Sunburst finish

gspears

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Hi all. I am currently building a Mahogany tenor ukulele that I would like to put a sunburst finish on. I used Behlen spray toner lacquer on an electric guitar kit I built and it turned out pretty well. But on my ukulele build, I was thinking of adding a curly maple binding. I am stumped on how I should proceed so that I don't color the binding. Should I spray the ukulele with the toner first? then add the binding? or should I tape the binding off? I have seen you tube videos of people using plastic binding and scraping the color off.

If anyone has experience with this, I would love some advise.

Thanks, Greg
 
There are a whole bunch of youtube vids on this. Some really good ones but you'll have to sort through them
 
I don't Kongo the "right" way, but he few times I've done it I've taped off the binding. (Automotive stores carry pin striping tape of various widths.). Make sure you shoot the color on early.

(Sorry about the typos but between the new progressive glasses I'm wearing and auto spell I start saying things like "Kongo" and I don't even remember what I meant to say! It's tough getting older!)
 
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1- Seal/spray whole instrument with clear and sand flat- keep this as thin as possible.

2- Tape of binding.

3- Spray burst (start with the dark colour).

4- Take off tape and scrape clean (even with careful taping with the special blue automotive tape I always have to scrap).

5- Continue with clear.

6- Don't sand through

7- Be happy
 
I tried doing a Sunburst finish on a Guitar years ago ..I did it with a sponge ...It turned out just as you would suspect "Really rubbish" :( i had to strip it all off again and I sprayed it red.
 
1- Seal/spray whole instrument with clear and sand flat- keep this as thin as possible.

2- Tape of binding.

3- Spray burst (start with the dark colour).

4- Take off tape and scrape clean (even with careful taping with the special blue automotive tape I always have to scrap).

5- Continue with clear.

6- Don't sand through

7- Be happy

I have always gone from light to dark with excellent results, working from the center out to the edges. I guess it works both ways.
 
It probably blends better going from dark to light since the lighter tones are most transparent.
 
Think you will find dark to light easier to work..... (Guitars & Mando we've done) We have had some success with taping 2 sides of the binding when it is already bent prior to installation and spraying lacquer on the outside two edges.... but scrapping is still part of the process. We also like to use aniline dye rather than paint.

Blessings,

Kevin

IMG_3015.jpgIMG_1372.jpgIMG_0702.jpgF5Mando Top.jpg
 
I use about 5-7 different colors when doing a burst and i can't imagine putting light color over the dark. I just stick with what works for me. Thanks.

Also, I guess the painter/artist in me knows that light over dark doesn't work very well with watercolor or oils.
 
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For spruce top instruments, I always seal with several coats of amber shellac then I spray the remaining burst. I like to use shellac as sealer because it is easy to strip down the instrument with lacquer thinner in the event that I mess up the burst but the thinner wont dissolve the shellac. I also add lacquer to the tint that I'm spraying because it suspends the tint in the lacquer and has less of a "sprayed" look to it. I'll also brush extra coats of shellac on the binding so I can scrape them after I'm done with the burst. I tape bindings just to reduce the amount of scraping work. If you're interested in a hand rubbed burst then here is a great video on how to do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gzhgEXlkac

I have a different process for figured woods.
 
That youtube is the one I imitated and was really happy with the results
Here's what I ended up with

mandolele.jpg
mando2.jpg
 
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