'Wudtone' Finish on Partscaster

[LupoUK]

Hi All,
I am a newcomer to the forum and joined because wanted to share with you fellow DIY-ers my first experience of using a finish called 'Wudtone' on a partscaster I built recently. I'd appreciate any feedback and suggestions or hints and tips for future projects.
On previous projects I have always used spray cans of Nitrocellulose lacquer, and even built what I thought would be a good enough spraying booth in our garden shed. After a few trials and errors, the results of using the sprays actually came out quite well - a process that certainly taught me patience, and that spray mist gets everywhere! Despite applying the nitro in my 'booth' only, most contents of the shed within 1.50m of the spray booth ended up covered in a thin layer of 'surf green'...
So, I decided to find a different solution for my latest project... and that's how I found 'Wudtone' products (not sure if these are 'dyes' or what you want to call them as they are a mixture of dyes, oils waxes, etc) through Google.
Very much as an experiment I ordered a kit (at about £20) consisting of base coat and top coat. The manufacturers instructions stated that these are to be rubbed on using small pieces of lint free cotton rug, so no risk of contaminating the world around me.
When the kit arrived, I was initially surprised, and may be even slightly bemused: There were 2 little bottles, each containing probably around 100ml of fluid, and I was wondering if that amount was going to be enough to cover the entirety of my swamp ash Tele body in multiple base and top coats. However, once I started I soon realised 2 things: How nice it was not to have to wear a respirator to work with these very pleasant smelling oily fluids and that the manufacturer's claims were correct, i.e. that a small amount went a long way.
After applying about 2 base coats (with a drying time of 24 hrs in-between) I suddenly felt that I had chosen the wrong colour, and that I would prefer something warmer. So I contacted the manufacturer Wudtone, per email.
Andy Preston replied very promptly, with detailed guidance and advice and more than happy to make some recommendations for putting together a custom kit, consisting of a base coat that even contained some fine gold (called 'Colombian Gold') and a warmer coloured transparent top coat (called 'Burning Sun'). Once the new kit arrived I gently rubbed the body with fine steel wool and started over with the new base coat. Three applications later the colour was a lot warmer and satisfyingly even. Then after applying another 3 thin top coats of the warmly tinted top coat (called 'Burning Sun') I was really happy with the the final result. Final step was the 'burnishing' of the finish, prior to which I allowed about 1 week of curing time. For this I devised my own method as I had no idea what burnishing means. I found a piece of thick leather, from an old belt, that was quite wide and used the shiny side of this to rub the body along the grain of the wood while applying a decent amount of pressure. Apparently the heat that is generated by the friction of the rubbing process is quite important and contributes to the end result. After having done this, I wrapped a tennis ball in fine mircofibre cloth and repeated the rubbing exercise, this time first in small circles and then in long strokes along the grain. This time applying enough pressure to compress the tennis ball by about 1/3rd of its diameter. The result is a beautiful, non sticky finish that emphasises the wood grain and which I am sure will age beautifully....

Here one photo as a teaser, but I have posted some more photos here on the forum, if you are curious:
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/showg...0&ppuser=86709

[mocata]

That is a fine looking guitar! I have ordered the Wudtone "Emerald Isles" finishing kit for my latest Tele body so it's good to hear some first hand experience of the process! I too was rather doubtful about getting up to four coats off such a small bottle so I'm glad you've cleared that up!


Cheers!

[LupoUK]

Thanks for the compliment, much appreciated! :-),
You'll love the product, I'm sure. It is a pleasure to work with. Just one advice based on a posting I have seen on a German forum: make sure the body is not treated with anything (i.e. grain filler, etc) as it might impact absorption of Wudtone and, if the grain filler was not applied evenly, you might get patchy colouring. In my own experience it also pays off to fine sand the wood really well as any imperfections (or swirls from the tooling of the wood) may not be visible with the bare eye, but will show up when the stain is applied...
So as always: 99% of the success is in the preparation! Have fun and post some pics, would love to see a body finished in Emerald Isles colour.
Cheers,
L

[Toriginal]

Nice!!!

[ipfroes]

Thanks for sharing the experience! Coincidentally I found out about Wudtone yesterday and I enjoyed how the finishing looks, and as I live in a flat with no place for spraying ink around, I thought that it could be a nice option to try... It is nice to know that it really works! Best.

[Flanger]

Thanks a lot for this!
I have a hard time finishing an ash body and these kits might be the best solution. And they luckily do ship it worldwide!
Based on you experience, do you think it would be possible to lay down 2 different colors and make an even transition between them?

[beagle]

Some information on what is and isn't compatible with this finish and indeed the type of finish would be useful. There seems to be no info on the Wudtone website.

[LupoUK]

Originally Posted by beagle

Some information on what is and isn't compatible with this finish and indeed the type of finish would be useful. There seems to be no info on the Wudtone website.

Hi Beagle, thanks for your post. As far as I know the product is a mix of various oils and waxes and pigment for the colour, but I can only stress how helpful Andy Preston, the owner of Wudtone, was when I had questions. Suggest you contact him through their website and I am sure hell get back to you.

[LupoUK]

Originally Posted by Flanger

Thanks a lot for this!
I have a hard time finishing an ash body and these kits might be the best solution. And they luckily do ship it worldwide!
Based on you experience, do you think it would be possible to lay down 2 different colors and make an even transition between them?

Hi Flanger. From the pics on their website I take it that you can use multiple colours to create a design. However none of the pics show a 'blend' like on a sunburst. While I think it might be possible, I can imagine that it would be very hard to achieve a consistent blend effect around a whole guitar body by manually applying the product. Would you need to let one colour cure first before applying and blending the other into it, of apply both in short succession, etc... It may be worth asking Wudtone if they have tried this or indeed if they are willing to try this and share the experience.

[Twang Banger]

Just bought the Colombian Gold for a Strat project. I just may "do" a Tele if the Strat comes out good! I appreciate all the information you have on here.

[LupoUK]

Hi Brian, good luck with your Strat and enjoy the process as you go along. Since the Tele described here I have also built a Strat that I treated with Wudtone's "Surfer Girl" colour and it is gorgeous!
Have a look at my photo gallery, I have added some pics of my Surfer Girl.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Great looking guitar!