Wood finishing question

Reznik

I have a kit guitar. It has a mahogany body and a flame maple top. My original plan was to finish it in solid black (like, with paint), but I really like the figuring on the maple and don't want to cover it up entirely. I still want a black guitar though. I've been looking at stains and dyes and came across people using India Ink to get a nice dark finish. So my questions are: will the India Ink work well with both the maple and the mahogany? Will the figure show through at all? Will there be any issues using Tru Oil to finish it? Is there a better alternative I should be looking at?

I don't have the space or equipment to use any spray finishes, so I need to use something that can be brushed or rubbed on and hopefully doesn't have too strong a smell.

Radiation

Do you still have some scraps you can sand to equal level to test? I've always found that with stains and dyes scraps from the piece you're working on is the best test subject.
Although someone did have a dye question thread at the woodworking subreddit a few weeks back. I'll have to check when I get home from work, but I think it had some pretty good advice, and experienced opinions from people.

Reznik

I'm trying to track down some scraps. I didn't do any of the woodworking myself - the kit came built, so I only have to glue the neck/body together, sand, finish, and install the hardware and electronics. The only person I know who does a lot of woodworking just has spruce, so when I get some time this weekend I'm gonna start calling around and see if I can find any. But I have a feeling finding flame maple might be tricky.

EggyToast

In general, a stain will allow the figuring in the wood to show through. I'm not sure about india ink, but a black wood stain, depending on the transparency, would work. You can typically get small pint cans at any hardware store, even Home Depot or Lowes. You'd then finish it with laquer over the top to preserve the stain and give you a smooth surface (an actual finish).

For example, here's a black stain I pulled from a google image search for "black wood stain":

http://www.getnewlook.com/NewDeck_Black_Walnut_405_Color_Image_LABELED.jpg

Reznik

I did a little more digging and apparently the India Ink fades pretty quickly, so scratch that.

Am I going to need different stains for the mahogany and the maple?

Here's an example of the sort of look I want:



Is it possible to achieve the opaque edges with a ton of stain, or does that have to be paint? The reason I ask is the Tru Oil I want to use to finish it won't work over paint if I remember correctly. I basically want the back, sides, and the burst around the edges to be as solid as possible, and then the figuring showing through in the middle. I've heard Tru Oil is really easy to finish with, while lacquer takes a while to cure, and I don't have any spray equipment or space to spray (unless lacquer can be rubbed on?)

Also, is there a difference between stains and dyes?

Dark_Side

What you probably want to do is learn how to "pop" wood grain. Maple in particular can benefit from popping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx8mp3Ag36s

As to the sunburst effect, here's a common method for doing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRqp2E3FT7o

I can't really give you much advice on the paint/stain/dies to use though, but realize tru-oil tends to give an amber finish. As with most things paint, test out your methods on some scrap. Even if it means going to home depot and getting some maple stock, probably worth your while.

Reznik

The problem with that sunburst video is it's all aerosols - I basically have to do this in my kitchen, I don't have any workshop space and I live in an apartment where fumes would be an issue for my neighbours. That's why I'm looking for anything that can be rubbed on instead of sprayed, hence the Tru Oil over lacquer. If I'm using black dye/stain, the amber tint of the Tru Oil shouldn't be too noticeable, right?

I'm definitely going to head to Home Depot (or wherever else I can find wood) and see if I can get a few pieces of maple and mahogany to practice on. I've got a few other projects eating up my time right now so I'm probably not going to dig too heavily into this until the summer, but I just wanna get a plan of attack first since my situation limits how I can approach this.

Dark_Side

I'm not sure you can get a nice sunburst without using a spray method, but you can certainly try, just experiment a lot and see what kind of results you get. Any sort of manual application of paint is going to be tough to blend into a nice gradient, though I know from my time painting warhammer minis, there were methods to do it involving layering/blending, that worked well for people who weren't me.

If there's a local hardwood supplier or 'Rockler' in your area, a lot of times they will scrap bins you can pick through to find cheap pieces of hardwood. They're usually damaged and/or warped, but for experimental purposes are perfect.

As to the tru-oil tint, I'm not sure. I used tung oil on a guitar amp cabinet I built a year or so ago and the natural maple turned a deep amber after a year. I finished the Mahagony baffle with a dark stain + tung oil and the amber tint doesn't seem noticeable. No clue what it will look like on top of a black finish.