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Hello Listers -- I'm prepping my first instrument for a lacquer finish. I did a gel stain on mahogany back and sides and then transparent filler. I didn't realize that the stain would soak into my abs bindings Things were looking really sweet, until.... after scraping back the bindings to remove the stain, my surface color was inconsistent due to the scraper kissing the back and sides. I then sanded lightly with 320 which worked ok in some areas, but not in others (holstein cow effect). I'm hoping I can do some touch up staining (bad idea?) Does anyone have a tip on keeping the stain from soaking into abs short of taping the hole thing?

Thanks,
Chris

The stain doesn't really soak into the binding, it just sits on the surface. That is why you could remove it with a little scraping. You could have prevented this by applying a sealer coat first. Or you could learn the technique for scraping bindings by using your fingers as an edge guide. A little practice will allow you to scrape too a fine line and this will come in handy if you ever do a tinted or sunburst finish.

The technique suggested with using your fingers as a guide is:

You hold the scraper in your hand, then allow just enough scraper out past your thumb to scrape the area you need to clean up. Your thumb (or other finger if it feels more comfortable) will guide the maximum amount of scraper down the sides. Your thumb will glide along the top or back, keeping the scraper carefully placed only so far down the side.

For touchup, I'd put the gel stain on another piece of wood. Let it dry, then scrape and sand it like your guitar. Then try to touch it up with a light application of stain. See if you can match it and make it look as you'd like it to. This time you might want to mask your bindings.