Build #5

[IPA or death]

Why not just do the dragon the way it is: an outline drawing? I don't know what you have done there, a sharpie or something, but use some paint that's compatible with the final finish, then clear over it. That way you still have the dragon but it isn't distracting to the overall picture.

[pukko]

>>RestorationAD

If it's going to be black it will be by colouring the top with some stain or dye. I have no spraying equipment so a translucent black lacquer is not possible. I'm considering an oil finish for the whole guitar so I haven't thought about any type of lacquer actually. I was originally inspired by the look of Blakkheims Mayones signature guitar which has an ash top that's painted black with visible wood grain.

>>3DogNate

Thanks! I've thought a bit about it and I think the colour option is out of the question now.

>Prostheta

Yeah, well it would be kind of a black on black finish if I would carve the outlines and tnen colour it all black. Just a 3D version of it...

It's only the top that I'm having black, should go well with the ebony fretboard and headstock overlay. The back of the body will have the same colour as the neck. I'm making wenge cavity covers to match with the stripes in the neck. pyrography would be cool... if I had any idea of how to do it without making it look like a three year old did it. Hetfields stag EXP looks good: http://www.freewebs.com/montyjay/elkespexp.html

>>IPA or death

Nah, it's just drawn on with a pencil right now. It will be an outline, just carved shallowly into the top... if I do it.

[Our Souls inc.]

How about an etched copper dragon? That would be sweet.

In my opinion.....

[IPA or death]

Route out the outline with a Dremel and fill with black epoxy? I'm just spitballing .

[Prostheta]

Trying to fill a hand-carved wooden void with epoxy with the intent of large sharp clean outlines after flatting won't work 9/10 (I'm sure that experience changes this pulled-out-of-the-air "statistic"). Laser cutting or CNC makes for far cleaner edges as Huntindoug will no doubt testify.

[RestorationAD]

>>RestorationAD

If it's going to be black it will be by colouring the top with some stain or dye. I have no spraying equipment so a translucent black lacquer is not possible. I'm considering an oil finish for the whole guitar so I haven't thought about any type of lacquer actually. I was originally inspired by the look of Blakkheims Mayones signature guitar which has an ash top that's painted black with visible wood grain.

+1 Now that idea I like. A nice black dye with an oil finish. As for the painted black with the grain... ehhh... having done both I would say it is ok but not as nice as an oil over black dye.

Whatever you do it will be awesome as the foundation of the build is excellent.

\m/

[pukko]

>>Our Souls inc.

Yeah, that would be cool, like one of those Zemaitis V:s but with copper instead of aluminium. But I've already done the copper thing, time to try other stuff...

>>IPA or death

That could be an alternative, but I think I've ditched the idea of filling it. If I'm doing the carve it's going to be left like that.

>>Prostheta

Good point. I'm also worried that any staining might bleed into the edges and make it look bad.

>>RestorationAD

I guess that particular finish is REALLY thin to show off the grain so well. And of course the ash grain is really pronounced so it's visible even if the finish is a bit thicker.

[IPA or death]

Maybe something like this? carved SG

[Menapia]

Maybe something like this? carved SG

[pukko]

I bought a router base for my Dremel to try some outlining. Here's a quick (quick as in "first time I'm trying the router base out and I don't really care if the lines look that messy...") try to see how it would look:

I only had a small piece of mahogany lying around so it's hard to get the big picture of how it would look on the guitar, but you get the basic idea. There would of course be a lot of cleaning up of the lines and making points sharper with a smaller Dremel bit. I also tried with a round nose bit but I like the sharper shadows/contrast that the flat routing gives. The problem is that it will be hard to rout the finer details with this router bit, I might have to use a smaller one for those parts.

I like the way the mahogany looks when stained black with visible grain by the way (no oil at all on it here), I was thinking about doing a Tru-Oil finish to make it flat and glossy but now I don't know...

[CD1221]

That little "test" looks great!

Can't wait to see the real thing finished.

[plinky]

Cool. I was thinking about buying one of those for my Dremel. Do you think it's worth the purchase or would it be better

to just buy the Stew Mac router base?

[Prostheta]

The Stewmac router base is okay with a Dremel, but it's far lighter with a Foredom extension pen thingy.

[pukko]

EDIT: Double post, see next post on next page.

[pukko]

>>CD1221

Thanks!

>plinky

I don't know, I've never tried the StewMac one. This one is a lot cheaper than the StewMac one but I believe that if you're going to use it a lot the StewMac will hold up better. This one is made mostly from pretty flimsy plastic, I suspect something will break sooner or later...

>>Prostheta

Is that like one of those flexible cords with a little penlike tool to put the bits/drills/whatever in? One of those would be really cool if you're engraving stuff but for this kind of rout where I want a uniform depth and width of the routing I think a router base will work better.

[Prostheta]

It is. The pen can be mounted in a base same as the Dremel itself, so there is the option of less weight. Depends if you're happier with the stability of a weighty Dremel or a light touch with the pen tool. On reflection, I think for this work the weight would be an advantage in case the tool wanted to try and climb out of the cut.

[pukko]

>>Prostheta

I misunderstood you, I did'nt get that the Foredom was supposed to be mounted in the router base... But I think you're right about the weight, at least when routing with wider bits. My first try was on a piece of pine from an IKEA shelf and the router wandered like crazy because of the soft wood with harder grain rings. I guess the more weight there is downwards the less sideways movement there will be.

[pukko]

I made the wenge cover plates a while ago, routed for them today:

[pukko]

I've been thinking about where to put the jack as I don't want it on the top like on Gibson V's. I'm going to put it on the inside of the lower leg of the V. That calls for an angled jack to avoid having the cable sticking out too much. People have suggested that a Strat jack plate works well, but I think those look kind of funny on a V. The angled jack is however a good idea, so I decided to try and make one out of wenge to match the covers. Here's what it looks like now, lots of sanding left but you get the idea:

It will be routed flush with the mahogany to make it invisible from the front.

[verhoevenc]

That is frickin' hot!

Chris

[westhemann]

That looks really,really nice,but in the future if you wanted to do it differently on another guitar I use these

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Jacks/Flush-mount_Output_Jack.html

I drill the outer diameter in the angled area,then drill the center..like this.

[westhemann]

But you do end up with scratches around the jack eventually if you have a habit of "drunk playing" like i do..

[RestorationAD]

It will be routed flush with the mahogany to make it invisible from the front.

Nice work. I like them on the top horn better though.

But you do end up with scratches around the jack eventually if you have a habit of "drunk playing" like i do..

Is there really any other way to play????

[WezV]

i dont generally like using barrel jacks - but did end up using the technique wes suggests on my recent mando SG. A barrel jack was the best choice with the thin body, i still dont think it is for most guitars

i like that wenge plate though - you always seem to pull it out the bag with the detail work. something like that recessed will be great

[pukko]

>>verhoevenc

Thanks!

>>westhemann

Yeah, I thought about those too. I just didn't think I could drill a good looking hole at the proper angle with just my electric hand drill. The angle of the V makes it a little hard... I would have had to make some kind of drilling jig for that and since my workshop=my kitchen during winter I didn't want to do that. I suppose an oil finish will make the scratching a little easier to avoid or at least fix. Can't avoid the drunk playing though! Where will I put the first dent, headstock or one of the V points...? Great looking Explorer by the way!

>>RestorationAD

Yeah, I asked people that plays V:s a lot and they said the inside of the top horn is the best place. i just didn't see how I could drill a hole for it without having a heart attack... The angle of the V means I would have to drill the jack hole into the Floyd cavity or drill a little straighter along the body and then drill into that hole from the pickup cavity. I would probably make a mess out of that...

>>WezV

Thanks!