danish oil & stain

[martinedwards]

hi folks, new to this board, but not a stranger to fora in general so I'll try to behave, honest!!

Ok, question......

I'm making a doubleneck acoustic guitar for a friend (well, ex friend after this monster!!) and he wants the sitka spruce top darkened down from the anaemic (his word) pale natural finish

Any other builds I've used Danish oil to very pleasing effect and as I don't have spray facilities, and brushing is... well... brushing I want to continue with the tried & trusted method.

like these....

BUT,

to stain, do I stain the bare wood first, mix the stain with the danish oil or put a few coats of clear oil on first?

obviously I'm gonna try on offcuts first, but I don't have that much spare sitka laying around to practice on and I dont want to waste what I have on a hopeless dead alley.

thanks in advance

Martin

 

[jasonB]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I've mixed spirit based stain with Danish Oil in the past without problems, infact its easier to apply an even coat of stain. Do a test piece first to get the shade you want then apply to the Guitar, once that reaches the right shade carry on with more coats of plain unstained oil.

Jason

 

[martinedwards]

Thanks Jason, I thought that was prolly right.

I have a few tubs of part used stain, tinted varnish etc so I'll experiment a bit.

I'll post the finished results.......

assuming I survive!!