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Stain Bleed Through
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=47207		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  George L [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 4:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Stain Bleed Through
I used TransTint stain in water to darken some figured maple. Looks pretty nice from the outside, but the solution wicked right through the wood! I've never had this happen before and I didn't think I was soaking the surfaces excessively. Well, what's done is done, so I went ahead and wiped on a single coat of shellac and that bled through, too!

Image

Luckily this was an inexpensive, non-bookmatched set that I'm using to make a knockabout guitar for myself, but I'd really like to avoid this in the future. Is it me? Is it maple? Is it hobgoblins? What the heck is going on here?
Author:  DannyV [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Stain Bleed Through
I've used a lot of Maple over the years George. Trans Tint bursts (in alcohol) , shellaced wood etc. I've never seen anything like that. Being a non porous wood the only thing I can think would be excessive run out to expose more end grain than usual. Does it sand out?
Author:  Haans [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Stain Bleed Through
George, I've seen it a lot on mandolins. It comes from spraying too "wet" of a coat on a thin maple. Solution is to spray a "drier" coat. If it does'nt appear wet from the outside, it won't soak through. Many dry coats are better than heavy coats and you will approach the color you want better.
Author:  George L [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Stain Bleed Through
You may be right, Danny, because it only happened with the back; the sides are fine. Very strange. Sanding diminishes it some, but not entirely. Oh well, it's a good day when you learn something new, right? :-)

The guitar should still look kind of cool from a distance:

Image
Author:  George L [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Stain Bleed Through
Thanks, Haans! I wiped this on with rags and tried to use as little water as possible. Obviously I didn't succeed!
Author:  J De Rocher [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Stain Bleed Through
That's a pretty slick looking "knockabout" guitar. Looks great on the outside.
Author:  Clinchriver [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 6:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Stain Bleed Through
My curly maple 13 fret Nick Lucas had bleed through with transtint. Looking at the end grain of curly maple you can see its "folded" the dye just runs right through........ :mrgreen:
Author:  Alex Kleon [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 6:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Stain Bleed Through
Not speaking from experience, but if you use alcohol instead of water, as a carrier, wouldn't it flash off quicker, and reduce the depth into the wood?

Alex
Author:  George L [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 7:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Stain Bleed Through
Thanks for the replies, fellas. Yeah, Jay, I like the way the stain looks on the outside. [:Y:]
You may be right about the alchohol, Alex. My test pieces didn't exhibit this problem, so I thought water would be fine. Those were cutoffs from the sides, of course. idunno

When it comes time to finish, I'll have to make sure my varnish is nice and thick!
Author:  guitarjtb [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 10:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Stain Bleed Through
I had the same thing happen a few months ago on MY maple knockabout L-00 guitar. I wiped on alcohol based stain and it came through very much like yours. I just moved on from it, thinking I had too much run out in the wood. It may be that I put it on too wet. At least I learned a lesson on one that I plan to keep for myself.

James
Author:  J De Rocher [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Stain Bleed Through
Taylor has made a big push toward using figured maple like yours in their guitars. On almost half of the 600 series models, the back and sides are stained fairly dark. I wonder how they deal with this issue.
Author:  giltzow [ Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Stain Bleed Through
Hi George

I had the same problem with a curly Redwood top. Can't see it without a camera or light and mirror so it doesn't bother me. Seems like this is right under the sound hole. If you use a label there it might not show at all. Just a thought. Nice looking guitar - Mike
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