killemall8 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 That is turning out to be a great looking guitar man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 It sure is. The wenge peeking through the routed zebrano looks cool. Too bad it's gotta be covered up.....because you sort of need to .....in order for it to actually work.....and stuff. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maull Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Stunning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted February 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Thank you for the kind words! The weather has been miserable and I've been ill, so progress has been slow recently Last week did see some neck and body carving action though: Fingers crossed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Hope you're feeling better. Your guitar is looking great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 Thank you for the kind words! The weather has been miserable and I've been ill, so progress has been slow recently Last week did see some neck and body carving action though: Fingers crossed! I could have made 2 necks out of that block of Wenge. Make sure you are wearing a respirator. Even when cleaning up because wenge dust is bad stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 good point. I was able to purchase "wood for 5-piece neck" once (no, twice already in fact) - five laminates that were 6cm thick each. With a cheapo borrowed rotary saw I cut them into stuff that will build me two 2cm thick necks plus I have laminations for a third neck left from the stuff that remained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted February 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 I know it's a lot of wasted wood, but I didn't feel confident enough to trim it down I also still don't have a bandsaw, which would obviously make life a lot easier! The neck wood was actually made from scrap off the body blank, so I don't feel quite so bad about it. It also means that I have a massive, untouched neck blank for another guitar I use 3M disposable respirators. They should be sufficient, right?! I have noticed that wenge makes me sneeze like made if I'm not wearing a mask, even when I'm planing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 Wenge dust was never as bad as walnut, at least to me. Even cocobolo doesnt bother me at all. but my lungs and throat hate walnut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 I think you should add a brown sunburst to that top... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted February 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 I'll add a brown sunburst if you spell it "B L U E" Here are a couple of shots from the practice piece that I knocked up. It was sanded to 400 grit (or higher... I actually can't remember now) and it's had six very thin coals of Tru-Oil (wipe on a fine coat, leave for 20mins and wipe off excess, then allow two hours to dry - lightly buff with #0000 steel wool between coats). Is this the kind of finish you'd expect? I can start a new topic in the finishing subforum, if that's more appropriate. (Try to ignore the streak in the stain. I'd previously tested some Tru-Oil in the scrap and clearly didn't sand it out deep enough) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 That is the kind of finish you can expect having done what you've done so far. Tru oil can give you that nice open pored satin look or you can pore fill and build up enough thickness to polish into a very high gloss as well. Depends on what you are going for. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 blue + wenge? looking forward! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted February 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 That is the kind of finish you can expect having done what you've done so far. Tru oil can give you that nice open pored satin look or you can pore fill and build up enough thickness to polish into a very high gloss as well. Depends on what you are going for. SR I feel like open pored satin will do the wood more justice, but I like the idea of pretty shimmering with high gloss too. If I just continue adding thin coats in the same fashion, will it eventually fill the pores and build properly? The wenge should look great with either. blue + wenge? looking forward! I'm hoping the cream binding will aid the transition from pretty blue zebrano to dark, chocolatey wenge. Fingers crossed, as always! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 14, 2014 Report Share Posted February 14, 2014 That is the kind of finish you can expect having done what you've done so far. Tru oil can give you that nice open pored satin look or you can pore fill and build up enough thickness to polish into a very high gloss as well. Depends on what you are going for. SR I feel like open pored satin will do the wood more justice, but I like the idea of pretty shimmering with high gloss too. If I just continue adding thin coats in the same fashion, will it eventually fill the pores and build properly? The wenge should look great with either. Well, if you keep doing the same thing the pore will fill eventually.....eventually in it's longest form being the key word there. If you coat and then level repeatedly you will get there faster. There's a better way to get it done with Tru oil though. After getting a little thickness built up, wet sand a coat with 400 - 600 grit with the wetting agent being Tru oil. This will create a slurry of Tru oil. When you feel it just beginning to set up, rub it into the pores--sideways to the grain is usually best. Let that dry, level it, and apply another coat or two and then repeat the process as needed till the pores are filled. Open pores usually look best with thin matte to semi-gloss finishes. Open pores with a high gloss finish not so much. The edges of the pores really catch the light and reflect it back drawing attention to them. It just looks like the finish has a bunch of flaws in it. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted February 14, 2014 Report Share Posted February 14, 2014 blue + wenge? looking forward! I'm hoping the cream binding will aid the transition from pretty blue zebrano to dark, chocolatey wenge. Fingers crossed, as always! Sure it will... but brown would be nicer and you wouldn't need to cross any fingers... XD Just kidding, it's your guitar, made it yours... is just that I hate blue guitars, so it's a matter of personal taste. Anyway, can't wait to see the results. Keep it the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted February 14, 2014 Report Share Posted February 14, 2014 any time I work on a blue guitar and I post a pic on facebook it gets like 5x more likes than anything else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted February 14, 2014 Report Share Posted February 14, 2014 any time I work on a blue guitar and I post a pic on facebook it gets like 5x more likes than anything else My color taste has nothing to do with general preferences... I understand. Sorry for offtopic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted February 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) That is the kind of finish you can expect having done what you've done so far. Tru oil can give you that nice open pored satin look or you can pore fill and build up enough thickness to polish into a very high gloss as well. Depends on what you are going for. SR I feel like open pored satin will do the wood more justice, but I like the idea of pretty shimmering with high gloss too. If I just continue adding thin coats in the same fashion, will it eventually fill the pores and build properly? The wenge should look great with either. Well, if you keep doing the same thing the pore will fill eventually.....eventually in it's longest form being the key word there. If you coat and then level repeatedly you will get there faster. There's a better way to get it done with Tru oil though. After getting a little thickness built up, wet sand a coat with 400 - 600 grit with the wetting agent being Tru oil. This will create a slurry of Tru oil. When you feel it just beginning to set up, rub it into the pores--sideways to the grain is usually best. Let that dry, level it, and apply another coat or two and then repeat the process as needed till the pores are filled. Open pores usually look best with thin matte to semi-gloss finishes. Open pores with a high gloss finish not so much. The edges of the pores really catch the light and reflect it back drawing attention to them. It just looks like the finish has a bunch of flaws in it. SR Do you think I'd be better off using a thixotropic grain filler and some 2K rattle cans? I have three or four cans of this knocking around (I've avoided using them because of safety concerns): I also have some Birchwood Casey filler/sealer on order to try under Tru-Oil. And offtopic is all good! Edited February 17, 2014 by Stu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 18, 2014 Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 I don't know that "better off" would be what you'd be, it's another route to a finished product for sure. I've not tried the 2K rattle cans but I've heard good things about them. I think demonX sprays 2K exclusively and his stuff is always awesome. On the other hand Tru oil is a beautiful finish as well and probably gives you a few more options in terms of end result. Check out madhattr3's last few builds-they are very nice and finished with Tru oil. And see if any of Quarter's work is still up. He hasn't posted in a year or more, but man he built some of the coolest lap steels finished in high gloss Tru oil. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted February 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Cripes, I've just looked at builds by those guys. They really did get great finishes with Tru Oil! I've got enough zebrano scrap to experiment with the 2K if I can't get oil right. The evidence for high gloss Tru Oil finishes is certainly reassuring though! I tried the filling method with wet sanding and building up a slurry too, which certainly seems to have worked. It didn't fill the pores completely, but it worked deep enough to save me a lot of coats. Thank you for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 My pleasure. You may already know this, but one thing I didn't realize when I first tried the stuff was it needs to cure for a couple of more weeks after your last coat. You want let it finish shrinking before you begin to level it out.. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted March 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 My pleasure. You may already know this, but one thing I didn't realize when I first tried the stuff was it needs to cure for a couple of more weeks after your last coat. You want let it finish shrinking before you begin to level it out.. SR Yep, I noticed a little when I practiced on a table last summer! I also didn't realise that alcohol would eat it, until a drop of red wine was spilled I've been distracted by other projects recently. The wenge neck is almost ready for fretting, so I wanted to get some new tools (fret pressing caul and a couple of new dressing files) and practice my fretwork before touching the pretty neck. Anyway, the Birchwood Casey Filler & Sealer seems to be doing the trick. The top has had three coats now (only one in the pictures) and the pores are filling nicely. It's looking really nice and shimmery right now, but the stain just wouldn't take to the darker brown grain. For what it's worth, I'm still pleased! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Did you use stain or dye to add the blue color? Either way, and this is just my opinion of course--I like it much better this way than I think I would have if you had gotten a full blue coverage. The wood looks very rich, more exotic, and more natural - in these pictures any way. You did lose the cool looking combo you had going on with the natural zebrano and wenge.....but his is very sweet indeed. Bravo! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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