Alright, so you got modsynth case and you don’t want it looking like some Ikea but you also don’t have money or carpentry skills for more then Ikea cause you waste all your time and money on modsynth in the first damn place. Oddly there’s a lack of information about this specific subject too. Doepfer case is said to be fir wood not on their site but some unconfirmed word of mouth rando. You ever stained fir? I sure haven’t but if it is in fact fir it’s a German fir and historically things can get out of hand fast when Germans involved and well at these prices pardon my apprehension about slinging around chemicals all willy nilly.
I poked around online, picked brains irl and I was getting different suggestions all over. Tutorial for anything else made from same or similar wood as your case? No way! You think I got time to look for torrents of “This Old House” with Bob Boomer Vila THEN watching all 41257412579 episodes of em only to get to 2 seconds of him wood staining a fucking banister in a house my generation can’t afford with that old-school toxic fume shit that ain’t even legal anymore cause linked to folks having flipper babies?
Hell naw and doubt they would be well seeded torrents anyways so buckle up buckaroo cause here’s a guide of the route I took.
Step 1: take your rails out with a #3 Allen
If already installed then don’t bother with removing bus boards and power supply. Waste of time and you might damage it along the way. No ones ever going to see in there anyways. Take brand/serial plates off it too cause the stain collects behind them and it could damage them. Dopfers are just 4 Philips.
Step 2: Pre-Stain
Pre-stain is super important. I did tests with and without. If you don’t pre-stain you will have splotches. 32oz can is like 10 bucks and you won’t even use half unless you Hans Zimmer but you HAVE to use this if you want it to turn out without it looking like shit. Very easy to apply use a brush or rag (use an old tshirt microfibers suck with wood) to really cover it good. Fully cover and saturate the wood. Dipping it into a big vat of the stuff whist reading Saul D. Alinsky would be ideal to give an idea how liberal to be with the stuff, comrade. Let it dry takes like half an hour. Rotate it around and do it again. Throw another coat on it too even. Wipe up and in and around excess along the way. Wait for dry.
Step 3: Danish Oil
The cool thing about Danish Oil is it is like 3 in 1. Stains, seals & protects. There’s no polyurethane needed. That shit smells forever too so avoid it. You can wipe more on it any time you want if scratched or whatever. This is the brand I used I don’t know if others are better or worse. Bunch of different shades. Home Depo. Like 10 bucks. You could go with half that size if available. Brush or rub it. I did both. Says two coats but I just did a good thick one. All in all it was pretty painless and there really wasn’t much fumes. There’s an odor but it’s not bad enough to worry about pets and shit. Toss the rag outside and clean brushes soon as possible to lower fumes it’s not that bad to do inside though.
Before and afters:
