Translucent finish advice for darker woods


phreedude

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Working on restoring a musical instrument that features a peice of Mahogany, that when sanded thoroughly is a copper color. I plan on using a vinyl sanding sealer that contains Nitrocellulose and a top coat lacquer containing the same, which being Amber in nature, will most certainly combine with the natural color of the Mahogany and become a brownish color. In order to avoid this overpowering the desired color, is there a predictive software that will calculate the tint color needed to produce the hue that I want? Purple is the end goal, and I know it's possible because I have seen translucent purple finished guitars made from Mahogany...or would it be better to use a pre cat. or cat. Lacquer, and is it possible to find a compatible toner in that type of lacquer? Planned on using Mohawk products, as they seem to have a fairly wide selection of toner colors.

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Assuming that you have some additional pieces of the magohany left over, the only advice that I can give, after you read all the other replies is to make one or more sample finish boards until you get the look and finish that you want.

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There I was assuming you were concerned about preserving the color of beautiful mahogany.  Then all of a sudden it's purple.

Just dye it purple and don't worry about all that science mumbo jumbo.  It's gonna be purple.  The dye will win, always does.

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Brendon/Eric

                  Transtint dye is a good idea, as that was my original idea and actually planned the project around using it. However after multiple tries using different strengths with denatured alcohol, even bleaching the wood samples, as I shot the Nitro, it turned a brownish orange color and I lost the chatoyance and transparency of the Mahogany wood grain. I am also using dark grain filler as well, and at the end of every process, the piece was given 48 - 72 hours to dry. Transtint would be a better idea for a lighter wood, such as Maple, or Ash. Hence the need for spray on toner or tint added to the top coat lacquer. I just need the correct color correction. I did manage to find software that will match a paint color to a pic on an iPhone, and artists and Luthiers use purple on darker woods, the tech is available and there is a need for this app. Suprised someone hasn't written one yet. Why can't the beauty of the wood be preserved and it be purple in color as well? Thanks for the responses. 

 

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Mahogany can be quite orange.  The only thing that has enough color in it to overpower the base color would have to cover it (we call this paint).  I think the OP is asking for colors to use to push the natural color of the wood toward purple.

Reds and blues do yield purples when mixed but, you already have a secondary color of orange as a base.  I don't know that you will be able to take advantage of the natural color in your protocol as it will vary with age making your result unstable in the long run.

I think you will find that most of the purple instruments you see that still show the wood's character are made from very light colored woods like maple.  Maple can be more easily dyed to many colors as the base is white to yellow/white.  Other purple instruments are primed and painted which puts the final color completely in the finisher's hands at the cost of losing the wood grain appearance.

Was any of the mahogany on this instrument purple when you started?  If so, was it a translucent finish?

 

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