ScottR Posted March 22, 2013 Report Share Posted March 22, 2013 Then again I'm not sure I'd want the body to have JUST oil, I thought of maybe doing the back and sides with Rustins Plastic Coat that I have waiting to be tried out, and juts oil the front. Or is this king of mixing up different stuff in different parts just asking for trouble? Any opinions? There are plenty of just oil finishes out there, likewise oiled necks with clear coated bodies. And, I'm pretty sure Paulie does oil and clear combos on bodies from time to time......if not fairly often. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted March 25, 2013 Report Share Posted March 25, 2013 Then again I'm not sure I'd want the body to have JUST oil, I thought of maybe doing the back and sides with Rustins Plastic Coat that I have waiting to be tried out, and juts oil the front. Or is this king of mixing up different stuff in different parts just asking for trouble? Any opinions? There are plenty of just oil finishes out there, likewise oiled necks with clear coated bodies. And, I'm pretty sure Paulie does oil and clear combos on bodies from time to time......if not fairly often. SR Indeed I do mr Scott. I do a lot of oil back / sides with poly or nitro fronts. Not always with binding either. Sometimes I feather the clear on a top out towards the sides & oil the guitar from their on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted March 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2013 Interesting. Thanks guys, good to know it is possible to do that. I was actually thinking of doing it the other way - oiling the top and putting RPC on the back and the sides. Right now I'm doing my first try with RPC, painting the cavity covers for this guitar and another one. I put in on off-cuts from the body and top so I'll have something to base my decision on. Meanwhile I'm doing the neck. I leveled the nitro on the faceplate and started wetsanding it. Then I sanded the back all the way to P320 and put in the first coat of danish oil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 I broke out the RPC to paint cavity covers yesterday. Here's the one for this guitar - thin HDF with wenge veneer, painted with conductive tape on the bottom and sides - and three layers of RPC brushed over the wenge. The reflection of my white wall makes it look less dark than it really is So while I was painting I also did a piece of the imbuia top (and the body mahogany but I forgot to take a pic of that). Here it is, top left is 3 coats of RPC, below that is Danish Oil (only 2 coats or so, so ca get better) and on the right is bare wood on the body. I'll put some more oil on the oiled part, level and buff the RPC part and do the same to the headstock where I have nitro. Then its decision time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nandobang Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 pan_kara, you sure did an amazing job there, man! I watch this forum for quite some years, and this is one of my favorite builds since then. And the use of simple tools is inspiring to me, as I'm yet to build my first guitar. Thanks for sharing all that progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 I'm really surprised at the difference between the RPC and the oil. The gloss level difference is to be expected, but in my experience the oil normally deepens the color nearly as much as a clear coat. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 I aggree, the oil should do better. This is not a scientific comparison yet. I was sanding the part that got the RPC after having oiled the other part so maybe there's some dust or something. And there's only two coats of oil on there. I will put some more on and check again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 Did it look deeper when it was wet and lighten as it dried? If that is an extremely porous top, and being a burl it likely is, the oil could have soaked so far below the surface that if dried duller and lighter. I have seen that with punky areas on spalted wood. If so, more coats should bring it closer in color to the RPC. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 Yea, I think its soaking in. I'll put some more oil on there today and tomorrow and see after Easter how it looks (gonna be gone for a few days). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 pan_kara, you sure did an amazing job there, man! I watch this forum for quite some years, and this is one of my favorite builds since then. And the use of simple tools is inspiring to me, as I'm yet to build my first guitar. Thanks for sharing all that progress! Thanks nandobang It is indeed possible with simple tools and no woodworking experience - as in my case - so go for it! I'm happy that you like this build, I absolutely love the way its turning out, had a friend over a couple of days ago when the guitar was still assembled, he didn't want to put her down and kept commenting how comfortable it was to play. Can't wait to finish it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nandobang Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 I know the feeling, as I am refinishing two basses and a strat, and can't wait to see them done! BTW, have you sprayed anything or brushed/wiped? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted March 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 On this guitar its mostly brushing. I did spray some sealer over the headstock decal to not mess it up with a brush, and then brushed nitro over that. The cavity cover is RPC brushed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted March 30, 2013 Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 If I am going to be oiling a thirsty top, I usually use an external tung oil. Put it on with a rag, don't spread it around too much. The external stuff seems to seep in a lot less than interior grade oils. then put a wax over it & buff it up. But I also usually do the oil after I do the RPC stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted April 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 Ok, after the input from you guys I've decided to keep my original idea of keeping the top with just oil. I added more oil to the testpiece and the colors improved a lot. The neck got oiled and waxed in the meantime, I just need to buff the nitro on the head plate. The body had some mahogany pore filler, sandind and then I started on the RPC. Here's the first coat fresh after brushing: I put 4 in total over one day and left to dry. That was Friday, I'm still waiting before I start wetsanding. I didnt manage to keep the top clean so I'll probably sand this off before I wetsand the back: But in general looks like the end is near Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted April 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 oops a giant head of mine appeared in my sig. will try to fix that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted April 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 Through trial and error I'm slowly learning this whole wetsanding thing. First mistake that I was making in the past I only realized now, since this was the first time I tried to level and all-brushed finish. I was using some foam-backed paper holder and it was too soft - it smoothed out the smaller brush marks etc but the mirror surface I got after polishing was nowhere near flat. I changed that to cork and that made it much better. On the sides, where I was getting a lot of runs and stuff I used a scraper and followed that by the small micromesh pads. This actually turned out really well. The only problem... I went through in a couple of places. Since RPC hardens chemically not by solvent evaporation the drop-fills I'm doing now will not be perfect I guess - unlike nitro, which I believe is very forgiving in that respect. We'll see how well I'll be able to blend them in. In-progress shot: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 very cool man i love this idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted May 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2013 Thanks! I'm really getting close to having it finished, right now I'm oiling the top: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whalehazard Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 The top is great...so warm and inviting. Excellent build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob123 Posted May 3, 2013 Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 I love that top dude, very nice and clean too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted May 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2013 Thanks guys. I'm really thrilled to have dreamed up this project and now see it finally take shape, pretty close to the original concept. I'm loving this guitar building thing Anyway, she's almost there. I mounted the volume pot, the graphtech preamp etc: Waiting for the neck and the strings: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted May 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 (edited) Ok, she's nearly ready. I only need to redo the volume knob since this is just one I was testing on that I put here as a placeholder. And I need to get new strings since the A sting snapped for some weird reason. Thankfully I managed to take a few shots before that happened: Edited May 17, 2013 by pan_kara 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 That is beautiful! Now I want a solid body nylon string Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 Gorgeous! Well done. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted May 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 (edited) Thanks guys! @The Fool Guy Build one man, when you're done with that cool strat of yours ! Its major fun, almost no routing except the neck pocket (at least the way I did it) and its tremendous fun to play. The softness and classical spacing combined with a thin electric-like neck and body make it quite unique. I will post a sound clip sometime when I fix the string issue.. Edited May 17, 2013 by pan_kara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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