Query regarding wood binding and staining

[Adam Savage]

Greetings folks,
My current project is a pair of concert ukes (first foray into home built acoustic instruments), both being completed at the same time. Both have rippled maple back and sides, and fir the second one, I would like to stain the wood in an attempt to bring out the figure, then French polish as described in Robert OBriens course.
For the binding, I plan on using some walnut, with a w/b/w strip on the soundboard face only.
I have tried a couple of sample stains (and discovered why the carrier, water or spirit, should not be the same for stain and finish medium), and the colours need work, but I'm happy with the process.

What I would like to know is whether I should finish-sand the body and stain prior to routing the binding channels (and then deal with glue squeeze out, further sanding/trimming of binding etc), or glue up the binding, then sand, mask binding, and then stain etc.

Any help will be appreciated.

Cheers,
Adam S

[John Sonksen]

you will need to level your bindings after gluing them in, the second choice is the way to go.

[Adam Savage]

Ok, I wondered whether I would get away with leveling the binding after the stain. Thought I might be a little optimistic!
What would you recommend as masking to prevent the bindings being stained? Standard blue 3m tape, or something else?

Cheers,
Adam

[John Sonksen]

Ok, I wondered whether I would get away with leveling the binding after the stain. Thought I might be a little optimistic!
What would you recommend as masking to prevent the bindings being stained? Standard blue 3m tape, or something else?

Cheers,
Adam

I've only done one and I sprayed my color on so my choice might not be applicable. Maybe use some shellac or other finish to seal the binding before you apply the stain? With most tapes I think you'd be dealing with stain bleeding past the edge of the tape, particularly with unfinished wood which will still be porous. Do some test pieces first to make sure the stain won't grab onto the finish you laid down as a mask, although as long as it just bites onto that finish, you could still scrape back to clear after the stain dries.

When I sprayed my color I got some pinstriping tape from the auto parts store, it's some kind of vinyl and was pretty easy to work with, repositionable and made it around corners pretty well. I had real minimal bleeding.

[David King]

The green tape (solvent resistant stickum) is the one you want to use and then a clear coat to seal the edge of the tape first.

[Michael Lewis]

Adam, what sort of finishing tools and materials are you planning to use? Spray, brush, wipe, or? Lacquer, shellac, poly, water base, or?

[Adam Savage]

Thanks for the advice so far.

Michael - This will be only my third/fourth finishing attempt, the first two being tru-oil, so I am something of a beginner here. I have limited finishing tools - i.e. no spraying space/equipment (though I could purchase some lacquer rattle cans), hence my reason for picking a shellac/french polish option as described on the OBrien course. Materials-wise, I think I have everything needed (excepting the masking tape). For the stain, I currently only have spirit-based, but have placed an order for some water-based (unfortunately, Transtint doesnt seem to be available over here in the UK).

Cheers,
Adam