Colourful/translucent inks/stains?

axisus

I fancy attempting a mad multi coloured translucent finish, using pretty bright coloured inks or similar. I want it to be colourful rather than dullish, and something that I can lacquer over with cellulose ideally. Inks would have to be small amounts of quite a lot of colours. Is there any kind of ink that anyone knows of that would fit the bill?

rpr

Crimson guitars have sample bottles of their stains ,http://crimsonguitars.com/store/stunning-stains-samples/

Sporky

Similarly, Chestnut do a pack of small bottles of their vivid colours.

axisus

Many thank for the replies, just the right thing!

paulnb57

@axisus ;

I've used the Crimson stain and it is excellent and you get shitloads....

Dunno if this YouTube vid is of interest, it drags on a bit as it shows the complete process without his usual editing.......

Andyjr1515

As you probably have seen, I pretty exclusively use Diamine fountain pen inks - their colour range is vast and they sell sample quantities in addition to their standard 30ml bottles.  Very cheap, very wide range, buy from their web site, quick delivery.

The good thing is also that, because the wood itself significantly affects the final colour of all stains, the choice of shades of similar colours allows experimentation to get the best end result.

Sporky

These were quick tests I did with the Chestnut stuff on maple. Not a great photo but should give you some idea of how strong the colours are - this was fairly well diluted into polyacrylic.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/builds/spb1/spb1 colour tests.jpg

axisus

Andyjr1515 said:

As you probably have seen, I pretty exclusively use Diamine fountain pen inks - their colour range is vast and they sell sample quantities in addition to their standard 30ml bottles.  Very cheap, very wide range, buy from their web site, quick delivery.

The good thing is also that, because the wood itself significantly affects the final colour of all stains, the choice of shades of similar colours allows experimentation to get the best end result.

@Andyjr1515 Do you have a link to where one can get the samples? I couldn't see it on the website.

Rabs

I have used Rothko and Frost stains.. Pretty good stuff 

http://www.rothkoandfrost.com/wood-finishes/

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r588/Rabs2010/DSC_1885_zpsoszuwzxa.jpg

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r588/Rabs2010/DSC_1890_zpskkzzsncy.jpg

Rabs

How about this Gibson then for a mutli coloured finish 

Andyjr1515

axisus said:

Andyjr1515 said:

As you probably have seen, I pretty exclusively use Diamine fountain pen inks - their colour range is vast and they sell sample quantities in addition to their standard 30ml bottles.  Very cheap, very wide range, buy from their web site, quick delivery.

The good thing is also that, because the wood itself significantly affects the final colour of all stains, the choice of shades of similar colours allows experimentation to get the best end result.

@Andyjr1515 Do you have a link to where one can get the samples? I couldn't see it on the website.

Hi @axisus   Looks like they've dropped that option.  You do still get a 5ml sample of any colour at orders over £10 , so (based on that most are at about £2.60ish for 30ml) you can basically get hold of 5 colours  for under £12.  The free sample option appears automatically once your basket trips £10.

30ml, by the way, looks a titchy bottle when it arrives but will do a complete guitar!  I'm a fan of Crimson, but I'm not sure where they are coming from selling such large quantities...

WezV

I would guess they are a wood stain available elsewhere repackaged for the guitar market, maybe even remixed into guitarist friendly colours.  Potentially they are a special colour order from one of the usual suspects like Chestnut.

doesnt really matter if the colours and quantities are good.

Kalimna

Regarding the Diamine (I have used them and Noodlers in my pens for a long time) inks, how well do the colours hold up to UV exposure? Do you dilute them into the finish, or apply diluted, in say water or alcohol, then finish over the top?

Cheers,
Adam

Andyjr1515

Kalimna said:

Regarding the Diamine (I have used them and Noodlers in my pens for a long time) inks, how well do the colours hold up to UV exposure? Do you dilute them into the finish, or apply diluted, in say water or alcohol, then finish over the top?

Cheers,
Adam

In practice, I've never had any fade whatsoever, and my guitars are on wall hooks in full sunlight and some have been there a number of years.

On the other hand, we did an experiment in another forum with highly intensified exposure and there seemed to be an issue with one or two of the colours...but it was extreme and not matched with a 'control' samples, so to be honest it was a bit inconclusive.  Haven't been able to get any specific data from Diamine...but then again I haven't seen any data or evidence offered from any of the specialist guitar suppliers either...  Well, I suppose other than the hundreds of brown Gibsons that used to be red....

I would be surprised if any of the calligraphy inks have an issue...after all, they are designed to be legible for 1000 or so years....think Lindisfarne Gospels

i generally apply neat, sometimes multi coats, sometimes just one.  Also I do multi colour blends and bursts.

Andyjr1515

WezV said:

I would guess they are a wood stain available elsewhere repackaged for the guitar market, maybe even remixed into guitarist friendly colours.  Potentially they are a special colour order from one of the usual suspects like Chestnut.

doesnt really matter if the colours and quantities are good.

That's probably right, @WezV.      

I do like Chestnut Spirit Stains for their good absorption properties and for their wood colours.  What I like about the inks, though, is the vast range of colour shades for each of the basic colour choices.  When the wood affects the final colour so much, that breadth of choice is useful for getting exactly the look you want.