Milk paint aged finish

lysander

https://imgur.com/a/Se914xW

I'm experimenting for an upcoming build, the colours aren't quite right ( orange is way too bright, will try with a more yellowish brown ) but I think it should work well and it's fairly easy to work with.
I added a few coats of oil, it looks quite matte but could be made glossier with more coats.

hoops

Looks pretty good to me!

thecolourbox

I like chalk and milk paints a lot, but not been entirely sure they'd work without getting bashed or rubbing off etc. Is it just a case of lacquering them to buggery and not wearing light coloured clothing?

lysander

Getting some natural wear over time is part of the appeal for me but good point about it rubbing off on clothes - I’ll have to do some tests both with oil and wipe on poly to make sure it doesn’t happen.

earwighoney

lysander said:

https://imgur.com/a/Se914xW

I'm experimenting for an upcoming build, the colours aren't quite right ( orange is way too bright, will try with a more yellowish brown ) but I think it should work well and it's fairly easy to work with.
I added a few coats of oil, it looks quite matte but could be made glossier with more coats.

What guitar do you plan to finish in Milk Paint? 

A couple (this and this) of guitar makers I used to follow online finished a few guitars with milk paint, and I liked how it looked.  Prefer the look of milk paint finishes every time in comparison to Fender style colour finishes eg CAR etc

lysander

A thinline tele and a strat.
I do really like the look of milk paint on guitars. 
To me it says ‘wood’ much more than a thick glossy finish. 
I love aged nitro too but I’m not a fan of spraying high VOC stuff.

Funkfingers

thecolourbox said:

I like chalk and milk paints a lot, but not been entirely sure they'd work without getting bashed or rubbing off etc. Is it just a case of lacquering them to buggery and not wearing light coloured clothing?

This can cut both ways.

My brother wore his original CBS/Fender Jazz Bass fairly low on a strap. Eventually, the indigo dye in his jeans stained the white poly finish.

lysander

I’ve done some vigorous rubbing on that test plank with wet and dry fabric and there’s not one trace of colour on the fabric so should be perfectly fine.

DarnWeight

I built a few partscasters a couple of years back, and used milk paint and danish oil to finish them (plus a little wax at the end).  I wasn't going for a pre-reliced look, but just wanted something that was quick and easy to apply to unprimed wood, would let some of the grain through, and would wear/relic OK with normal use.  I've only been using these in and around the house, but here's a few pics of how they wear after a good bit of handling...









Excuse the low-quality phone cam pics.  You should be able to see, there is grain there, and some surface texturing.  There is quite a lot of yellowing in places (along the edges, mostly), but not sure if this is down to the milk paint, the oil or a combination of the two.  Not pictured, but there's some very minor chipping along the edge nearest the jack socket where the guitars been on a stand.

I'm no relic nut, but I think they still look pretty good.  I find the finished surface is pleasant to handle...definitely not slick/shiny, but pretty tough.  There's a little buckle rash on the back of each, but so far the paint seems to have "flexed" with it, so I'm seeing scratches/indentations but nothing that's penetrated down to bare wood yet.  Never had any issues with it coloring up clothes/fabric with contact.

lysander

Love the look of that.
Weird about the yellowing but it doesn’t detract from it.

mrkb

What’s the metal bit on the upper edge, is that the guitar equivalent of a shoe seg?

lysander

Incidentally I bought this wipe on poly with the milk paint and on the samples I’ve done I preferred it to oil as it changed the colours much less.
Also seemed to go on very nicely and easily with a cloth.

DarnWeight

mrkb said:

What’s the metal bit on the upper edge, is that the guitar equivalent of a shoe seg?

It's a totally spurious banjo arm rest I chucked on it because I liked the look!  I always loved how they looked on the original US-built Eastpointe Reverend guitars, so couldn't resist.

DarnWeight

lysander said:

Love the look of that.
Weird about the yellowing but it doesn’t detract from it.

Yeah, I'm really not bothered by it myself.  Oiling definitely alters the final colour a little, so that wipe-on poly might be a very good call if you have a specific shade you're happy with.