Anyone here build a UV light box for fading finishes?

[Kerry Krishna]

 I have more that one project to get up and running, and the finishes are the topic today. I need  to build one  of these. It will be high pressure sodium  lights inside. 

 Any one here do this work? 

[Kerry Krishna]

Bump to top. It there no one here that has one of these?

[Greg Mirken]

It's not clear to me what you are trying to accomplish. Match new finish to old? Finishes don't fade, they typically darken over time. I keep some lacquer in a glass jar in the sun; it darkens through photo-oxidation just like dried lacquer on an instrument. [Trick learned from Frank Ford, of course]. I'll use that for an undercoat on a touchup to blend with an elderly finish, then topcoat with clear lacquer for sanding and buffing.

[Kerry Krishna]

Greg great question, I have a stripped to wood top that has about 45 inches of lighter coloured wood spliced in. I have only a few options to get this top looking right. I will mask off all the old wood, leaving the slivers of new out to get the UV treatment.  After it is done, I will be able to proceed with finishing it. 

[Rob Bixler]

Violin makers routinely place their new violins in UV boxes to darken the wood. My impression is that this is typical practice rather than the exception. They also use UV lights to dry their often made-themselves otherwise very slow drying oil varnishes. Head over to Maestronet and search for UV lights or drying box. You will find discussions of what are the best bulbs and how to build boxes with proper characteristics. 

[Kerry Krishna]

Rob, from my research, the high pressure Sodium light gives the spectrum I need . It's amazing that you will get different colours with different kinds of lights... 

[Kerry Krishna]

My High Pressure Sodium light came in a few days ago. I am busy with a few things now, but plan to possibly ( I am not sure now) build a box to house the guitars going inside.. I wall also be testing  the darkening capabilities with simple 2X4s  masked off with tape to get a handle on how fast/ slow  I need to do this process.