert but I have found that I sand to 240 grit when applying DT if I want a deeper colour. what colour is that, it looks like Nullarbor Ochre?
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I followed DB's advice and now have a much better looking body.
I actually sanded a bit more aggressively than "light", especially on the top and bottom, because the blotches were somewhat persistent but also to get a more even base tone in preparation for the fourth coat of stain. I have since applied the stain coat plus two coats of intensifier, picking warmer days to do this. I'll know tomorrow if a 3rd intensifier coat is needed.
Attachment 25560
I think some of my previous troubles arose from applying stain back in October/November last year when the air temp was a lot cooler and humidity a lot higher. I also may have misinterpreted what was said on the instructional video because I let individual coats of stain dry before applying the next and it looked suspiciously like coat 3 dried on top of coat 2 without really soaking in. [This time around I followed the written instructions, not the video]. The other thing I observed this time was that the prescribed follow up rubbing after stain application helped eradicate places where the stain subsequently started to pool. I went over the body two complete times after the initial stain pass and the diligence paid off.
I'll post some more pictures on my build diary entry when I've had time to shrink them.
Andy40 - yes, is Nullarbor Ochre.
Oooh, that's looking nice.
Very sexy indeed.
Tbe second coat of intensifier took a lot longer to dry/cure. The Body now has a generally uniform glossy skin but tbere are a couple of places where tbe grain lines are presenting surface fissures. Is this a sign that I need a third intensifier coat ?
(I'm otherwise happy with both the grain and colour as is )
Sounds like a light wet sand with 1500 wet & dry is required then another thin intensifier coat.
Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
It has been about a couple of months now since the last DT top coat went on but the finish still feels ever so slightly tacky. Is definitely dry because touching does not leave any marks and dust does not stick etc. Is this normal for Dingotone or should it ultimately feel like other clear sealed timber finishes ?