Red Aniline dye for Alder body (Australia)

Hey, I'm looking at options for finishing my Alder body. I was hoping to get a fairly hearty red thats translucent enough to see the grain through. I've never finished before either so I was hoping for something easy and straightforward.

Also the options for thing kind of thing are fairly limited in Australia. I found this Alinine dye http://www.guitaraust.com.au/finishing/stains/behlen-aniline-stains.html the red looks about right, but I saw some people saying that dying an alder body doesnt yeild good results?

Finally I want to know if I got the process right. I gather its basically: apply the dye, then sand, then a nitro clear finish (like this http://www.guitaraust.com.au/finishing/lacquers/behlen-stringed-instrument-lacquer-aerosol.html)?

Thanks for being patient with me, I have taken the time to read and search the forums but didnt find the info I needed.

For reference here's a picture of the wood I've used for my guitar body.

121737

Alder is difficult wood to stain evenly. Best bet would be to seal the body then apply a tinted clear till you get the color you want followed by a regular clear top coat. You can mix your own and use a Preval prayer.

I've had pretty good results on Alder using transtint mixed with mineral spirits and denatured alcohol. I make sure the wood is thoroughly cleaned with naphtha first.

Alder is difficult wood to stain evenly. Best bet would be to seal the body then apply a tinted clear till you get the color you want followed by a regular clear top coat. You can mix your own and use a Preval prayer.

So can I use the Aniline dye to tint clear nitro and then just spray it on with the Preval?

Yes, just make sure the body is sealed first otherwise you could still get an uneven finish.

thats the idea a little stain in the clear and shoot many thin coats
when you have the colour right you will need quite a few more of clear on top to level and sand with

So just to be clear, I could seal with the Behlen Vinyl Sealer tinted with the dye, then once I've got the colour, top it with a couple of clear nitro coats? Thanks for the help guys :)

No, dont tint the sealer. Apply clear sealer then red tinted clear, then final clear over that.

No, dont tint the sealer. Apply clear sealer then red tinted clear, then final clear over that.

Thanks, so I take it I cant just dump some dye into the clear nitro right? Do I have to use Behkol? I couldnt find any tutorials for mixing the Behkol with the clear nitro. :oops:

Disolve the dye in some thinner first then add that to your clear.
Some info here http://www.reranch.com/dyes.htm

So just to be clear, I could seal with the Behlen Vinyl Sealer tinted with the dye, then once I've got the colour, top it with a couple of clear nitro coats? Thanks for the help guys :)

you gonna need a lot more than 3 coats
do not put colour in the sealer
ensure you have a good depth of sealer sanded level before you shoot colour
after you have the desired depth of colour
shoot enough clear on top of that so you can level it all out without sanding through the colour

you gonna need a lot more than 3 coats
do not put colour in the sealer
ensure you have a good depth of sealer sanded level before you shoot colour
after you have the desired depth of colour
shoot enough clear on top of that so you can level it all out without sanding through the colour

Thanks for all the help guys, I've decided to go with a tinted hard Shellac as a sealer and colour then top off with many coats of tru-oil. Wish me luck :smile: