Johnny Foreigner

one question for tomorrow's task.... what grit should i use to sand back the dark blue ready for the lighter blue final dye??

HOLY CRAP THIS PART IS EXCITING! I'd almost forgotten how nice the figure was on this wood. I'm almost tempted to leave it there and have it as a denim sort of color, but I know the sand-back and blue dye is going to look even better. I'm a true aesthete - at this stage I don't care one bit how this thing plays or sounds. I LOVE how it looks, already!

ok. everything sanded to 220. grain raised and knocked back. back dyed: along with pup routs and jack slice: tomorrow hopefully I can dye the top dark blue, then Monday I can sand back and re-dye regular blue.

+1 on the wider hs template.

to qualify: I don't have a jointer to create my own straightedge from a piece of wood. could I just pick up a piece of lumber from Lowes on the basis that they surface all 4 sides, and one side would therefore be straight?

I'm looking for a good straight(ish) edge that I can use to route a straight line using a template router bit. Would something like this: https://www.speedymetals.com/pc-4666-8364-1...2-aluminum.aspx which is not advertised as or designed as a straightedge be good enough? or do I need a precision straightedge?

thanks! and yes, go ahead. I have no plans to 'go commercial' any time soon.

also caveat emptor on Virtual Village. They list stuff they don't have on hand. So you buy it on ebay, pay them through paypal, they get the money. Then they email you to say the item is out of stock, it will be 2-3 weeks til it's back in stock. cowboys.

Is he still doing stuff as SYL? He was very briefly in my favorite band ever.

sounds good just need to figure out some time management to make sure I have enough consecutive days where I can set aside at least 2 hours...

looking good, Daniel. Where in MA are you??

looking really good. very clean work for a first build. looking forward to watching this progress.

the three hour thing was based on the stewmac finishing schedule for the water-based lacquer. so, if I only need to wait 15-20 mins, and I want to shoot 12 - 16 coats of sanding sealer, I could feasibly do this over the course of one day?? and ditto for the top coats?

thanks Scott. Into the final furlong.... at times I wish I'd chosen a simpler design - a tele clone or something - but I've learned SO much by making this super complicated with the carve, jack cut, weird fret markers, direct mount pups, piezo, wiring, etc. anyway, time to idiot-check my finishing schedule (largely nicked off of the Stewmac site as I'm using their colortone products) 1. Raise the grain on the top with water, then gently sand back (I assume using pretty low grit) 2. Sand everything to 220 3. stain back, neck and back of HS black. stain top and front of HS dark blue (not black) 4. sand back top and top of HS. Stain blue. 5. marvel at lovely flamy 3d top for a bit 6. use grain filler on mahogany bits (back and sides) but not on maple bits (top and top of HS). Sand to 320. 7. 12 - 16 sanding sealer coats - no less than 3 hours apart, no more than 48 hours apart (do I need to empty and refill the gun between coats or can i leave the sanding sealer in the sealed can??) 8. wait 24 hours 9. 9 - 12 top coats - no less than 3 hours apart 10. wait a week 11. wet sand, starting at 1200, moving up as high as my micromesh pads go (12000) 12. buff out with fine polishing compound. all make sense?? I know I've seen more specific buffing tips elsewhere on here which I need to dig out.

they'd better be for $170

awesome responses and thanks to all. plenty there to think about...

inspired somewhat by RestorationAD's 7-string, I'm contemplating a future build where the focus is very clearly on being as thin and light as possible. I think that will probably mean a basswood body with maple cap, but I'm unsure about what wood to use for the neck. What's the lightest wood (or combination of woods - i'd be interested in a multi-ply also) you think you can 'get away with' for a neck - so it's still strong enough (possibly with double truss rod or TR plus two CF rods). obviously the lighter the neck, the lighter/thinner the body can be without neck dive. it will be 6 string, 25" scale, same basic shape (and same HS shape) as my first build (http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=42864&view=findpost&p=468147)

the most minimal of updates on this: the neck is out of the clamps

hey! it looks like a real guitar! so time to throw some hardware on and pretend i don't still have the gruelling task of finishing ahead of me....

thanks customguitar - it's been really nice to get back to it this weekend. there's definitely something addictive about the process and something deeply satisfying the presses both my man button and my musician button at the same time. more progress today. the clamps came off the neck and I was able to site the bridge - it lines up *almost* exactly so it sits dead on the center line and the outside strings line up with the fretboard all the way along. for someone of my limited attention to detail, that's a big win. last major job before finishing: on someone's recommendation i ages ago bought a cheap angle grinder and flap disc. made the job a lot easier. It's not the cleanest or prettiest heel/neck transition, but it's relatively smooth

let me reiterate my last post on the referenced thread: the ibex planes are AMAZING for top carving. worth the money.

very impressive for a first build. looks like you have plenty of woodworking experience going into the build, which is always a help. and you're right about frets.

with all the fretting work done and dusted (LEAST favorite part of the build so far, by a country mile) i could chop a chunk out of the tenon ready for glueup: forgot to take any pictures of the neck being glued in, but that's where it stands now. hopefully I can get the bridge placement done tomorrow and think about starting the finishing process.

two and a bit months later..... I finally found some time to venture back into the basement. installed brass inserts in the pup routs: so I can direct mount the pups. had to drill out the 'ears' on the pups a little for this: and spent several hours sitting in the sun with an extension lead powering my soldering iron to get all this sorted: and routed the battery box

got a little work done on this week while focusing on trying to finish up my first build. I cracked the initial body glueup and did the router-as-jointer trick. seemed to work well and the new glue line looks a lot tighter. cut the pieces for the scarf on the neck, using a left-over piece of figured maple as a nice little accent piece: and glued it up more to come as the other build wraps up.