boundsteelblues

My experience is that every little scratch shows up with tru-oil. I'd wrap a lower grit around a dowel and go back at it. Sand up to 600 and cehck it in very good light.

Maybe it is my computer, but these pics seemed so large I thought it was going to crash it.

Can you squeeze it tight now with a clamp?

This is going to be an interesting thread to follow.

Let us know how it well it works.

Clearly, I didn't plan this part well enough. Second build is body with a back of Black limba/maple strip 1"/walnut strip 1"/maple strip 1"/black limba with a leopardwood top. Neck is Carnarywood. Pleased with the way it came out, but not sure how to finish. I prefer oil finishes. I am figuring the limba needs to be grain filled. Looking for suggestions on what to do when you have these different types of woods. Would the tru-oil sealer be enough for the limba and then I could go with tru-oil from there? Is the limba the only wood that needs to be filled? That is just my judgment examining them. How do you test or judge this? Thanks

I agree that theme or motif is a better way to describe the guitars rather than relic. This particular one looks like it was raised from a ship 60 years underwater. What I am most impressed with in your work is how eye-catching design and functionality are combined. I am drawn to the subtleties of the shapes first. If that lottery ticket ever has the right numbers…

You are posting that you would never use an oil stone or you have never used an oil stone?

never use it

Has anyone used an oil stone to level frets? Also, which one would you suggest? I've found some hits on a web search but not a lot of detail. They can be a lot cheaper than Stew-Mac's bar.

Thanks for the advice and confidence. Everything went well. I ended up at 5.7 mm too.

you can safely go to 5 mm on a guitar, I would not go past 5.7mm which will give you about .225 inch this is as thin as I like to go, but I know guys who radius to .20 inch. so I think a little more leveling will be fine. just true it up with a long flat sander then re-touch the radius.

The board is glued on. I was uncertain about going back to try to get this mor elevel due to the thickness of the board itself at this point.

That is the crudest looking radius block I've ever seen, but if it works I got to try to make one.

You certainly get some interesting suggestions when the word nylon is in the search title.

I apologize for a naïve question, but I see how a false move at this stage is going to mean problems later on. I sanded my preslotted and radiused fretboard and thought I had it very flat per my straight edge. Apparently, I need stronger readers because I’ve noticed now that the front half of the first fret dips down (to the my best estimate) 1/64th of an inch. Let’s say you can see some light. Real hard to measure without three hands. I am 6.10 mm at the center of the fretboard at the end of the guitar end and 5.9 mm at the nut end. From something I read, I don’t think I want to take it down any thinner. Thinking I was done, I sanded the fretboard up to mirror shine.

Is this slight dip in the first half of the first fret a problem or am I making too much out of it?

Beautiful guitar. When did you install the side dots? I watched the vids, but I can't remember where that was.

Never mind. I heard it on the second play.

What grit paper do you use for filing the fret ends on the disc sander?

What grit paper do you use for filing the fret ends on the disc sander?

No, it is already radiused at 12. I mean to bring it up to shine.

What grit do you start with for sanding a stew-mac preslotted fretbaord?

You didnt say what you are doing??

You can thin epoxy with achohol then apply. Too much CA will gass you out so I suggest a safer product. This is assuming the wood is punky. If you are filing use only epoxy.

Stabilizing and reinforcing the area because it is soft.

It is such a hairline, I am not sure I could get any Wood glue in there. Very deep at least.

After cutting the black limba board I want to use as a body back, I noticed a crack. It is all the way through on the end, but only visble on one side. There would be a 1/2 top on this board. Am I safe to fill it with CA and continue or consider this a loss? I am afriad it is unavoidable. It would defintienly be in one of the horns no matter how I laid out the design. The board had been laying flat under my bed for about 2 years now. The crack was in an end that had paint to seal it. The other end was waxed and is fine.

I have a board of spalted tiger maple I am using in a body. The spalt will be on the back of the guitar. Woodcraft offers CAs in a variety of viscosities - thin, medium, thick, gel. Is one better to use than the other? Can you just use the superglue from a Lowes to achieve same result?

I have a padauk top I haven't used it. I found this comment about preventing color change quoted from "Wood" magazine online. Don't think I want to try this, but you guys know more about finishing than I do and the science behind it. I've only done oil finishes so far.

"The way to prevent this and save the wonderful orange-red color is to treat it with a bit of Armor-all before sealing."

Can you say Fish-Eye? I am not sure I want to go that route. A UV inhibitor like http://www.targetcoatings.com/emtech-9300.html

That is what I was thinking. Armor-all has got to be silicone.

I have a padauk top I haven't used it. I found this comment about preventing color change quoted from "Wood" magazine online. Don't think I want to try this, but you guys know more about finishing than I do and the science behind it. I've only done oil finishes so far.

"The way to prevent this and save the wonderful orange-red color is to treat it with a bit of Armor-all before sealing."