Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey all,

Back in October I posted a picture of 2 cocobolo backs that were of very different color and asked for advice on how to get the colors to match up better. Many suggested waiting and others suggested exposure to UV light to help speed up oxidation. Great ideas, but unfortunately they didn't give me what I was looking for. I finished building the box and still had this 'orange' look to the back wood.



Not happy

So after some researching I tried potassium permanganate to help oxidize the color. Here's what I got after 2 applications....


Cleaned up with naptha and applied a coat of z-poxy. Looking MUCH better!


Thanks to those who offered help before. This is my little contribution on how I got it done in case anyone else runs into a similar dilemma.
Thanks for looking!!!

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Michael Anthony

"Life's short. Play guitar!"

Cool Michael!
Man, that stuff did the trick!
I'm trying to get some Cherry to oxidize on a chest by exposing it to sunlight.
Two drawer fronts just don't want to darken.
I'll give this a shot.
Thanks,
Dan

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

I'm glad it's better, but who the ? sold that to you as a set?

I wonder what that stuff would do to Purpleheart.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

The back set was an 'orphan' that I combined with an orphaned side set. I'm glad the potassium permang did it's thing as I hate seeing good wood go unused......

_________________
Michael Anthony

"Life's short. Play guitar!"

Good save then....

the magnesium permanganate can also be used to darken up light spots in walnut...e.g. you use a fine artist's brush to apply it strategically to the light areas and blend it in

"I wonder what that stuff would do to Purpleheart."

I believe it makes it go an icky brown. IIRC heat will bring out the purple color in freshly cut purple heart (but I may be remembering wrong). I usually just do my final sanding and give it a few days to regain it's purple color.

The OP's guitar does look much better with the darker back. I have used a few coats of tinted lacquer to help pull mismatches together on occasion, and even (god forbid!) stain.

My kitchen cabinets are natural cherry. I keep adding to them over the years. With sun light and a bit of time they do all blend together. Potassium permanganate may not give the most natural look, so try it on scrap first.