Has anybody had success in slightly darkening / staining an existing clearcoat. Meaning have you ever applied some form of a stain over the clear to just darken the wood a bit.
darkening a clearcoat
- Thread starter calibration
- Start date
I have some strawberries in a jar that I want to turn into blueberries. How can I do that without removing them from the sealed jar? That's kinda the same question to me.
I cannot think of anything you can do easily that is not either risky or a bad idea. You could expose the cue to a lot of direct sunlight in hopes that the finish will yellow. Needless to say this would be risky, as it could cause cracking, swelling, or warping. A cue maker who uses UV curing could spin the cue and over expose it with their UV light and it might yellow. Beware of this one as some finishes can actually shatter like safety glass when over exposed to such conditions. So that is also risky. A coat of finish sprayed over it that had some tint in it would work. This would change the diameter and may cause some fit problems. So I consider this one a bad idea. A complete strip, stain and refinish is the best option. Is is worth the expense? Only you can decide.
Last edited:
Colored clear coats are what the furniture industry uses all the time If you spray a cherry colored clear coat on maple it will be cherry colored.
You could sand your clear coat finish and spray a tinted finish on the cue. Of course, everything would be tinted the same including rings. inlays, etc. I can't tell you what dye to use with what finish, but I do know that it is done all the time including by production cue makers. A better option might be tinted sunglasses. They are a lot easier to do and easier to change if you don't like it.
You could sand your clear coat finish and spray a tinted finish on the cue. Of course, everything would be tinted the same including rings. inlays, etc. I can't tell you what dye to use with what finish, but I do know that it is done all the time including by production cue makers. A better option might be tinted sunglasses. They are a lot easier to do and easier to change if you don't like it.