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Yeah, I've always wanted to do Robbie the Robot. He predates the Lost in Space robot but almost ten years and was featured in a number of flims and TV shows including a episode of the Adams Family where he took over for Learch. I keep suggesting it to client, but nobody ever bit. So I just had to do it for myself. This thing be really going to look bad ass in my collection. At the rate I'm going, I probably won't finish it until September.

Update as of 6/27/10. Finished the front, work on the back. The eye in this picture is inlaid deeper than the rest and covers with clear lexin (the stuff then back race car windows with), so it has a 3D look. And progress on the back.

The front of the guitar has been inlaid. About 3/4 of the shell has been cut for the back. Pictures and video coming soon. The eye of the war maching is sunk deep into the guitar a I put a piece of clear lexan over the top of it. That looks really cool. Not sure if it will show up in the pictures, but live it's really bad a$$.

You have discoved the flaw of recon stone. When it's thin, it brakes. You need to leave it thick. I generally route to .1" if I'm using recon. This will hold up to even the most severe rads. Don't worry about weaking the board, when the recon is glued in it will make the board even stronger than it was not inlaid at all. Recon is brittle to flexing, but strong to pressure. Sort of like ebony wood. This will leave a lot of material sticky up from the board after the inlay. I normally hit the stone with a dremel sanding drum to get it close to the board and then use a rad. block to take it down the rest of the way. I love recon and use it all the time. But, I did have a similar experience to yours when I first started using it. Wasted a couple of block of recon in the process.

Yes, I picked the theme to go with the guitar. I was planning on doing a WWI fight plane theme, but then when I picked out the guitar it just didn't seem to fit. I needed something more out there.

I've prepped the guitar including removing hardward, sanding off the finished, and routing cavities deeper. It's ready to start inlaying. I've decided on Invaders from Mars for the fretboard. While I was sanding, I lost the maple top (it was paper thin), but the mahogany underneath was pretty cool, so I don't mind at all. I have video of me working on the guitar on my youTube channel or on my web-site in the workshop section. Shark Inlay

I can't take credit for the body design. It's a Washburn A10. Sammy Hagar use to play one. I just modifying the guitar not building. I alway have the finish striped away, and I have to pull the frets and then I can start inlaying it. Updates coming soon.

Cool looking rocket on that comic book, but I pretty set on Invader from Mars at this point. Work began yesterday. I've removed the hardware and about half the finish. Imazine what you run into once the finish is gone. The maple top was a veneer and very thin. While removing the color coat, I blew through it. Ended up sanding the top maple completely off. There was a very nice mahogany underneath, so I'm happy. I think that will work better for the stain I'm planning. Wait until you guys get a load of what I planning to do with the stain. I still have to remove the finish on the neck and headstock and remove the frets and then I will be ready to start inlaying. I have a big project for a client coming up, so progress on that may be a little slow (paying customers first). I'm doing Odin on a custom guitar. Should be really cool.

I think we have settled on invaders from mars (similar to your idea), but this will be way beyond fretmarkers. I'm going to be doing a large planet Mars in the first three frets and them groups of saucers coming down the neck getting bigger as they near the body of the guitar. I may position the groups roughly around the fretmarkers positions, but I'm not going to let them influence the design. If I can play the Unicorn guitar, no amount of inlay on the fretboard would bother me.

If you ever use bezier curves and get to understand how they work, you will think photopaint is for kindergarders. Bezier curves are based math and so no matter what you do to them, they stay smooth. Zoom up 20 times, shrink 10 times, modify only parts of letters, merge with other shape to make totally new shapes, none of that would matter the shape will stay perfect. Photoshop has it's place, but it can never replace a vector program no matter how good you got at it.

Photoshop, or other programs like that are bad choices for your application. Photoshop is for photos. Hence the name. You are trying to create vector art, therefore you need a vector art program. The top two in this category are Adobe Illistrator and Corel Draw. Both was fairly expensive programs, but either one would be GREAT for what you are trying to do. If you want to find some other program, just remember that you want a program that works in vectors, not raster. This way no matter how you scale it, rotate it, skew or mangle and font or design the edges will always be smooth.

I agree, plus that's clearly 60's. SciFi had changed a bunch by then.

Did they make them without trems? Most i've seen are fixed bridge. Well this one is a trem too. Floyd Rose.

Did they make them without trems?

That's actually not a bad idea.

Hi Gang, Last year I took a Gibson SG and turned in into the Viking Guitar. Well this year I'm working with a Washburn A10 and I'm doing a 50's Sci-Fi movie theme. See artwork below. You're going to have to use your imagination for a while, because this is going to be a combination of inlay, multi-color stain, and paint. The front is litterly going to be a landscape and the back a spacescape. Best part, I'm keeping this one for me!!!! Another one for my office wall. Here is what I need from you guys. We are doing the 1953 War of the Worlds on the front and the 1956 Forbidden Planet on the back. BUT ... we're not sure what to do with the fretboard yet. I'm looking for ideas. Any 50's Sci-Fi movie will be concidered. My thoughts are the Time Machine or Godzilla. Chime in with your ideas, I'd love to hear them. We are going to be videoing the process and putting the video on youTube. If you want to follow the birth of this new guitar, you can go to my web-site sharkinlay.com and check out the workshop section. I'll post here from time to time with photos, but the videos will only be on youTube with links from my site. This should be fun!

Thanks!

Hey, I have a client in the Chicago area that needs a really good finish guy that can work around complex inlay work. Any suggestions?

That's really odd. Maybe the guitar sat in somebody's car in the summer and they melted. Oh well. Pull them out and replace them with the same size real pearl.

If it on every fret? If not, you may be able to just file them down. The inlays are acryllic which files down quicker then the wood. Use a fine cut file, go slow, only file on the forward stroke and you should be fine. Unless of course the problem extends into the 15 and lower frets. Then the risk of damaging fret is too great to use this method.

Route it out and put in a new piece. And, be more careful next time. Don't hammer in the frets, use a fret press.

Yes, it works pretty well. You just have to have time to devote to the finish process because once you activate the can it only lasts 24 hours and then it hardens inside the can. Nice solid though. Quick and easy with no clean up like a gun. Was planning on using it on my next project.

Well, inlay is what I do. You can contact me at Shark Inlay if you want.

Update. Just finished the pickguard inlay.

Yes, sawdust will be darker mixed with epoxy than the original wood. However, on ebony or darker rosewood it's perfect. On lighter rosewood, try using mahogany dust. On a light brown board, use maple dust. On maple, I just like using the clear epoxy. If you have a lot of recon-stone (I have pretty much every color made), you can really get your choice of color. However, even the powders for the dyes dry darker than they look before hardening.