Bizman62 Posted September 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 Oh well, I've applied three layers of Crimson Penetrating Guitar Finishing oil now so one might think it's time to move on to the High Build oil but nope. As I fondled her before packing her for tomorrow's course I noticed some roughness here and there. Even worse, I noticed that there's spots of discontinuity at the heel, the end of the body and the stem of the neck plus minor ones on the side curves. Good thing with oil is that you don't have to sand it all for local repairs, new oil will blend in nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 The last time I used crimson oil, I had that same issue after a few coats. I found the best way to sort it out was to pour a load more oil over it and sand it in with 600 wet and dry until it was smooth, it worked well. Then I wiped off the excess as the big man says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted September 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 I ended up doing some more radical sanding. For some reason the maple strips poked out of the rest of the body, maybe because they're the hardest woods there and my sanding pad is pretty soft. Smoothed the beveled edges as the harder grain was higher than the softer: Borrowed the saw rasp for rough reshaping, followed by various grits starting from 60: Much better playability, although my fingers don't necessarily fit those higher frets! One might think that all the oiling was in vain, but I believe that it protects the areas that are good enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZekeB Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 I used a shinto rasp to even my surfaces after chisels. Really useful tool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 18 hours ago, Bizman62 said: I ended up doing some more radical sanding. For some reason the maple strips poked out of the rest of the body, maybe because they're the hardest woods there and my sanding pad is pretty soft. Smoothed the beveled edges as the harder grain was higher than the softer: For sanding level, then I find using a hard sanding block is essential. Soft pads are fine for getting a good surface finish but they will - as you have found - follow the profiles. With a heavily grained wood, a soft pad can actually exacerbate the unevenness by riding over the hard peaks and sanding into the softer troughs. The build's looking good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted September 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 3 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: Soft pads are fine for getting a good surface finish but they will - as you have found - follow the profiles. They even follow the softer woods in multi-laminates. And my pad isn't even extremely soft, it's a palm size foamy plastic block with velcro bottom and sides made for 150 mm round sheets. But apparently it's still too soft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 17, 2019 Report Share Posted September 17, 2019 I've glued a hard sheet of polycarb (plastic) to the surface of one of my foam sanding blocks. It is flexible enough to follow curves and still has a hard enough edged to handle the variable hardnesses of grains and laminates. Nice job on that heel too! SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted September 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 (edited) Just to keep this thread alive... Sanded away the couple of bumps and humps I found during the week. Isn't it funny how your fingers can't find them after a few hours of sanding? I would understand that for the right hand, but the left one isn't that active, only holding the guitar on the table so it doesn't wander all around and get all scratched on the bottom side. After having sanded the reshaped areas to 800 with Abranet, and finding deeper scratches to be take care of coarser grits and resanding to 800 I finally started reoiling the sanded parts with Crimson Penetrating Oil... Only to find more scratches! But as @Andyjr1515 said, when it looks OK, stop. So I left the few minor spots as is, hoping they'd go away with the oil. Also I didn't bother trying to level the couple of nicks on the bottom side. The roasted alder is so soft any dust particle on the table will make more of them anyway! I also reshaped the slanted edge of the headstock to reveal the 0.55 mm flamed birch veneer evenly: Edited September 21, 2019 by Bizman62 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted September 21, 2019 Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 That really is looking quite splendid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 21, 2019 Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 I agree. This is definitely getting an upgrade. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZekeB Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 that headstock design is beautiful 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted October 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2019 (edited) I tend to make the neck slightly oversize in fear of having to fix heavy saw marks and such. This leads to the ready made nut being too narrow. So after filing the ends straight I added pieces of the wood used for the fretboard. The end pieces will get much narrower, it seems they'd be less than a millimetre each. The reason for using ready made nuts is that they cost far less than blanks! For my first guitar I paid about €2.50 plus postage for a B-grade oversized uneven blank while these are less than €1 including mail! Other than that I added a layer of Crimson High Build oil and after a few hours sanded it matte with a 1500 grit equivalent Scotch pad, then applied another layer of oil. She's becoming shiny! Edited October 5, 2019 by Bizman62 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted October 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2019 And the saga continues... Today after a two week hiatus I decided to sand the entire instrument! I was pretty happy with the ovangkol top but the alder body looked somewhat dirty to me, not to mention that the parts I had sanded around the cutout seemed to be shinier than the rest. So I loaded the random orbital with 800 grit Abranet and spent some time making noise. Actually starting with 600 might have been an even better choice, but it's too late now. Then I took my sanding block and a round of 3M Hookit P1200 followed by 3000 grit 3M Trizact which I used wet. There was some corners that were sanded to bare wood or at least close. All inconsistency disappeared when I applied a layer of Crimson Penetrating Guitar Finishing oil. Lesson learned: Next time I'll sand the guitar to some 400 before oiling and after a couple of layers I'll sand it down to the filled pore level starting with 600 and going up to at least 1200. The oiled surface won't raise any grain and the surface becomes much smoother for subsequent layers. I also managed to do a partial wiring harness. The top really started to shine! The bottom less so but still nicer than it was. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted October 26, 2019 Report Share Posted October 26, 2019 Get some strings on it already Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted October 26, 2019 Report Share Posted October 26, 2019 That is looking quite good! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted October 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2019 1 hour ago, ADFinlayson said: Get some strings on it already Glad you had the word "it" there... A couple of layers of oil to substitute the sanded ones and she'll be ready for some hard stuff. Depending on the hecticity of next week I'll try to do that at home. Or at least next Saturday if we have the course despite it being All Hallows' Day. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted October 29, 2019 Report Share Posted October 29, 2019 On 10/26/2019 at 6:47 AM, Bizman62 said: "It's the little things" - looking good. I especially like the delicate little 'nipples' on the f holes. Tiny details like that are so easy to loose and really add a touch of class. nice work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted October 30, 2019 Report Share Posted October 30, 2019 Yes - this is coming up very nicely That top is going to be gorgeous. Don't worry about colour shade differences on the back - the eye is drawn to the thru neck laminates. We builders see abberations invisible to the average eye... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2019 (edited) Not much going on here. Just added two coats of High Build Oil today and filed the extended nut to match the neck. And painted the pickup cavities with conductive paint. Today I bit the bullet and finally addressed the bridge issue of the nylon stringed guitar of the son of my brother in law. Actually the instrument came in for a nut fix as the bass string slot was way too deeply cut. I soon noticed that the bridge was partially loose so I started with that. Well, it appeared that the bridge was secured by two bolts and nuts and the poly underneath was apparently sloppily routed away, not to mention that there was only a strip of glue to keep the thing in place! After drilling the caps off and removing the bolts it didn't take much to pry the bridge off. Not the neatest job as the lacquer cracked somewhat around the bridge but it now is glued on bare wood. Oh, and the bridge piece looked like ebony but the underside revealed a pale wood... I'd say that was way too much work for a 40 € guitar but I took it as a learning experiment. Edited November 2, 2019 by Bizman62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2019 (edited) Major disaster, or hopefully not! As you can see, I finally thought the finish is good enough to add hardware. Despite having carefully measured the diameter of the plugs - I even had to buy a set of drill bits from 1 to 13 mm with a 0.5 mm increment for the right size! - the plugs required more banging than I expected. At night I thought I'd apply yet another very light coat of oil and noticed long cracks on the top! On the bass side there's a ridge to be felt between the pickups along the transition line of hollow and neck. There's also an inch long cracks around both studs, following the grain. I guess the best option would be to pull the plugs off and ream the holes a tad wider towards the centerline as the bridge sits a tad wide - again despite it seemed to fit perfectly fine when I drilled the holes! The saddle worked a tad better. I'm planning to make a new truss rod cover since I forgot that I already had magnets for it! The screws just don't look right there. There's also a missing piece in the pinstripe so that will get fixed as well. I have a nice leftover block thick enough to make half a dozen similar covers if needed. -Oh, and leveling the frets was a no-hassle, for once. Edited November 10, 2019 by Bizman62 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted November 10, 2019 Report Share Posted November 10, 2019 hadn't noticed... a nice detail with the fretboard overlapping the nut. might have to steal that one but seems like it'd be a lot of work. nice job. splits... that's one I'd have to walk away for a moment on. I think you could likely rub glue into it before removing the studs and be ok. sux tho... confident you'll recover well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2019 (edited) Aaand crack! @mistermikev, the nut was just extended by scrap pieces of the fretboard as shown in post http://www.projectguitar.com/forums/topic/49637-semi-hollow-lp-profile-neck-thru/?do=findComment&comment=581280 Edited November 10, 2019 by Bizman62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted November 10, 2019 Report Share Posted November 10, 2019 1 hour ago, Bizman62 said: Aaand crack! @mistermikev, the nut was just extended by scrap pieces of the fretboard as shown in post http://www.projectguitar.com/forums/topic/49637-semi-hollow-lp-profile-neck-thru/?do=findComment&comment=581280 duh, didn't think of that... you did do a nice job of matching it. good trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZekeB Posted November 12, 2019 Report Share Posted November 12, 2019 those sound holes look awesome Bizman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2019 So I just put some super glue into the cracks and last Saturday scraped the ridges down, sanded and re-oiled. Then I took a round file and enlarged the holes towards each other since the bridge didn't quite sit without violence. Much better although still a bit snug. I then started fiddling around with the pickups. Getting the springs in was a nightmare, luckily this was all I managed to finish: I say luckily, because on my way home I remembered that the wire from the pots to the switch wasn't yet under the pickups! Today I also figured out an alternative way of putting the springs in place. I simply pinched the wider end of the conical spring around the feet and with a pair of tweezers lined them with the screws. With the strap I then raised the pickup tightening the springs so I could drive the screws in. The bridge pickup went in without any major hassle but the last screw just didn't want to find the thread. In the end the spring fell off the foot and disappeared inside the guitar! I tried to shake it out but since nothing happened I figured it must be stuck on the magnet of the bridge pickup. So I took a piece of wire and bent it to a hook, trying to either catch it or push the spring loose, all to no avail. With no other option left I then unscrewed the pickup and there the spring was, flat against the pickup base. With that much practice I then managed to get the three screws back in and finally with the help of a fellow the fourth one also found its place. It seems that sometimes three hands is a must! I then soldered the wiring, put the bridge and tuners in place and strung her up. There's sound and the switch works the right way. And there's a few new scratches! There's still a few things to do. The intonation is most likely way off and the nut is certainly too high: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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