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Bizman62

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Everything posted by Bizman62

  1. From "Oh shit!" to "Oh wow! - at least in this spot" is my preferred method, requiring going back for fixing a scratch left from two-three grits earlier. Gentle wipes with frequently cleaned abrasive repeated a million times, that's the best tutorial about fine sanding from me.
  2. The ones I've bought have always had the padding but the ones you tighten with the screw tend to lose the protective caps. The top covers split and the rotating caps wear from the inside as the 'bearing' doesn't rotate too smoothly.
  3. I tend to do the same to prevent marks on the surface. But as you said there'll be another layer to hide them. Let me suggest you a workaround combining the best of both worlds: Attach cork pads to the clamps! For the upper jaw of the F you can simply glue that on the iron (after having cleaned the glue squeezeout remains off, that is). For the round rotating parts you may want a big larger diameter pads which should become sturdy enough using 3-6 mm thick plywood (Nordic Birch) under the cork.
  4. Glad to see you again! When clicking the 'Next unread topic' link it opened somewhere in the middle of the page, showing your headstock and body design, seeing them felt like coming home from a journey. Is it really almost a year since your last update? Man does time fly!
  5. I've used a random orbital on flat surfaces and it may help leveling without major scratches. But if you've already got somewhat of a gloss it might not help too much. According to what I've heard and learned through experience is to choose a grit less coarse than the depth of the scratch and sand across until the scratch vanishes. Then change direction again and sand with a finer grit, change direction and use a finer grit etc. until the spot blends in with the surrounding gloss. And in case I've forgot to mention, don't use any pressure! Look at @ScottR's Green One for reference. Those pads look similar to the 3m pads I've bought at the car paint shop. The foam can hold lots of water which makes them ideal for wet sanding.
  6. Isn't it somewhat counterintuitive to see how well even a fine grit sandpaper/mesh/whatever cuts through the surface, leaving a satin sheen without scratches with much fewer strokes than you'd think? Seeing that miracle happen is always fun, seeing the faces of other people after having instructed them not to use pressure for best results is hilarious!
  7. Wax or oil don't behave well under any coat. Shellac should work as a middle man but you won't know until having tested with your stuff. Also, when mixing different coatings one thing to remember is to let the previous layer cure properly. Any fumes that may emit from the previous layer can do things to the next one. I was going to say "less desirable" but then I remembered crackling which used to be very popular among house decorators not too long ago. Fun projects with kids are the best. Looks nice too! As they say there's many ways to skin a cat.
  8. Shellac is said to be compatible with most anything. I'd say 2k is guaranteed compatible with 2k. The question that now popped into my head is, were you going to spread the 2k by hand of from a rattle can? If the latter, then I'd consult the vendor to ask if they could add some pigment to it. After all, 2k paint is just 2k clear with added colour!
  9. Ahh yes... Did you know there's stain/dye in rattle cans? I didn't until I googled for such. You may even let a car paint shop make a coloured mix of 2k and semi-transparent pigment into a rattle can.
  10. Is this the final stage? Or will I reseat the neck at an angle, continuing this saga sometime in September? Time will tell... Having decided to follow Veijo's suggestion to lower the trapeze I started by carefully marking the bridge location for intonation and the area to be modified. The low angle plane seemed to be just right for the job but like all blade tools in the workshop it didn't chew material off, at least not in a manner I could control. A rough file didn't seem to work either, the oil treated pine is surprisingly hard to carve! So I taped a loose saw blade on the top for an angle guide and taped the end of the sanding block as well and it seemed to work better. Still not too happy. But then I remembered I had bought an Iwasaki rasp and that made things happen in the pace and accuracy I liked! After having finished the slope I then re-inlaid the trapeze endpiece and bent the bottom end of it to better match the roundover of the bottom of the body. A drop of oil blended the newly revealed surfaces to the existing finish. And as no guitar is finished until the strap buttons are installed I decided to get rid of the hook. Notice the real leather pad: Salvaged some leather from the trash bin of the workshop and punched a dozen of pads out of it. Has the angle changed at all, it's hard to tell. But now everything has been done at that end so if need be resetting the neck for a taller bridge is the only option left. The neck feels nice and nothing rattles or squeaks, not even when bending the dusty frets so guess that can be called a working guitar. And here's a final view of the entire instrument:
  11. Has the plan changed? Couldn't find any other than that, then again this flu makes my eyes jump the obvious.
  12. I've sprayed a burst using 2k poly once, following the advice of our tutor Veijo who is a trained Master Luthier and has been in the business since the mid eighties so he should know. Anyhow, the procedure was as follows: After having sprayed a layer or two of poly and sanded it level up to some 400 wet I sprayed another thin layer of the 2k. Then when it was still wet I sprayed alcohol based dye for the burst. And while that was still wet I noticed that the overspray was way too intense so I took a rag soaked in solvent and wiped it all off! Much, much easier than sanding back to the first clearcoat! So, reapplied a mist of 2k to provide some grip for the dye, cleaned the spray gun (model very cheap, sub €20) and sprayed the alcohol based dye. This time the result was pleasing so I continued with 2k, wet on wet, to seal the dye between layers of clear. The last layer of clear has to be thick enough for level sanding without fear of sanding through the burst. Wet on wet was the trick, allowing the previous layer solidify just enough to prevent runs but not too long to build a skin. That would not be a major issue, though, it just means you'd have to wait for the 2k dry properly and sand it matte for subsequent coats. Later I've learned that you can also mix 2k and solvent based dye in which case you don't need the mist coat to start with.
  13. Nicely done! You now have a tool that's nice to use without fear for fingerprints.
  14. Gave some further thought to it and you're most likely right. An egg has one of the most durable shapes and it's all about the curvature. Or at least I haven't seen any braces inside eggs.
  15. What would you think about making a flat top with braces heavily radiused to the inside? Lacking the words let me draw it: Would that be enough to keep the top from sagging or do you think the overall curvature with braces radiused against the top (and maybe bottom too) would be more rigid?
  16. Indeed it is. That's why scraps of the very same pieces are invaluable and why you should perform the exactly same procedures to them as to the actual workpiece. And you'd still be prone to surprises as the properties of wood can change within half a foot especially cross grain, sapwood v.s. heartwood that is.
  17. I've also used just CA as it's widely available and relatively inexpensive depending on where you buy it. Bending the binding to shape with moderate heat also helps. Canopy glue used by RC hobbyists is an alternative. I haven't personally used it but have heard good reviews about it both from RC and guitar builders - Jerry Rosa liked it much as the excess can be wiped off with a damp cloth. According to him it's like a mix of Titebond and CA glue. Pacer ZAP Formula '560' was the brand he used but there's others, just do a Google search for 'Canopy glue'. The price tag for those seems to be a fraction of BindAll.
  18. Looks great! The big turquoise area of epoxy looks just like I thought it would as it won't take the dye but the black burst will tame that. The smaller turquoise spots blend nicely in. Well done so far!
  19. Those short shafted large diameter bits somehow seem scarier than narrower ones. The ones where only the blades protrude from the shaft look much safer to me. Something like a 10 mm bit with an 8 mm shaft.
  20. I've only used 2k twice for my guitars and haven't used any sanding sealer. After a decade they still are perfectly flat even at the ends. The need for filling may depend on the wood, though. Mine were maple and alder, both of which have quite tiny pores. And I did a proper sanding after the first coat so the 2k acted as a sanding sealer. The burl is porous but based on the pictures you spread the epoxy quite liberally so there should not be too large gaps. Again, I'd test with a scrap piece.
  21. That looks stunning! Like travelling in a space ship through the Milky Way. I was going to say that yours looks purplier than the role model but then it occurred to me that the photos are taken under different conditions with different cameras. A google search revealed that on some photos the Majora Purple guitars look just like your scrap piece. Did you have any of that turquoise on the test piece? If so, it hides itself well! If not, you may encounter surprises. Another thing to test is the finish over the dye. The clearcoat will enhance the figuration somewhat similar to your last wash when wet. But it may also add some yellow/orange to the mix. Boiled linseed oil or shellac are also commonly used to highlight the patterns but they have an even more of an amber hue which may give a surprising end result. Even a clear lacquer may not be totally clear, it can be 'cold' or 'warm' which can do tricks. Or it may have a hue that vanishes. Some years ago I rebuilt our floors, new pale pine, and the lacquer looked purple in the bucket! When spread on the floor it looked just wet, emphasizing the figuration some. Years of daylight have darkened the pine but there's still no evidence of any purple hue, even the palest sections are natural golden similar to untreated light exposed wood.
  22. Heating the sauna is always a good "Plan B".
  23. The final stages take forever! The nut was way too high so I filed the slots and did the 3rd fret pressing procedure to check the action. So of course the grooves unexpectedly became too deep and started grabbing. Guess which version of the files worked better! You guessed it, the €20 Temu set has the looks but the feeler gauge was both faster and smoother. Reshaping the nut was next on the list. Started with a file but in all honesty the sanding block with some 80 grit worked much faster. For the record the nut popped out during the slot filing process and knocked a chip off where there was the tiny drop of super glue. Despite having been sold as bone the chip that broke off didn't look 'organic' so I suppose it's bone dust and epoxy. Still much better than a hollow piece of plastic! And finally I spot leveled the ends of a couple frets. They were too easy to find, playing chromatically two adjacent frets produced the same note. Not a major issue, they were on the dusty side and only affected one string. Used the grooved cheap crowning file and finished with the nail buffing sponge. The action is now low without buzzing although the fret rocker clicks here and there, again in spots that only affect one string. Flying by the seat of my pants can cause unpredictable issues: Originally I was going to use a hardtail but then a fellow told that he has some trapezes from guitars he had modified which led me to make the scrapwood bridge. The height is right for a good angle but the string angle is too much on the shallow side for my liking. Most likely because of that the sound is metallic like a tin can and lacks the low end. Removing the neck and re-routing the neck pocket to an angle and adding height to the bridge would be the ultimate fix but I'd rather try something else. When discussing the matter with Veijo he first suggested screwing the trapeze down against the body but that would make changing strings a bit clumsy. Then he suggested reseating the end plate, even carving the top a bit. That might work, worth giving it a try next Saturday.
  24. For a moment I thought you really shouldn’t go that route but, I realized you must mean Illustrator and not the AI that gets a lot of press these days Whew, thanks for that clarification!
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