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First Build - The "Nozcaster"


Norris

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I've knocked the dye back very slightly with 0000 grade wire wool. That's mainly to bring back some of the end grain definition and to even out a couple of slight streaks in the dye. I then got it nice & clean and slapped a reasonable coat of sanding sealer on it. Of course I managed to get the obligatory little midge land on it, so now have a tiny insect wing stuck to the back - which should come out easy enough. Now to flip it over and do the final prep sanding on the front. I also need to drill the tuner screw holes & do a final sanding on the neck before I dye the veneered headstock

No pictures today as it looks pretty much like last time - but slightly shinier :D

Thanks for the kind comments :)

Edited by Norris
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I got the tuner screw holes drilled - check. There are only 4 holes left to drill now - the neck pickup mounting plate retaining screws and the strap locks. The top is now ready for dyeing, except I noticed a couple of tiny scratches in the bottom of the teardrop recess for the controls. That shouldn't take long to sort, then I'll give it a very light wipe of dye before checking for any more scratches

I used/adapted a few tips that I saw on here. I needed to do a bit of sanding in the forstner bit recesses where the controls will mount. I found a largish drill bit with flat bottom, stuck some masking tape on the bottom and superglued some 400 grit to it, then cut round with a sharp knife. I then repeated it with a strip around to bottom of the shank. The result, a lovely cylindrical sanding stick. It was good for doing a small roundover too.

I've got a few real life things coming up, but masking & dyeing of the top should commence soon :D

Edited by Norris
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An 18+ month life will get you a bunch of views too. But what goes the furtherest in that regard is that it is a fascinating documentation of a quality build. Some tricky stuff has been attempted and achieved and we've watched you learn as you go. It's been a great ride and we're heading down the final stretch!

SR

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13 hours ago, ScottR said:

An 18+ month life will get you a bunch of views too. But what goes the furtherest in that regard is that it is a fascinating documentation of a quality build. Some tricky stuff has been attempted and achieved and we've watched you learn as you go. It's been a great ride and we're heading down the final stretch!

SR

Thanks. I've tried to show everything, warts & all. If it gives somebody something to think about before making a mistake, provides a tip for how to achieve something, or even inspires someone to start their first build - then it's all been worth it :D

13 hours ago, Prostheta said:

I'm sure that it'll happen as it happens, as with all things!

That's been my philosophy throughout - It takes as long as it takes. The next one will be a lot quicker, as it's a much simpler build. Having said that I'll be tackling some stuff I've not done in this build, such as a neck angle & scarf joint :) (Yes, it's lined up already, much to my wife's chagrin!)

Edited by Norris
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I've been dyeing the top.

I gave it a few coats and then knocked it back with 0000 grade wire wool...

20170325_115552_zpsabaoihlm.thumb.jpg.cc900e8edea5fabcfb9981d39bed9984.jpg

... to help pop the grain when I applied some more

And I think this is worth a few photos now that I've taken off the masking tape from the binding...

20170327_201921_zpsxh21z1pu.thumb.jpg.884f40c6c9878b28bf47472faa94d08a.jpg

20170327_201943_zps6sxeg2cc.thumb.jpg.c41296e27c58ffe25d98c0d3b787e34e.jpg

20170327_202011_zps0dto867w.thumb.jpg.579c815ee6bd057d323ce6da886d1f50.jpg

That's going to look pretty marvellous when it has some lacquer on it.

There's a little bit more knocking back to do around the recesses - these photos were just after I gave them another couple of coats of dye. I've also got to scrape around the binding a tad just to clean it up. As you can probably see in the photos I've also given the headstock & rear cover plate a couple of coats of dye. Those will also need knocking back and re-dyeing.

There's a 3 week break in my evening classes now, but I'm going to try to soldier on and get it lacquered at home

:D

Edited by Norris
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The satin sheen is covered in tiny wire wool scratches at the moment, but yes it does look quite good like that. It will look even better with a shine that you could swim in though :D. If I can get a shine half as good as @ScottR manages to then I'll be a happy chap!

I spent an hour or two with a Stanley knife blade scraping excess dye from the binding where it managed to sneak under the masking tape. I also "borrowed" the wife's ultra fine 00 water-colour brush to touch in a few bits where I over-masked, and it will look much neater when I've gone round it again with the blade. A tad more wire wool to even out the streaks in the recesses and I think we're good to slap some sanding sealer on it :)

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