dying wood question

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Chris Richards
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dying wood question

Post by Chris Richards »

I'm thinking of doing a guitar with somewhat of a "lute" look made from alternate strips of mahogany and maple and I wanted to put much thinner strips of wood between the strips, getting a contrast I can see may be difficult, a light wood wouldn't work because of the maple so I was going to go dark, something like ebony but I didn't want to go to that expense. I was hoping to use maple and dye it black but since the back is going to be shaped I'm unsure whether the dye will penetrate enough to not get carved away.

Has anyone got any ideas/alternatives, I really just want say 2mm thick different coloured strips of wood between the mahogany and maple..

Thanks
Chris
Gordon Bellerose
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Re: dying wood question

Post by Gordon Bellerose »

You could try some Wenge. Or black walnut.
Or for a different effect try padauk, or purpleheart.
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Barry Daniels
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Re: dying wood question

Post by Barry Daniels »

You can buy dyed veneer from Luthiers Mercantile.

I tried pressure cooking veneer strips with dye but it only penetrated a short distance.
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Chris Richards
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Re: dying wood question

Post by Chris Richards »

Thanks for the help, yes I suspected that dying wood would be a waste of time, I'll try and hunt down some cheap wood as Gordon suggests..
Mark Wybierala
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Re: dying wood question

Post by Mark Wybierala »

You could always make a 1/4" dyed cap using maple and strips of dyed wooden binding. LMI has a range of colors.
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Andrew Porter
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Re: dying wood question

Post by Andrew Porter »

A pretty good video on "Ebonizing" wood. Fairly long but the take away is archival grade India Ink (i.e. Speedball or Dick Blick brands).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0E7E6uSPJY
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Jim McConkey
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Re: dying wood question

Post by Jim McConkey »

Probably the same stuff, but most lutherie supply places carry black fingerboard dye. It is commonly used on violin fingerboards, but can be used any any instrument. From my limited experience, it seems to hold up well.
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Chris Richards
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Re: dying wood question

Post by Chris Richards »

Haven't checked back here for a while, but thank you for the continuing help...
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