Waz's TL-1AR Spare Parts Swampy Caster

[wazkelly]

Headstock shaping day today....

[wazkelly]

Amazing what quick work 80 grit paper makes of this sanding job....


Started sanding the body but as I started late in the day ran out of daylight and the lamb roast was ready for carving.

[wazkelly]

Sanding, sanding and even more sanding.......



Went hard at it with 80 grit and above shots showing as smooth as with just 120 after 3 nightly sessions after work. Hopefully this leaves enough fibre to absorb the experimental stain process. Shot was taken outside under a flood light as actual colour is not that shade.

[wazkelly]

Meanwhile, back in the lab.....



....just one more sleep before we begin the transformation.

[wazkelly]

Tea time!
Before......



After soaking up 10 tea bags worth of tea left to brew for past 5 days...



Shots were taken whilst still wet and initial impressions were that tea could be a really cheap stain alternative, particularly for necks to give them that aged look. May need to check how they look in the morning once dried out to see how much colour was absorbed.

[Simon Barden]

Now to pour on the milk and sugar.

[wazkelly]

Now to pour on the milk and sugar.

Nah, that would be too British for this axe and proceeded to give it a liberal dose of some dark & sinister brew.......



These shots were done as the brew was still wet and in the 3rd shot it was starting to dry.

Neck and fret board were very bland and was hoping for more of the darkness to show up? Will wait and see how it all looks in the morning before making any further decisions.

[andrewdosborne]

I'm liking the look of the tea stain Waz, very nice. The science experiment is tracking well ☺

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

[pablopepper]

I particularly like what it's done to the neck. Nice subtle colour.

[wazkelly]

Thanks Guys.

Had a sneaky peek at it a while ago and the colour seems to have faded as it dried but the special steel wool in white vinegar solution is yet to be applied tomorrow night. Can't wait to see how that turns out however the theory is it should be more grey/black than light brown as it looks in these shots.

Reckon that left over coffee grinds would produce a stronger brew than Tea if that was to be the final stage of the process but my research indicated that Tanins had to be introduced for the chemical reaction to work properly. One more sleep before we find out.