Choosing Contrast Stains

[AldenW]

Alright, so I've figured out how to do cool stuff by sanding back a single stain (which I gather is how Kurt does it, at least), or a mix of two stains, but this contrast staining debacle is thwarting me. And yes, I read the contrast stain thread below.

I'd love to get that rich brown with gold shining through look, like sunlight through leaves. Right now I've got brown with a pale yellow on top. I've tried mixing the yellow with the red, but it seems to tint the brown in a way I'm not digging. I'm putting down a thick 'chocolate' coat, sanding it back, then laying down the lighter contrast in one pass.
Any suggestions? Maybe it looks better when it's all buffed up and waxed? Should I be darkening the topcoat with brown so it doesn't look so sickly?

Hope you guys can guide me; I'm running out of scrap briar!

[the rev]

have you shellac'd waxed and polished it? it changes it quite a bit, you might actually dig it. I have no advice, except to say, see how it looks polished before you discount what you have done.

rev

[AldenW]

No, I haven't. And I need to pick up some shellac...

Good to know rev, thanks.

[the rev]

just want to be clear... I don't know shit, I am here to learn and have some fun. I am just sharing what happened when I put shellac and polished out one of my pipes it went from, meh, to wow pretty quickly. In fact I did a black first stain on a piece of practice briar and our flat mate said, "why does it look pink?" It was just the dust from the wood and the stain, I dipped it in water and just the shine from the water made it look super cool.

rev

[AldenW]

Haha, sounds like we're in the same boat! I appreciate the input.

[The Smoking Yeti]

As far as shellac goes, its easy enough to spray some onto the same pipecleaner you used to put down your topcoat then just make one pass back over. That's all it takes!

[wdteipen]

Can you post pictures of what you're trying to do and pics of what you have. That would make it easier to give suggestions.

[AldenW]

Can you post pictures of what you're trying to do and pics of what you have. That would make it easier to give suggestions.

Good call Wayne. Unfortunately real life is impinging on my pipe-makin' time at the moment, but I'll post up some pictures next week, and this can resume. Thanks guys.

[wmolaw]

Can you post pictures of what you're trying to do and pics of what you have. That would make it easier to give suggestions.

Good call Wayne. Unfortunately real life is impinging on my pipe-makin' time at the moment, but I'll post up some pictures next week, and this can resume. Thanks guys.

Real life is really a pain in the ass!

[the rev]

Can you post pictures of what you're trying to do and pics of what you have. That would make it easier to give suggestions.

Good call Wayne. Unfortunately real life is impinging on my pipe-makin' time at the moment, but I'll post up some pictures next week, and this can resume. Thanks guys.

Real life is really a pain in the ass!

if you ignore it it will go away

rev

[AldenW]

Haha, well, lucky for me real life is songwriting, so I can't complain too much, except about being poor.

[AldenW]

Alright; I'm not gonna post pictures because I've found some success (or you could say I have pictures up in the gallery). That said, I'm wondering what your pipes look like prior to applying the lighter stain. I know this varies by finish, but how much do you sand away the darker, lower stain?
And one more: for my latest pipe, I did chocolate over black. To lighten the chocolate I blotted with a paper towel immediately after application, then evened it out and further lightened it by wiping with denatured alcohol. Is this the best method? Would I be better off diluting the top stain prior to application?

Thanks again.