Build Diary: IB-4 (first build)

[Pat Rodgers]

Hey, fender3x, I'm not too great with stain either, by my initial results. My plan on staining and top coating come from looking at as many Youtube tutorials as I could stand

I'm about to post my progress from today, it did turn out fairly well after my 2nd coat of stain. I made sure to wipe it down almost immediately after applying it. (I use a fine-pore sponge to put it on).

Sanding is still something I'm shaky on, at least when it comes to how best to correct mistakes like machine marks and enhancing the grain. Once I'm done with a last coat to darken it even more, I will put on 2 or 3 coats of grain filler, depending on how smooth I can get it. I'm planning to use water-based grain filler, so I'm hoping it does not reactivate the stain. I'm going to let the stain set for 2 or 3 days in the hope that it will be okay. Maybe you know of a better way to seal in the stain? If I need to use a spray method, I will, but at the moment I plan to either foam brush it on, or rub it in with my fingers. After that, I plan to put a coat of sanding sealer (again, water based). Once that is sanded as smoothly as I can, then I will put on the water based varnish (2 or more coats, depending on how it goes). I will probably put the decal on right before the varnish.

I'm hoping I can do it all with foam brushing, but if you or others on here recommend against it then I will look at getting a sprayer.

Edit: The "spice" colour looks redder in person and on the Saman web site. These photos don't show it very well. After thinking about it, I definitely want to go darker with it, so hopefully the next coat will do the trick.

Sorry for such a long reply

[Pat Rodgers]

Second staining went pretty well. There were still some spots that wanted to stay thick and not wipe off, so I used very judicious swipes with a damp cloth to coax it to a level that matched the surrounding level of stain. It’s at about the level of darkness that I want, but I saw or read that subsequent coats of grain filler and sanding sealer will probably lighten it up a bit, so I will put on one more quick coat of stain. The front looks pretty good, and I plan to make it the same as the rest of the body, just in case I have to scrap the decal idea for the front. The machine marks I tried sanding out came out pretty well, very hard to see, but I had not noticed the machine marks running along the bottom curve-edge. Not super noticeable to the naked eye, and will be covered by the decal unless that doesn’t work out.

[fender3x]

Hey, fender3x, I'm not too great with stain either, by my initial results.

Well... I'd be pretty good with the outcome your're getting!

Water based top coats don't tend to change the color much, so I don't think it will darken it much. If it were me I would put a couple of coats of dewaxed platina shellac between all of the water based products. Platina doesn't add much color, and it will help with pulling. Brushing tends to pull a bit more than spraying, so I end up using the shellac a lot. What will you be using for top-coat? I have just switched to using BriteTone from Crystalac. Prior to that I used General Finishes High Performance--which I definitely do NOT recommend.

For filler you won't have to worry about the pulling if you use a clear filler like Aqua Coat.* It dried super clear and doesn't yellow--but it's pricey and I have found that it requires quite a few coats to really fill. But it has worked for me on translucent finishes. Crystalac also makes a clear filler, but I have only used the one from Aqua Coat so can't speak from direct experience. You can also tint the filler as TD suggested. I think Famowood filler would work, but you'd need to tint it since it's pretty light color. Timbermate may be OK too, tinted, but I haven't used it myself.

I saw a video of one of the owners of Crystalac using a foam brush, so I know it can be done. His daughter recommend I use an orange Taclon brush, like these:



I have tried a lot of applicators (foam, with and without the brush handle, wipe on rags, sash brushes, goat hair "hake" brushes), but so far the Taclon brushes and a great deal of practice have been working best... My technique, however, is still a work in progress ;-)

*The clear fillers will activate the stain a bit, but it just tints the filler the same color as the stain which you are just working in to the same area...so it hasn't really matter on my builds.

[Pat Rodgers]

Hey guys, thanks for the encouraging words and advice. fender3x, thanks for all of that info, I will take a look at the Platina shellac.

Right now, I'm planning to use Aqua Coat grain filler, especially since you recommend it and I already bought it

For the top coat, I plan to use Saman water based varnish. I do have a nice synthetic hair brush, so I will try that instead of the foam brush.

[fender3x]

I hadn't heard of SamaN before. I found examples of folks staining with their products on the web, but not much about clear coating. I did see that Solo Guitars sells it as a guitar finish, and I saw people using it on floors and stairs. If it will stand up to shoes it should do well on a guitar ;-) Will be interested to know how you like it. Reading about it...it looks like it cures in a week. That would be faster than any other water based top coat I have seen! That would be nice! I have been using BriteTone which takes about 4 weeks to fully cure.