tinting white binding on a french polish instrument

[Martian]

I am coming down the home stretch on a f model, I have the fingerboard done in white binding, and the rest of the binding waiting its turn, now the end guy who is getting this says he would like the white a little more subdued, I really do not want to rebind the fb, so what are my options if any, with a french polish. I have heard of guys spraying the binding , then coloring the rest, but this is also my first French polish I am doing with a buddy who has done it

[Walt]

What type of shellac are you using? That will change the binding color a little or a lot, depending on the shellac.

[rcc56]

I have used a small amount of amber alcohol soluble aniline dye with success. Seal the binding first with a couple of coats of pure shellac, then let dry thoroughly before adding the color coats. Dissolve a little of the dye in pure grain alcohol and add to the shellac solution. Do not use denatured alcohol in either the dye or the shellac, or the stuff may turn green. Build the color coats thin and slow, and add plenty of extra drying time, or you will mess up the color. You might want to also make up some yellow dye if the amber is not bright enough.

[rcc56]

More: If you want to, you can use a very small pad to wipe the colored shellac on the binding only. The first one or two wipings will not show much color, but after that the color will build quickly. You may need to apply the color over two separate sessions, 2 or 3 days apart. Let dry for a week before applying the final clear coats to avoid disturbing the color.

Time is your friend with French polishing. Impatience, hurry, and rushing will ruin your work every time.

[Martian]

thank you so much, now to buy some everclear

[HoGo]

Unless you will use bleached shellac, the FP will add slightly amber tone to the bindings. You can spray some thin coats of shellac (amber or darker) as sealer on whole mandolin before french polishing. But don't use darker shellac for the polishing - that is hard to keep even colored.

[Martian]

can anyone recomend a shellac by name?

[Jim Hilburn]

I have used alcohol based dye right on the bare binding. It will cut into it just slightly leaving it tinted. Then finish over that.

[rcc56]

I get my shellac from International Violin Company. No name on the bag. The price is reasonable.

[HoGo]

can anyone recomend a shellac by name?

Many companies name the batches themselves so names are not equal among sellers. Basicly anything darker than bleached water clear shellac will have some color. The lightest is usually called blonde or super blonde and has some amber color to it, then there is amber (slihghtly darker than blonde), garnet (reddish). Also depends on thckness of your layer, the more you add the darker color you get.