Using Spirit Stains

Rox

So, excitedly ready for my new projects (!), I'm looking to use spirit stains to colour the body of the guitar.

I've found the Chestnut Spirit Stains are bloody brilliant, great finish and easy to use.  I used to live near a stockist and would buy them at excellent prices.  I've used both Melamine Lacquer and Oil over the top of them and they always look great.

Online prices seem very expensive unless you look in the right place.  Ebay and Amazon are double the price of specialist Woodworking shops!

They come in regular colours, and wood colours, and this is where my dilemma comes in.

I want a dark rosewood/walnut type shade to the wood, but if I buy a wood colour stain that doesn't quite do it, I'll be back to square one.  As every piece of wood absorbs differently perhaps I'd be batter off getting separate solid colours, Black, Yellow, Red, and mixing my own solution.

Anyone have any experience of this?  I'm assuming those three colours would be the right choices for that sort of project?

robgilmo

I do a bit of restoration on antique furniture, I don't use spirit stains a lot as French polish will lift them but I've always been under the impression that mixing your own is key. Have a you tube gander, there is a guy on there called the English polisher, I think he has a video on stains.

Andyjr1515

Rox said:

So, excitedly ready for my new projects (!), I'm looking to use spirit stains to colour the body of the guitar.

I've found the Chestnut Spirit Stains are bloody brilliant, great finish and easy to use.  I used to live near a stockist and would buy them at excellent prices.  I've used both Melamine Lacquer and Oil over the top of them and they always look great.

Online prices seem very expensive unless you look in the right place.  Ebay and Amazon are double the price of specialist Woodworking shops!

They come in regular colours, and wood colours, and this is where my dilemma comes in.

I want a dark rosewood/walnut type shade to the wood, but if I buy a wood colour stain that doesn't quite do it, I'll be back to square one.  As every piece of wood absorbs differently perhaps I'd be batter off getting separate solid colours, Black, Yellow, Red, and mixing my own solution.

Anyone have any experience of this?  I'm assuming those three colours would be the right choices for that sort of project?

It's worth getting their sampler packs and trying it (chestnut do a pack of wood colours and a pack of bright poster colours).  It will mix perfectly well, but the colour you end up with will be a tad unpredictable so it's great if you're dealing with a lot of small bottles from the sampler packs rather than having to guess at a small number of large bottles!

Depending what colour you are after, might also be worth looking at pen ink.  Diamine have a huge range of colours and, again, you buy small bottles for only a few £ each and, again, you can mix them.

Rox

Thanks to your post @robgilmo ;, I've just seen some woodworking blogs about making your own stains using acrylic paint, which we have LOADS of hanging around...    Might be doing some experimenting in the shed before long... 

robgilmo

If you are going to experiment take into account what you will be applying over it, also fade due to Uv, sunlight etc, I would be wary about using home brews with anything other than something designed for the job, have a look at liberon or someone like that, they do both water and spirit stains.

Rox

I've used the Chestnut stuff before which was really good, so I might stick to that.  I'll probably have a go at some homebrew stuff anyway for other, non-guitary projects.

Corvus

I mix them, from different suppliers too, alla been good.