Staining a top

[deadedith]

I've read on this Forum that staining a top is not a good idea.
Why not? With proper prep, and a pre-conditioner, why would staining not work?
Has anyone tried it with success? I'd love to hear how you went about it.
Thanks


Oh yeah almost forgot - can white fiber binding be stained?

[Tony_in_NYC]

Are you asking about staining spruce? I am sure you can get it to work, but I wouldnt try it. I have never stained anything other than my ties with my morning coffee with any level of success.

[tippie53]

Oh you can try it but it it was something that worked we would all be doing it instead of using toners . My best advice is get a cheap top and try it. You will see that the pitfalls are stain does not absorb evenly. It is a very difficult operation to pull off but if you want to try and experiment with it try a cheaper top first . Post pictures and share the information.
The best method I used was an old cabinetmakers trick to use sandpaper to work the stain so that it would be more even. While I did have some success it still appeared blotchy .

[Ken Hundley]

On Black Beauty, I tried staining the top first.....didn't work well. Best bet for me was a coat of sanding sealer, two or three clear coats, 3-4 tinted coats, and at least 6 coats of clear....you have to be very careful not to sand through the top clear coats, tinted lacquer has a different sheen than polished clear. These are all very light coats except the final clear coats. Worked for me, anyway.

[Darryl Young]

John, how is the toner applied?

[kencierp]

I am sure John will respond also.

When using spray equpment I add toner to the top coating. Multiple layers are applied to get the color value and shade that I want. Being the lazy guy that I am --- I now use the Behlen's toners available in aerosol cans -- same process -- no muss no fuss.

[tippie53]

As Ken stated . To make it easy , think of it as a translucent paint . You can get toners in different colors in cans or add to your sprayer.
It makes for doing sunbursts or vintage look easy .

[enalnitram]

I stained my #2 with minwax. but it was an all mahogany guitar and I was staining the whole guitar, so that it looked like a Martin mahogany. not sure if that's what you're going for. definitely test on scrap and do your test pieces all the way, with top coats and all, to see if you get the results you want.

[deadedith]

definitely test on scrap and do your test pieces all the way, with top coats and all, to see if you get the results you want.

Thanks Martin, good advice.

[enalnitram]

definitely test on scrap and do your test pieces all the way, with top coats and all, to see if you get the results you want.

Thanks Martin, good advice.

I'm no expert I'm just parroting what I've heard others say! Lol. But I have done this myself and I went thru several tries before I got what I wanted. Then, I went to do it on the real thing and it...well, let's not talk about that right now.

what are you hoping to do? maybe one of the experts here can point you towards the right solution.