Looking for tips on dying a mahogany neck

[Jim Bonnell]

I just finished up a mahogany neck for an electric guitar and it's too light in color for my taste. I've tried a variety of brown Transtint colors mixed in alcohol on scrap but haven't found anything I like yet. Does anyone have a color of dye they've used on mahogany that worked well. I know this is pretty subjective but I'm just looking for suggestions. Also any tips on dealing with end grain so it doesn't get too dark.

[Brian Evans]

I treat end grain by sealing the wood completely, maybe with shellac, so that you are tinting the finish, not the wood. Another way is to spray three coats of your finish, let dry, then spray colour. When I went for a dark mahogany colour I used an alcohol based leather dye in shellac once, or you could add red and black to your brown transtint dye. Also remember that you can use several coats of most finishes to build up the depth of colour you want.

[Clay Schaeffer]

If you do a wash coat of shellac it should fill the end grain but will still take an alcohol based dye. I like the Mohawk ultra penetrating stains. They can be mixed with water, alcohol, lacquer and just about any other solvent. You can mix them to get the color you want.

[Mario Proulx]

Seal with thin shellac, then add the transtints to the shellac(not to alcohol, which is too thin..), and apply either by spraying or rubbing on with paper towel or a small rag. Build color until satisfied...

[Mario Proulx]

Burnt umber works well, BTW...

[Clay Schaeffer]

The ultra penetrating stain is a dye stain that can be used straight out of the bottle or diluted with just about anything. With a shellac wash (sealer) coat I would use alcohol as the diluent.

[Jim Bonnell]

Thanks for all the great tips. Mario, any suggestions for mixing burnt umber? I'm not sure what colors of tint to mix to get it.

[Mario Proulx]

Grab the bottle labeled "burnt umber" and squeeze out a few drops....?

[Peter Wilcox]

Or take some raw umber and heat it to 425 degrees in the oven for 2 hours.

It looks like you can make it to your taste using red, blue and black: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-MFkNavUu4

Transtint has the appropriate colors, but it might be a little pricey if you have to buy several just for this.
http://homesteadfinishingproducts.com/w ... t_2018.pdf

Alternatively, you could buy a tube of burnt umber watercolor paint (if you feel burnt umber is the appropriate color you want), dilute it as needed with water and wipe it on the neck.

[Mark Swanson]

Hi Jim! it's good to see you posting and hope all is well.
I agree with the comments here, that works great.

[Jim Bonnell]

Hi Mark, good to be back. I drop in and look every once in awhile but just haven't posted anything. The reason I ask about mixing is because I was unable to find a burnt umber dye and assumed you had mixed it from Transtint or other brand colors. Thanks everyone for your help.

[Mark Swanson]

I haven't done it. I haven't found a need to die a mahogany neck, but if I did I think I'd just use some dark shellac base coats.

[Ed Minch]

Here are TransTint colors red and medium brown dissolved in water on Honduras Mahogany. The red is pretty dilute, but the brown less so. Click forward a few shots to see the finished product:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/ ... 130471994/

Ed