Thin guitar build...VERY thin! 12mm/half an inch roughly.

[Bizman62]

4 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

Interestingly, in the past I’ve noticed that fine wire wool does not show up marks in the same way that sandpaper does.

One reason for that is that the dust wanders deep into the wool instead of building a hard lump on the surface. Nylon abrasive felt works similarly and you can even use it wet without fear for rust colouring the surface.

2500 grit definitely requires a couple of pastes for a gloss. Or finer grits and a swirl remover compound.

 

[mistermikev]

shat... glad to see u r still pushing the envelope into the "path less traveled".  don't ever change.  gj!!

[ShatnersBassoon]

On 3/10/2024 at 2:57 PM, Bizman62 said:

One reason for that is that the dust wanders deep into the wool instead of building a hard lump on the surface. Nylon abrasive felt works similarly and you can even use it wet without fear for rust colouring the surface.

2500 grit definitely requires a couple of pastes for a gloss. Or finer grits and a swirl remover compound.

 

So…I seem to be getting a gloss now. But I think I might need to get some higher grits than 2500. Maybe I should get something like this? https://www.axminstertools.com/micro-mesh-soft-touch-pad-abrasives-211364?queryID=797b7e222982afa92a144bedc48ebc65
 

There’s some tiny scratches in there. Will try some machine buffing instead of just doing it by hand like I have been doing, and see how that goes, maybe that might get rid of the micro scratches. Failing that I will try getting the higher grit papers. 

[Bizman62]

11 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

There’s some tiny scratches in there. Will try some machine buffing instead of just doing it by hand like I have been doing,

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.

[Andyjr1515]

13 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

So…I seem to be getting a gloss now. But I think I might need to get some higher grits than 2500. Maybe I should get something like this? https://www.axminstertools.com/micro-mesh-soft-touch-pad-abrasives-211364?queryID=797b7e222982afa92a144bedc48ebc65
 

There’s some tiny scratches in there. Will try some machine buffing instead of just doing it by hand like I have been doing, and see how that goes, maybe that might get rid of the micro scratches. Failing that I will try getting the higher grit papers. 

The micro-mesh cloth is probably more useable than the pads - you can get mixed grade packs on ebay/amazon.  I usually go for the 3600 to 12000 packs.  I wouldn't be without them - one of the best abrasive developments I've ever come across.  The cloth versions (I use the 6" x 3" but other sizes are available) means you can used them with sanding blocks, cork blocks, radius blocks or just with your fingers.  They are fully washable, can be used wet or dry, last an absolute age and are the tops!

 

 

[ShatnersBassoon]

Thanks for the replies guys. I really appreciate it as always! I’ve figured out that part of the issue is simply because I wasn’t getting rid of some of the scratches from previous grits. I also hadn’t properly got rid of a few imperfections in the epoxy. Back to 600 grit and working my way up! Using only wet sanding now, as I have a feeling I was pushing material around that had been in bedded in to the  sandpaper and causing the more undesirable type of scratches. Maybe I was using too much pressure, so working on close to zero now. Also, I’m going to do a different sanding direction on each grit now, so I can gauge my progress a lot better. 

[ShatnersBassoon]

Still working on the finishing process! Had quite a mishap recently with some epoxy that I hadn’t mixed correctly. Anyway…Really not sure about this idea that I mocked up in Photoshop. It's weird for sure. I kind of like it…but hmmm…what do you think? 

[Bizman62]

Interesting indeed, but where's the jack?

[ShatnersBassoon]

3 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Interesting indeed, but where's the jack?

Haven’t drawn it in yet

[henrim]

13 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

It's weird for sure. I kind of like it…but hmmm…what do you think?

Highly subjective. If you like it, it is good. Whether I do or don't is a moot point unless you try to sell it to me   Honestly I kinda like it though! 

But in my thinking the shape of a guitar has other qualities than just the looks. Qualities that either make it or brake it.

What is the intended purpose? In an electric guitar the body is there to support all the hardware and to provide the player an ergonomic user interface. Without any thought on ergonomics a square block will do for the body (of course if you are Bo Diddley it will do in any case). Scale length defines the minimum length and that's about it. Add a jack and maybe a knob or two.

Ergonomics of course highly depends on the intended use and playing style. If the instrument is only played on stage in standing position, you need to place the controls accordingly, but the overall shape can be virtually anything. Think about Prince's guitars or think about the map of Finland (about the only country that makes a semi-decent guitar shape, btw). As I see it, the purpose of those shapes is to make a statement. They are not necessarily shapes that everyone likes or they are not the most ergonomic shapes. But they have a purpose.

If you play classical music sitting on a chair the requirements are totally different. If so, a so called "ergonomic guitar" design may be a good choice. They can be very nice to play, but not everybody thinks the ergonomics driven design is visually pleasing.

Personally I spend a lot of time tweaking the curves of my initial designs. In the end I always end up with more or less traditional shapes, driven by the intended purpose and the most important question: 

Does it look like you can convincingly play dirty rock'n'roll with it? 

That is my design driver and it automatically excludes too modern approaches and all the otherwise intriguing shapes. I know I lean towards clean simplicity on my designs but I try to keep some street credibility in them too.

My 2 euro cents. 

[ShatnersBassoon]

1 hour ago, henrim said:

Highly subjective. If you like it, it is good. Whether I do or don't is a moot point unless you try to sell it to me   Honestly I kinda like it though! 

But in my thinking the shape of a guitar has other qualities than just the looks. Qualities that either make it or brake it.

What is the intended purpose? In an electric guitar the body is there to support all the hardware and to provide the player an ergonomic user interface. Without any thought on ergonomics a square block will do for the body (of course if you are Bo Diddley it will do in any case). Scale length defines the minimum length and that's about it. Add a jack and maybe a knob or two.

Ergonomics of course highly depends on the intended use and playing style. If the instrument is only played on stage in standing position, you need to place the controls accordingly, but the overall shape can be virtually anything. Think about Prince's guitars or think about the map of Finland (about the only country that makes a semi-decent guitar shape, btw). As I see it, the purpose of those shapes is to make a statement. They are not necessarily shapes that everyone likes or they are not the most ergonomic shapes. But they have a purpose.

If you play classical music sitting on a chair the requirements are totally different. If so, a so called "ergonomic guitar" design may be a good choice. They can be very nice to play, but not everybody thinks the ergonomics driven design is visually pleasing.

Personally I spend a lot of time tweaking the curves of my initial designs. In the end I always end up with more or less traditional shapes, driven by the intended purpose and the most important question: 

Does it look like you can convincingly play dirty rock'n'roll with it? 

That is my design driver and it automatically excludes too modern approaches and all the otherwise intriguing shapes. I know I lean towards clean simplicity on my designs but I try to keep some street credibility in them too.

My 2 euro cents. 

I will be honest here and say that part of the thought behind the design, was born from an indecision regarding what to do with the bottom half of the guitar. So I thought “what if I just chop off that section”? The original thought was to use a panel, but whilst thinking of a material and colour scheme that complements and contrasts with the rest of the instrument. That has proved to be a bit of a head scratcher. 

This particular revision has a somewhat iconic look to me, because of its ‘uniqueness’ (a subjective metric I know). But I fear that the overall look of it is a bit like marmite for many people…you either love it or you hate it!

I may spend a bit more time photoshopping and seeing what refinements  I can come up with. Failing that I will just continue with the original shape.

[Bizman62]

Photoshopping is a good way to test destructive ideas without actually destroying anything. I asked about the jack since it was in the cut area in a previous mockup.

[henrim]

4 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

without actually destroying anything

I have seen stuff done in Photoshop that has caused permanent damage to my eyes

[Bizman62]

11 hours ago, henrim said:

caused permanent damage to my eyes

For the last 20+ years I've been a member of another, most American forum. Our Finnish community has been holding (semi-)annual meetings and of course it involves posting pictures of the event or it doesn't happen. Sauna... Need I say more?