I need some help. I made a couple of picture frames out of cherry and my girlfriend wants me to darken them up. After reading Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner, he said to use an aerosol toner to darken the wood if you don’t have own spray gun. I looked at Woodcraft, Rockler, Lee Valley and even Googled “aerosol toner” but I can’t find it available anywhere. Where can I find this stuff? Thanks!
Replies
Here you go: http://home.flash.net/~guitars/products.html#aerosols
Be sure to check out their gallery for some mind-blowing guitars. I don't play but I sure do love the amazing woods and finishes.
Also there are a couple different ways you can achieve the same goal without having to either have spray equipment or be restricted to a particular supplier's color palette.
You could buy one of the cheap "airbrush" kits which runs off of aerosol propellent cans rather than compressed air.
Or you could buy some PREVAL (brand name) units which are basically a two-part aerosol can which you can load with whatever paint material you wish. It's essentially a large glass babyfood sized jar which you load with your paint/stain/whatever and screw unto the bottom of the propellent top part. The top has a regular normal aerosol can spray nozzle tip.
Last but not least... depending on how dark she wants the frames to be... considering that it's Cherry you could just lay them out in a sunny spot for a few days and they'll get quite a bit darker via UV exposure.
Edited 2/13/2007 1:29 am ET by Kevin
Edited 2/13/2007 1:38 am ET by Kevin
Edited 2/13/2007 1:40 am ET by Kevin
The last shall be first. As Kevin says, but whether you find and plan to use the toner be sure to "suntan" the frames for a few days. If you don't you run the risk of the frames being too dark in a few months as natural darkening occurs. By the way, windows block a large fraction of UV (and visible light) so if you can get them in direct sun the tanning will go faster. Remember to turn them around periodically so some edges don't miss out and show the tan lines.
Thanks for the replies. It was extremely helpful!!...I will place them in the sun for a few days to let them darken naturally then I'll use the toner...
Mike
Hold off buying toner until you see what the sun will do. Unless she wants a color change I think you'll find that UV darkening will do the trick very nicely. And if she just wants a slight minor adjustment to the coloration then one of the unrefined Shellacs ought to be more than enough to tweak it the way you want it.
Keep it simple.
only problem with sticking it out in the sun for a few days is that it may be two weeks before the sun comes back out... Cincy is getting snow right now.
Well... you could always rent a tanning bed and put it in there.
;-)
hahahaha....very good....
Since you are in Cincinnati, Cincinnati Color Co. carries aerosol toners that you can buy quantity one and up.
I've heard of Cincinnati Color but I think they're in a bad part of town. I'll try and give them a shot (no pun intended).
They've moved from Over The Rhine to Dalton St. near Union Terminal. Their "branch" just moved to Evendale on Reading Rd. No problem with either location. Good people to work with.
Well, thanks for the help with finding me a source for toner. I finished three frames and my girlfriend loves them. I attached a picture of one of the frames to show how they came out.
Nice work. I like it!
If you use the toner, practice on a scrap piece. You can do wonderful things with toner, but a little goes a long way. It's great for matching shades, blending repairs, etc. I have several shades of the Mohawk brand toners, and have been very happy with them.
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