pauliemc Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 3 Grand? Pshh...I'm thinking beer. He LOVES beer. The problem with that is that I'm quite sure I could never keep up with him to get him drunk enough to give it away. Bahh....stupid walnut. It's just too dang dark. That Walnt will come up sweeter than beyonces ass in a thong once its clear coated. Hmmm, beer huh ? 3 grand buys a lot of beers. Hmmmmm beyonces aaassssssss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Hmmmmm beyonces aaassssssss +1 You wanna grab me another while you're up? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 ignore the worriers - it will look awesome with a clearcoat this piece of crotch walnut was very similar colour wet with spirits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 I'm only ribbing Scott...he knows that. FYI: He brought a piece of that walnut by today for me to see, and it's not nearly as dark as those photos make it look. I can't wait to see it....getting so close now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 I'M BLIND!!! :D Damn that is GORGEOUS Scott. I LOVE Carved-Backs! FYI, this is a Crotch Walnut guitar I made quite awhile back, it was too dark for my tastes, so I bleached it, then added a slight amount of reddish-brown dye to it, I liked it a lot better this way and you can still clearly see all the grain figure, I have some 35mm pics of it somewhere that shows it before I bleached it, it was REALLY dark. These aren't the best pics of it, you know how digital cameras always over-emphasize reds to the point where they appear almost blurry? Yessir, that is the case here. This pic was probably taken 5-7 years ago, and I used to have the damndest time since I use red so much getting my digital pics to look normal, it used to drive me crazy. Anyway, it's a dark walnut crotch top bleached and dyed. Oh, and by the way MR. SCOTT, ...look familiar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Scotttaaaa,this thing is schweeeeet.Love all the shaping ,heck ,just everything is just right on ,BABY ...haaha Only question I have ,is ,how is the weight on it?Also might want to let a few people in here know ,the term crotch wood is not what they think.hahaha Looking forward to seeing this one finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 (edited) Wez, thanks for posting that- it's beautiful. It's nice to see some of your work around here again. And for the record, I'm not the least bit worried about how dark it will be. I know exactly what it will look like and I love it. Heck, I bought that top on purpose! Drak, thanks for your kind words. I had not considered bleaching the top, but it's got so many colors in it I don't think I want to. I appreciate you posting that piece too. I don't think I've seen you post one of that style since I've been here. And yeah, that porn looks familiar. I do remember you saying you were going to have to find some Myrtle burl and do a build with it. I don't suppose we'll be seeing this anytime soon? How's it look with the outside edges in the middle? I was looking for something like that when I was designing this one---that or claro walnut. Oregon Wildwood had some nice pieces as always, but they were too dang thin for the carving I wanted to do. Northwestern Timber had plenty of thicker pieces, but no cool burl. So claro it was. If dark guitars were ugly, nobody would paint them black. Deanoohhh, thanks man. On my very low tech scale this guitar currently weighs between 6 and 7 pounds. That was another reason for the large control cavity and the heavily contoured back. I'm hoping for mid 7s with hardware and finish. SR Edited March 24, 2011 by ScottR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Look...it's a family portrait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 It's still a shame that we had to lose that "gorilla skull" because it was too wide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
immortalx Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 (edited) That's one sexy instrument you gave birth to I found myself staring at the neck heel for several minutes...I'm really speechless Edited March 24, 2011 by immortalx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Thank you immortalx. So far I have not had any rousing successes at pore filling.I have tried Z-Poxy, CA, and lacquer and sand back, which is ultimately what I end up doing no matter how I started. This week I did some test fills on scrap claro walnut and mahogany and liked the results. They were the pieces skullsessions referred to. It was a technique I have sued on a small scale to gap fill and decided to try as a pore filling method. I sanded the surface with 400 grit and let that very fine sanding dust stay in the pores and on the surface. Then I added some thin CA and wiped it in. I initially used a rag to wipe it in which gets it down in the pores nicely and does not leave any excess on the surface. You have to work fast to keep it off your fingers though. I moved on to Drak's preferred method of sponge brushes. They get hard fast and leave more ridges, but your fingers don't get stuck. After filling and wiping I sanded again with 400 and repeated. Then, since the walnut has large pores I did the same thing with medium CA. This took longer to sand back level. Two more sessions with the thin CA and it was done. The Claro Walnut has large pores Sanded with 400 leaving the dust in the pores and on the surface. Adding thin CA. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 (edited) After wiping in the CA Leveling after the first application of CA. After a few applications and levelings you have to decide if you are done. If any pores still exist, they will fill with sanding dust and look like this. This needs another application. By this point the dust is CA which does not seem to affect the clarity at all. SR Edited March 27, 2011 by ScottR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Pores successfully filled and leveled, it looks like this. I am seriously tempted to finish a body with CA. I have filled large areas in other projects and know for a fact that it will polish like glass. And it is rock hard. Probably too hard and brittle for a neck though. I bet it would crack with much flexing. I see I finally caught my toes in a shot. This top will have some dark areas in it and the overall look will be dark. But for the naysayers here are a couple of shots with half of it wiped with mineral spirits. The area that looks like a highlight or reflected light is actually the part that has not been wiped with mineral spirits. I think the colors are nice. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Trust me CA is not a finish. I would go a more traditional route. Everything else is awesome. Nice detailing of the process of filling the pores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 I think the colors are nice. You are the Master of Understatement. It´s amazing how the walnut came alive after your working on it. For me, this guitar is a prime example of the beauty in a singlecut design away from the typical LP. On one hand, it´s great to see this project coming into fruition, but I´ll miss your weekly updates. I guess you´ll just have to carve something else, or build another guitar just to make us all happy. Haha. Thanks Joe. I think there's still a few weekly updates coming yet. I still am planning an inlay on the back and then I have to fill the back--the sides are in progress right now. Then we'll spray and then we'll wait...... I think I'll fill some of that blank time with a test finishing a scrap of that burl myrtle Hook posted totally with CA. When this is done...I think I may just play it for a while. After that more carving. I've got a dozen or more logs drying in the garage that want to be something. Walnut, Ash, Osage Orange, Mulberry, Peach and Silver Maple if I remember correctly. I don't plan on getting bored any time soon. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Trust me CA is not a finish. I would go a more traditional route. Everything else is awesome. Nice detailing of the process of filling the pores. I am seriously tempted to finish a body with CA. Not this body. This is getting nitro. Maybe one down the road...maybe not. You sound like you've had an experience with the stuff. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Trust me CA is not a finish. I would go a more traditional route. Everything else is awesome. Nice detailing of the process of filling the pores. I am seriously tempted to finish a body with CA. Not this body. This is getting nitro. Maybe one down the road...maybe not. You sound like you've had an experience with the stuff. SR Its just not as hard as you think it is. It is hard to level, easy to cut through, and doesn't last as long as you think it would. In my experience it chips/scratches easy... Looks good on pens and turnings though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Interesting note: If you take a piece of veneer and soak it in CA, after the CA is dry, you can still bend and flex the veneer and the CA doesn't crack or split, it bends right along with the veneer. I didn't think that would happen, but it surely does. Looks marvelous Scott. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 That is interesting and I agree it's not what I'd expect. I've spilled drops, large drops on my jeans and they remain rock hard and inflexible even today 5 or 6 years later. You'd think it would be useful as body armor. I also spilled a lot on another pair- a patch several inches in diameter. I had to get out of those fast-that stuff is hot hot hot. Later though I used some superglue remover on them. It's basically acetone I think. Of course I could not get it all out, but what remained was in the fibers, no longer on the surface. That area remained stiffer than the rest of the denim, but quite flexible and it never cracked or broke either. Strange stuff. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Interesting note: If you take a piece of veneer and soak it in CA, after the CA is dry, you can still bend and flex the veneer and the CA doesn't crack or split, it bends right along with the veneer. I didn't think that would happen, but it surely does. Looks marvelous Scott. +1 to Drak's point. I only cautioned you to save you experimentation time. There is always the chance you can get it to work. I have used it for filling pores and hardening stuff like poplar and alder before finishing. It wicks in like a champ. Makes a great base for a solid color guitar. But as a finish... well I mean it never has worked out like I thought it would. I used it on several pickup covers and it scratched pretty easily and when I built it up to be a finish it was a PITA to level and polish and a few have chipped (after several months). It could be the types of CA I have used. I like my super-thin CA to dry in 5 seconds. I am pretty picky about my CA. I have had to throw out some of the super-thin I have gotten recently because it didn't work as well as I wanted it. Like everything YMMV (your mileage may vary). If you find a good medium viscosity CA that works let us now. If you try it and it works (all CAs are different) share the method/brand/results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 When I was young I was using super glue on a model car and I had an itch behind my ear.Needless to say I got some stuck behind my ear and I barely got my finger off before it set.. (happens very quickly as you know) So I promptly forgot about it until some time later (A year or two maybe)I was (ahem) "experimenting with a possibly mind altering substance" and for some reason I brushed the back of my ear,and in the "state" I was in that patch of smoothness stood out and caught my interest,so of course when I realized what it was I had to pick at it until I got it off...it was very flexible,like skin... I have attempted using epoxy as a finish...no good..it feels horrible against your skin... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 When I was young I was using super glue on a model car and I had an itch behind my ear.Needless to say I got some stuck behind my ear and I barely got my finger off before it set.. (happens very quickly as you know) So I promptly forgot about it until some time later (A year or two maybe)I was (ahem) "experimenting with a possibly mind altering substance" and for some reason I brushed the back of my ear,and in the "state" I was in that patch of smoothness stood out and caught my interest,so of course when I realized what it was I had to pick at it until I got it off...it was very flexible,like skin... I have attempted using epoxy as a finish...no good..it feels horrible against your skin... I just realized what you said here....I think. Dude, did you really have have some CA stuck to the back of your ear.....for a year or two? I guess that's not exactly a high traffic area. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Well it may have only been a couple of weeks...I really don't know..I was a little zoned out back then...and it was like over 20 years ago.....totally accurate recall may be a little problematic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2011 I'm doing an inlay of my initials as I sign most everything on the back of this. I have not done inlays ever before. I cut my initials with my scroll saw out of cocobolo scraps left over from the head stock cap. I located where I wanted it and scribed/traced the image on the back. Then I carved it out. I was going to clean it up with my dremel on a router base....but test cuts scared me to death. So I cleaned up it by hand. My carving was tight in some areas and not so tight in others. I wasn't especially pleased with this effort....but the cuts were already in the guitar body, so I better make the best of it. I collected some savings of mahogany and glued them into the gaps in the inlay. My thinking was I knew sanding dust gets dark with glue so wood chips would sand like normal and be the same color as the back. After gluing and sanding back the difference in grain direction was noticeable. so I made small cuts simulating the grain of the surrounding wood. The grain filling step would fill those with CA the same as the actual grain and serve to disguise the fill. A pore filling step shows that I may have gotten away with it. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2011 Continuing on with pore filling. Leveled. Partially wiped with mineral spirits. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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