Hey everyone,
I am finishing a northern ash tele body for this partscaster project. Never done anything like this before.
I've done some research and asked a few questions here, and I think I have all the steps but I wanted to ask if anyone had any advice?
Here is my plan
Prep the body. Sand to 220 grit. Spray with water to raise grain and then sand again to 220 grit, going the direction of the grain (I got an orbital sander and realized this is NOT a good idea as I should keep it with the grain)
Apply sanding sealer, let it dry, and sand down with 220 grit to the wood, leaving the grain filled (This I believe is to help the dye spread more evenly among the wood)
Dye. I will be using coffee! I work for a local coffee roaster and they've agreed to help me out. We are going to roast an extra dark roast and boil the coffee grounds for a while, to get a really dark and concentrated coffee. From what I understand coffee stains very light so this should help get some slightly darker color. - Between each stain/layer sand with 1500?
Sanding sealer again. This is because coffee is a water based "dye" and serves to lock the color into the wood. 2-3 coats. After they dry, sand down (1500 again i think?)
NO GRAIN FILLER - I believe that would be this step or possibly before the dye. I think having the texture of the grain would be cool so i'm going to skip this.
- Tru Oil finish. Probably only a few coats as I don't want a super glossy finish but for sure not satin. Somewhere in between, a very small sheen. Possibly sand between the tru oil coats, im not sure if I should or what grit to use here.
Let me know if this sounds like a solid plan to yall!