HELP! Finish Colour and Type - Can't Decide!

[McCreed]

Yeah there is one seem line but hard to see in pic. Good point about the LPs as they look nice with non figured tops. Was looking at tru oil to start with but worried to top will end up a little too light for me. Doesn’t need to be dark just not really light.

You will see this warning regularly here, but...

Don't use Tru Oil OVER BLUE DYE... it will eventually turn GREEN. (unless you want that) There's pictures on the forum somewhere of this phenomenon.

Don't get me wrong, Tru Oil is great stuff, and I've used it a lot, but it does have a weird relationship with blue

[a_novice]

Serious? Thanks for the heads up. Was looking to do neck and back of body in just tru oil and figured I’d use it as the clear over any colour I chose so nice to know!

[kuanjb]

Any oil based clear which has a slight yellow tint can cause problems with blues and purples. Either become too dark or change colour. I think Truoil in particular as it penetrates and builds. Probably depends on the wood and type of dye / strain used though. Also I'm not sure if using a sanding sealer after dying would protect the colour more.

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[a_novice]

Any oil based clear which has a slight yellow tint can cause problems with blues and purples. Either become too dark or change colour. I think Truoil in particular as it penetrates and builds. Probably depends on the wood and type of dye / strain used though. Also I'm not sure if using a sanding sealer after dying would protect the colour more.

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Do most use a sealer after a dye / stain?

[king casey]

Do most use a sealer after a dye / stain?

Tends to rub off onto your trousers if you play sitting down.

cheers, Mark.

[fender3x]

I am a novice too when it comes to finishes...but I am using a water based poly to try to avoid tinting my blues.

One a related side note, I matched the light blue paint color almost exactly with my decal, which I put on maple that had been lightly finished with clear poly. Just the very light maple was enough to change the sky blue in the decal to sort of a teal. The good news is that is that the color's don't clash, so I have decided to keep it. That said, it does not take much yellow to change a blue!

[a_novice]

Thanks for the advice 😊

What about putting on a light dye (like keda) and then a Dewaxed Shellac?? Thoughts??

[kuanjb]

Not sure about the shellac as I've never used it.

As to changing colours though you did say you liked the green so could always try blue and if it turns green then there's no real lose.

Whatever you decide you'll do I'd suggest trying it out on a spare piece of wood first though. Might be able to get some cheap off cuts from a local timber yard. I got a nice piece of rock maple about the right size for a uke neck this way.

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[a_novice]

Hadn’t thought of that, with starting blue and if it turns green no big deal. Like it. I’ve started ringing around to source some offcuts as I’m too scared to try until I’ve done some samples so that’s the next step.

Is it best to use black or grey and then sand first to help pop the grain?

[Joe3334]

You could consider using a product called Aquacoat, it’s a transparent, water based grain filler that can be applied before or after dyeing the wood, you can even add the colour to the Aquacoat and dye/grain fill at the same time. You can then use a water based clear over the the top. Great stuff, eco friendly too as well.