banjonz - Posted - 11/20/2009:  16:23:25

I am in the process of restoring and old English banjo that the peghead is made of two pieces. They are joined as a straight butt joint across the middle of the 'waist'. Both pieces are different woods. I want to over lay the peghead with some maple veneer dyed black to cover this.

My question is... can I stain the veneer both sides then glue it to the peghead, so that when I come to trim it to shape I don't have to redye the edges?

Axeman79 - Posted - 11/20/2009:  17:30:35

I think you can do this if the stain can penetrate deep enough. I think one issue you may encounter is the residue from the stain that weaken the glue joint. When I stain high quality items, i usually use an alcohol based stain so there is no residue.

You could also re-stain the edges of the work after gluing and shaping and then finishing on top of that.

Axeman

mrussell - Posted - 11/20/2009:  17:52:22

I've never had much luck getting deep penetration from any dye in maple. Black leather dye seems to sink the deepest in my experiments. I'd do a few test pieces first using the same thickness you will be putting on the peg head.