skeels
..to pay the beels
So, a couple people asked me about a couple refins I had done a while ago utilizing fire to bring out an otherwise dull wood grain. So, here's a little bit.
I was refinishing guitars for a while, mostly because I was bored with my like fourteen black guitars and partially because I wanted to do some swirls. During my adventures in sanding, I found a couple had a nice hunk of wood underneath the black and so I had stained a couple as repainting had begun to lose its luster, as it were, and I had gotten onto a bit of a natural wood kick.
But I found a couple were very dull underneath the thick black gloss, and wondered how I could make a stain job stand out. I really only had a few stains, provincial, golden oak and something else, and didn't have any experience with dyes and sandbacks yet.
To wit, some befores:
A Fender Squier Stagemaster, replete with the most boringest veneer on both the front and back..
And an Ibanez 7321..
The 7321 had the thickest sanding sealer- that layer of discolorarion below the clear coat and the paint that seems to never come off as you keep on sanding and sanding... I honestly think I may have sanded off a veneer from this one. I just kept sanding and sanding until it was too late to guess what I was taking off. I may have sanded a few mm's off.
Who knows? I sure don't. I went sand-happy. I ended up taking the belt sander to the bass wood and carving in some RGD style bevels, which actually came out very nice.
At this point, I can't rightly recall how fire came into the equation. Perhaps the pyro in me. Perhaps some obscure reference, now shrouded in the mists of time, lost forever, possibly buried somewhere in the seemingly endless archive of ancient posts on this very forum.
But the idea of burning things, even only partially, is a strong one to me, so I went for broke.
So, I did.
I borrowed my buddies propane torch and just went to town. I had no idea what I was doing, but I did it just the same. Lightly, I began to singe the wood, being very careful to not fry the glue joins that bound the wood pieces together. I found that the edges and corners and screw holes and such would darken and basically char more quickly that the flat parts. But it began to slowly bring life and character out where before there was none.
You will notice the veneer on the squier had no grain to bring out, but the darkening of the surface gave it something other than the lifeless look of boiled chicken that it had. Bleah.
After I was more or less satisfied with the scorching, I stained both. The 7321 then got many coats of tungoil finish and the Squier, whose neck I also burned, got a satin clear from a rattle can. Both were very nice, although now I much prefer the oil finishes.
Aaand some afters:
So. Was there any actual advice in there? Hm.
It's a lot like sanding with power sanders, only if you're not careful. you will burn your house down.
Don't "park" your flame in one spot.
Don't over cook any spots, especially edges and routes and holes. You can always add more fire, you cannot take fire away.
You can't un-burn something. Especially your pants or your hands and stuff.
It's fire.
I suppose you could use a gas stove or a BBQ or something, but that would certainly be more difficult to control.
Anyways, have fun, keep a fire extinguisher handy, or at least a big glass of water, especially if your shop is like mine and filled with sawdust and wood chips, and enjoy your work!
I was refinishing guitars for a while, mostly because I was bored with my like fourteen black guitars and partially because I wanted to do some swirls. During my adventures in sanding, I found a couple had a nice hunk of wood underneath the black and so I had stained a couple as repainting had begun to lose its luster, as it were, and I had gotten onto a bit of a natural wood kick.
But I found a couple were very dull underneath the thick black gloss, and wondered how I could make a stain job stand out. I really only had a few stains, provincial, golden oak and something else, and didn't have any experience with dyes and sandbacks yet.
To wit, some befores:
A Fender Squier Stagemaster, replete with the most boringest veneer on both the front and back..
And an Ibanez 7321..
The 7321 had the thickest sanding sealer- that layer of discolorarion below the clear coat and the paint that seems to never come off as you keep on sanding and sanding... I honestly think I may have sanded off a veneer from this one. I just kept sanding and sanding until it was too late to guess what I was taking off. I may have sanded a few mm's off.
Who knows? I sure don't. I went sand-happy. I ended up taking the belt sander to the bass wood and carving in some RGD style bevels, which actually came out very nice.
At this point, I can't rightly recall how fire came into the equation. Perhaps the pyro in me. Perhaps some obscure reference, now shrouded in the mists of time, lost forever, possibly buried somewhere in the seemingly endless archive of ancient posts on this very forum.
But the idea of burning things, even only partially, is a strong one to me, so I went for broke.
So, I did.
I borrowed my buddies propane torch and just went to town. I had no idea what I was doing, but I did it just the same. Lightly, I began to singe the wood, being very careful to not fry the glue joins that bound the wood pieces together. I found that the edges and corners and screw holes and such would darken and basically char more quickly that the flat parts. But it began to slowly bring life and character out where before there was none.
You will notice the veneer on the squier had no grain to bring out, but the darkening of the surface gave it something other than the lifeless look of boiled chicken that it had. Bleah.
After I was more or less satisfied with the scorching, I stained both. The 7321 then got many coats of tungoil finish and the Squier, whose neck I also burned, got a satin clear from a rattle can. Both were very nice, although now I much prefer the oil finishes.
Aaand some afters:
So. Was there any actual advice in there? Hm.
It's a lot like sanding with power sanders, only if you're not careful. you will burn your house down.
Don't "park" your flame in one spot.
Don't over cook any spots, especially edges and routes and holes. You can always add more fire, you cannot take fire away.
You can't un-burn something. Especially your pants or your hands and stuff.
It's fire.
I suppose you could use a gas stove or a BBQ or something, but that would certainly be more difficult to control.
Anyways, have fun, keep a fire extinguisher handy, or at least a big glass of water, especially if your shop is like mine and filled with sawdust and wood chips, and enjoy your work!
