dying a maple board ... :-|

[Ken Smith]

Maybe, tape the neck, and first 'paint' the side of the fb a dull black paint that will match the dye and then die the FB surface. Possible? Magic/permanent marker should work on the side as well for staining without much if any bleed at all.

[Matthew Tucker]

thanks ken the paint idea might work. i already tried marker pen but it bleeds just as bad.

i suppose i could try to seal the neck side of the seam with shellac, too.

running out of maple scrsps to test these ideas on though !!

[Ken McKay]

Matthew, I usually use fingerboard dye which is aniline I believe and carefully apply it to the side with a q-tip. I watch how far the die travels down the side as I apply and usually get a pretty good stain that way. I then follow with a liberal coat of bees wax.

[Matthew Tucker]

Kens, thank you for your help.

In the end a different brand marker pen worked out quite well for the edges, the ink stayed put much better. The dye doesn't quite match the pen ink black but I can make it work!