Official Luthiers Forum!

So I was wondering if anyone here has ever attempted to tint Shellac to a solid jet black color. I had thought about trying some of the StewMac trans tint but wanted to hear some opinions and experiences

Yes, I have. It takes several coats to get really black.
I used this: http://www.lmii.com/products/finishing/ ... ncentrates

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

I used black vine pigment in powder form to tint and opacify my shellac for the back of this guitar.
Takes about 5-10 coats (brushed on) to give a jet black finish.
The color has not faded for the 5 years it has seen.

Same here. Alcohol-soluble black dye in shellac, requiring 5 or 6 brushed on coats for this resonator uke.

Levelling is a pain, constantly thinning the edges so the wood shows through (in my case, blue tinted). I think in hindsight that I should have begun by dyeing the wood black and then applying tinted shellac on top. But the overall effect just using tinted shellac is a very solid colour.

Wow those are some really nice looking axes there.

I have used the Stew Mac Color Tone black to tint shellac. Works just fine.

Very cool. How about colors other than black?

Thanks for the tips guys! Good looking instruments