Stains and clearcoats compatibility - with a twist

Hi ,

I wish to stain bare QLD Walnut with a dark mahogany stain, and finish with clear coats over.

The twist is I need to apply a poly vinyl sticker to the stained wood, and spray protective coats over all.

Ive used Feast Watson Proof Tint spirit based and applied Truoil successfully over that in other works, but no stickers involved.

Id like to use Proof Tint stain , which may take several applications to get the dark colour (but still subtly revealing the grain) , then spray a couple of thin coats of acrylic lacquer or Wattyl Stylwood and apply the sticker.

Then spray numerous coats of the clear and when very dry, block rub back with 600 grit wet until the top of the sticker and the clear coats are level.

The apply a few more clear coats to finish.

How does this sound in terms of compatibility between the Proof Tint and acrylic clear (or Stylwood clear) with the poly vinyl sticker?

And also I ask for advice or comment on my proposed block rub levelling procedure to make the sticker (edges) end up at the same level as the topcoats of clear?

Thanks,
Don

Hi Don,
One potential issue you may find, an it’s not related to the tints.
Is a applying that much clear coat, to level the sticker relative to the base area.
May cause an issue called “Crows feet”
It’s cracking of the finish due to excessive paint builds.
It’s normal caused be excessive primer coats, but can also be caused by excessive clear coats.
But I’m basing this on using acrylic or two packs as in auto finishes.

Cheers Matt

Quote:

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Originally Posted by donnyb

I wish to stain bare QLD Walnut with a dark mahogany stain

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Blasphemy!! :o

[QUOTE=Simplicity;2156464]Hi Don,
One potential issue you may find, an it’s not related to the tints.
Is a applying that much clear coat, to level the sticker relative to the base area.
May cause an issue called “Crows feet”
It’s cracking of the finish due to excessive paint builds.
It’s normal caused be excessive primer coats, but can also be caused by excessive clear coats.
But I’m basing this on using acrylic or two packs as in auto finishes.

Cheers Matt

Thanks Matt. Yes. May be best to use the Stylwood clear or another clear . Will see what others think too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Blasphemy!! :o

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I agree but I'd better explain. Its part of a 50 year old acoustic guitar , the headstock. Measures about 130mm x 70 mm.

I found out from the original manufacturer that it is QLD walnut and was stained with rose mahogany to a very dark colour. I want to replicate this as close as I can.

I hope I'm forgiven in this instance.

Regards,
Don

Don,
I would be more concerned about any of the finishes reacting with the vinyl sticker.

I am not a luthier but the logic of sanding down to the level of the vinyl sticker eludes me.

As for getting the darker color, I would try mixing stains and / or adding tint to achieve the desired color.

Might I ask what the vinyl sticker is for? There may be others ways to generate the sticker that may be a lot thinner, more like the decals that where used on some instruments.
However, it may of a type that can’t be thinned down

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lappa

Might I ask what the vinyl sticker is for? There may be others ways to generate the sticker that may be a lot thinner, more like the decals that where used on some instruments.
However, it may of a type that can’t be thinned down

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Thanks Lappa,
The sticker is the brand name . I need to look further into the transfer / sticker matter you raise.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rrich

Don,
I would be more concerned about any of the finishes reacting with the vinyl sticker.

I am not a luthier but the logic of sanding down to the level of the vinyl sticker eludes me.

As for getting the darker color, I would try mixing stains and / or adding tint to achieve the desired color.

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rrich, yes, that's a big concern. There's excess material to experiment with, which I will do.

I should start a new thread on what tint makes rose mahogany stain different from mahogany stain. I heard that traditionally, rose mahogany is darker, but as a 10% colour blind male (as many are), tonal differences are hard for me to analyse.

Any hints on the tints ?

Attachment 461656

Don?

If the sticker is not too irregular shape.
Could you inset the sticker by say .5/1 mm with a either Trim router or Dremel ,fill the cavity with CA super glue sand flush to surface.
Then apply clear coats in the normal fashion.

Cheers Matt

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simplicity

Don?

If the sticker is not too irregular shape.
Could you inset the sticker by say .5/1 mm with a either Trim router or Dremel ,fill the cavity with CA super glue sand flush to surface.
Then apply clear coats in the normal fashion.

Cheers Matt

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Hi Matt,
Yes I nervously toyed with that idea as the sticker is rectangular. But it just goes against the grain , so to speak. I mean, removing original wood to apply a sticker.

As you can see by the photo, I stopped sanding the damaged area of the headstock near the original transfer (or maybe its a very thin sticker) thinking perhaps I can try to match the stain colour, and then spray clear lacquer coats over all.

I have tried that before with a solid colour (lacquer painted) acoustic guitar top that needed a new bridge, and even though the top was black, you could still see the ghost line of the new black meeting the old in the right light. So I re-did the whole top. There's blacks and blacks.

Would any readers of this post attempt to do a stain match to preserve the original sticker or will the join line be obvious in the right light ?