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mikhailgtrski

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Everything posted by mikhailgtrski

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    I found this tutorial at frets.com. As long as it doesn't mess up the underlying stain, this might do it.
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    So I got the blade to track by tweaking the frame joint, but then the thing vibrated way too much. I returned it to Lowe's. I think I'll wait and save up for a good quality 14". Mike
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    So you noticed that, eh? Could you also tell that one of the lamp sockets droops a little lower than the others? :D The neck fits the pocket now, and I cleaned the excess lacquer out of the tuner holes. I leveled, re-crowned and polished the frets (that MicroMesh stuff is great) last night. It took a little more leveling than I expected, but that's another nice thing about those gi-normous 6100 frets... you can take a lot off and still have plenty of fret height. Light at the end of the tunnel... Mike
  8. mikhailgtrski
    ...Just a few fine scratches left in the recurve, where I couldn't get as much pressure with the pad. I can finish that up by hand. The neck fit is a little too tight now, so the pocket is getting a little cleanup sanding. Mike
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    I found some info in the MIMF library that might work... CA isn't recommended for lacquer repairs - apparently it refracts light differently and is harder than nitro, making it difficult to level properly. Works well with poly finishes. Thanks though, Pr3Va1L. Anyone with experience, feel free to add your $0.02.
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    Congrats, Matt! I think you made the right call. Sounds a bit like me, though, buying tools and having no workshop to put them in. Mike
  12. mikhailgtrski
    OK, so while I was being careful to keep the bridge stud and string-through holes dry during wet sanding, I forgot to keep an eye on the 5-way switch slot. The wood got just wet enough to swell and crack the lacquer between the slot and one of the mounting holes, and a little bit past that. How would you go about repairing this? I'm guessing it would involve some very careful sanding (edit - or possibly cutting it out a bit to enlarge it into a "chip" that can be drop filled?)and some butyl cellosolve (or a similar solvent) to re-flow the lacquer, then some drop filling. I'll post a pic of the carnage tonight. Thanks for the help. Mike
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    +1 My Warmoth mahogany neck had obviously different pieces for the shaft and headstock - different colors and grain patterns. Staining the neck dark brown erased the discrepancies - looks great now. Mike
  14. mikhailgtrski
    A pox on your house! I did a more thorough buff out with the fine compound last night - kicked up the speed on the RO sander a couple of notches, and added time and pressure. After that I used the swirl remover on a foam finishing pad, turning the speed up a little more. I think I got just about all the sanding scratches out... again, it was late, so I'll reinspect tonight. I also got the neck sanded and buffed out (by hand ). Some more pics: neck back back closeup top top closeup end view side
  15. mikhailgtrski
    The "tiger claw marks" are from where the animal attaches to the shell - it's called "abalone heart". It's not useless, in fact, it looks really nice when it's buffed out. It just doesn't match the "normal" abalone. The second fret from the right has a bit of heart material. I used the reverse (outside) of some heart blanks to do some headstock lettering. I don't know where you got yours, but DePaule lets you know that their ounces of paua blanks occasionally include some heart material. Mike
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    The random-orbit sander works great for buffing. I set it to its slowest speed, loaded the Meguiar's foam pad with fine compound, and let it do its thing. Soooo easy - you don't have to anchor the body down while you buff the front and back, and you can hold the body upright for doing the sides and work the sander/buffer with your free hand. Mike
  20. mikhailgtrski
    Finally... Today (6 weeks after the final lacquer coat) I sanded with 800 FreCut (dry), then wet sanded with 1000/1200/1500/2000 Unigrit. I buffed it out with Stewmac fine compound, using my random-orbit sander with a Meguiar's foam pad. I'll do the swirl remover later, once the neck is buffed out. front back reflection Elation was soon tempered, though, when I discovered a nasty lacquer split at the slot for the 5-way... I was being so vigilant about keeping the bridge stud and string-through holes dry, I completely forgot about that slot. Arggghhh. Hopefully it's something I can repair later.
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    OK, I watched the video (twice) and Dan doesn't mention anything about speed or oscillations on the RO sander. If I can find some hook/loop pads locally I might test it on scrap. I'll also try the drill press setup... kinda like a poor man's pedestal buffer? Between 800-1000 rpm should be good, if I recall.
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    That's pretty funny... Small world, or so they say... Stretch Island Fruit Co. is located on the same peninsula where I live, in fact, we (aka the now-defunct family electrical contracting business - R.I.P.) wired their new warehouse.
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    Actually, I have a Ryobi 12" drill press. Hadn't thought of using it like that... hmmm... I have the Spray Finishing Basics VHS, but I haven't watched it yet - still reading the book. Maybe Dan covers the RO buffing thing in there? Something to check out tonight...
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    Stewmac's Guitar Finishing Step-By-Step talks about buffing with a random-orbit sander, that it's easier than the variable-speed drill method... anyone ever tried it? I've got a little Ryobi 5" RO sander, and I was thinking these might work well with it. Thanks for the input. Mike
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