Recommended number of stain/intensifier/final coats?

[Blueshound]

I read in another thread that 3-4 coats of final coat is about the most you'd want of any finish. Are there any guidelines on how many coats of DT stain, intensifier and final to apply?

• Can you skip the intensifier coats if you get the colour you want with the stain?
• Is there a difference between how many coats you put on the neck vs the body?
• Why would you use more/less coats at each stage?

Below are my results to date:



This is a burst of Coolangatta Gold, Outback Sunset and Black Stump with 3x stain coats. The third coat seemed to be a sweet spot - the colour is vivid and it has a really nice satin feel with a bit of gloss. To be honest - really happy with the look and feel as is (or was). I applied the first intensifier coat, and I can't say there's that much of a difference - other than I wasn't really sure how to blend the different colour intensifier (not wanting to overwork it) so some of the orange to black areas will need some attention with the steel wool.



This is the neck. Bastardised Mission Beach mix with 2x Stain, 2x Intensifier, 2x final. 110% awesome. The DT neck final coat is amazing stuff. Even before going over with steel wool it is super smooth. After the second coat it feels like something you'd pick up in a shop (and then take home to have your way with). I'm hesitant to do another coat because I feel like there's a greater chance I'll ruin it rather than making it better.



This is the neck of my colourless kit. 2x Stain, 2x Intensifier (same as on the body below) and 2x neck final coat. I can't say enough good things about the DT neck final coat. Pure amaze-balls. Though I think the mahogany could take a 3rd coat.



This is a shot of the colourless kit with 1x stain, 2x intensifier and 1x final. Being colourless, I wasn't sure what the benefit of multiple stain coats would be. The second intensifier coat seemed to deepen the natural colour of the woods though. Plan is to put another 2x final coats on as the first was a bit patchy.

[Fretworn]

On my JBA-4 I did one stain coat and one intensifying coat, but in hindsight I should have done 2 of each, especially the intensifying coat and the colour can take a few weeks to fully deepen and it's only then that you find the spots that you missed by only doing one coat.

[Andy40]

Blueshound they are great results! Can I just ask what the humidity is like where you live? and what was the process you adopted up to the finish coats, especially the neck.

[dingobass]

Looking good.

Pro tip. If it feels nice and looks nice, its done.

As with all finishes, the thinner the better so yes you can skip the intensifier if you want.

[Blueshound]

Looking good.

Pro tip. If it feels nice and looks nice, its done.

As with all finishes, the thinner the better so yes you can skip the intensifier if you want.

Necks are done then Thanks DB.

Blueshound they are great results! Can I just ask what the humidity is like where you live? and what was the process you adopted up to the finish coats, especially the neck.

Thanks Andy. I'm in Sydney. January has either been humid, or extremely humid. I've tried to be patient but the weather has not let up so I ended up doing finishing work in less than ideal weather. In hindsight, I probably should have bought something to measure the local humidity because I only have anecdotal evidence, but I didn't notice a strong correlation between humidity and finish results.

I do all of my finishing (ie both bodies and both necks) at the same time. Base stains didn't seem to be affected by the weather. Body intensifier, maybe. Body final coat, maybe. Necks, didn't seem to matter at any stage. I did neck and body final coats at the same time (in humid conditions) where the body turned out slightly patchy but the neck coats came out great.

On one of the really humid days I put some finish on my practice sunburst pine. I layered it on thick and overworked it like crazy, just to see what would happen but it seemed fine.

As for the process, I pretty much followed DB's videos. For the neck intensifier and final coats I only loaded up the cloth once for the entire application and I always started at the heel - just in case something went wrong, it would be in an inconspicuous place.

I suspect issues I've had were preparation related rather than weather, but two kits is not enough to draw conclusions from, must gather more kits... err, data.

[Andy40]

Thanks for the Blueshound. It was helpful as I wan't to nail the DT if possible