Staining bone pins and saddle

[hadden]

I just got some Gotoh 510s in cosmo black, and I'd like to stain the saddle and pins to black, or as dark as possible to get the complete Darth Vader look. [geek reference!]

Would leaving them in a dark tea overnight work I wonder?

[Mr_LV19E]

I don't no about turning them black but the tea will give them an aged look. The bone is pretty dense to be able to soak up much stain.

[unclrob]

Hadden I have a piece of black walrus tusq for nut material if you want it nothing big enough to make a saddle out of.You should be abble to get black tusq bridge pins but they do have a pearl dot on them which coud be popped out and fill with something else.

[hadden]

Hadden I have a piece of black walrus tusq for nut material if you want it nothing big enough to make a saddle out of.You should be abble to get black tusq bridge pins but they do have a pearl dot on them which coud be popped out and fill with something else.

Thanks for the offer. I think I'll leave the nut for now. I saw on Bob Colosi's site he had a saddle he stained a very dark root beer brown almost black. I'll email him and ask how he did it.

[tadol]

Is a magic marker out of the question?

Tad

[hadden]

I figure the staining would have a nicer texture coloring. Who knows.

[leerichards]

Mr LV, I'm not so sure that bone isn't more porous that you think. But it might stain unevenly. Hadden, I've got lots of bits of bone here and also some  black spirit based wood stain. I'll do a clinical trial in the morning and let you know what happens. Lee.

[Bubblemaker]

From my experience working with bone....and other very dense materials and woods,  I would try giving your saddle a light acetone wash.  ( PURE CLEAN ACETONE).   Wait a minute for it to flash.  ( EVAPORATE) and then apply your stain of choice.

This works quite well!


Good luck!


Bubblemaker!

[Bubblemaker]

I forgot!

Whatever you do....keep the acetone far far away from your guitar!   Only a tiny drop and your finish will blemish!


Cheers!


Bubblemaker

[leerichards]

Hadden, it's a good thing that Bubblemaker has stepped in with a plan B. My  experiment  of soaking bone in black wood stain was a failure. Mr LV was right - it's just too darned dense and the stain mostly rubs away leaving the bone a dirty grey colour. However from earlier experience I can report that the black spirit satin penetrates extremely well into the fingertips and takes several weeks to wear off. Good luck with the acetone + stain method. Lee.

[tadol]

An alcohol based dye stain along with a little vacuum action should do the job pretty well. Let it sit a while. Unfortunately, the density can vary quite a bit, and you wont really notice it until after you've tried to stain it. If you want black, I'd still be inclined to try a permanent marker ( lab marker, laundry marker, whatever you call it - ). Just plain easier to do, and to eventually touch-up.

Tad

[hadden]

Hadden, it's a good thing that Bubblemaker has stepped in with a plan B. My  experiment  of soaking bone in black wood stain was a failure. Mr LV was right - it's just too darned dense and the stain mostly rubs away leaving the bone a dirty grey colour. However from earlier experience I can report that the black spirit satin penetrates extremely well into the fingertips and takes several weeks to wear off. Good luck with the acetone + stain method. Lee.

Oh well, thanks for the experiment.  


I'll give Tadol's marker suggestion a try.

[hadden]

From my experience working with bone....and other very dense materials and woods,  I would try giving your saddle a light acetone wash.  ( PURE CLEAN ACETONE).   Wait a minute for it to flash.  ( EVAPORATE) and then apply your stain of choice.

What is it doing roughing the surface so the stain has something to adhere to?

[BenF]

Perhaps you might also consider a small panel with coloured buttons on it on the lower bout for the full darth vader look!

sorry

[hadden]

Perhaps you might also consider a small panel with coloured buttons on it on the lower bout for the full darth vader look!

sorry

You're only making fun of what's going to be the coolest looking guitar on this planet or any other.

[Bubblemaker]

What is it doing roughing the surface so the stain has something to adhere to?

The acetone will dissolve any most organic non mineral substances.    It essentially removes resin from the bone or wood..leaving a porous mineral or fibrous( in the case of wood) matrix which will more readily accept stain or bonding agents like glues or resins.

In your case only a short acetone wash may be necessary to make only the surface of the bone more receptive to staining!


good luck!


Bubblemaker