Staining New Neck??

[ksl]

Hi all~~  I just received my custom neck, black ebony on birdseye maple, and am prepared to stain & seal with Tung Oil. The untouched maple is really light & IF I chose to use something to make it more interesting, what should be used, Minwax, 

& when should it be done....BEFORE the Tung Oil, I assume, and with the same technique of 0000 steel wool between coats?

Thanks~~

🕉

[Freeman Keller]

There are two ways to change the color of a piece of wood - you can apply a stain which is absorbed into the wood and actually colors the fiber or you can apply a tinted finish over the surface which sits on top of the wood.  Both methods are valid but give different results.

With the first you normally dissolve or dilute a dye in alcohol or water and wipe or spray it onto the wood.  Stains will be absorbed at different rates by cross grain that end grain - that is why it is often used to pop the beautiful flame on maple tops (think PRS and old LP's).    It can be hard to control and can look blotchy.   Many top finishes will "pull back" the stain into the finish and that can further muddy the color.   When I stain wood I almost always apply a sealing coat before starting my final top coats.  Since I use lacquer that sealer is almost always vinyl modified lacquer, sometimes shellac.  You should use something compatible with your finish.

The other option is to put dye into your top finish, usually just a small amount to make it semi transparent - you want to still see the wood thru the finish.   I frequently add a couple of drops of red or amber or brown dye to my lacquer before I shoot it.   One problem with tinted finishes on necks it the finish will wear thru with years of play and is almost impossible to touch up.

I have no experience with "tung oil" other than to use it on furniture.   In fact there are lots of different substances called "tung oil" so I won't comment on it.    I have used TruOil which is a gun stock finish and is popular with amateur guitar finishers, however I have not applied it over stain nor have I tried to tint in so, again, no comments.    TruOil seems to have a faint amber cast - it does not dry crystal clear.    (BTW people get the best results with TruOil by applying many very thin coats (2 dozen or more) and letting it cure thoroughly (30 - 60 days) before final buffing.

The last comment I'll make is that the cardinal rule of any finishing project is to practice on scrap.  I doubt that you have any scrap birds eye maple around but maybe your custom neck builder can supply some cutoffs.   I'm purposely not giving you any direct instructions because I have no experience with your products - all the more reason to practice on scrap.

There are pretty good finishing sub forums at a couple of the lutherie forums, probably the one that would help you the most is at TDPRI

https://www.tdpri.com/forums/finely-finished.47/

[ksl]

Very good info..& it's actually Tru-Oil that I WILL have on top. As for whatever stain I go with, I can always try some on the base of the neck that will be hidden by the pocket.  I guess I want to find the best shade to make the grain pop, w/o going too dark & you can't see anything.  Honey Maple's nice, & would compliment my gold hardware nicely.

Thanks~~

🕉

[ksl]

Hiya Freeman.... I wanted to add a small trace amount of red dye into my oil-based Minwax Natural stain.  Will the powdered stuff I see properly dissolve in the stain?  I'm hesitant to use liquid dyed as most are water based, but the KEDA WOOD DYES doesn't mention what if it's water or oil based. I did write them.  My final coats will be the Tung Oil for guns.

Thanks!