cSuttle

Why do you need something that thick? Probably the thickest you are going to find is .06" which is 1.5 mm. Now if you want to use flake stuff, you can get that in thicknesses to .25"

I use there clear enamel to clear coat my inlaid tcover and I'm really happy with it. I have used this product before, but never on something as nice as a guitar. Just arts and crafts sort of stuff. Liked it for that though.

This man speaks the truth. If he says an inlay/repair job is not worth it, I'd listen to that wisdom and either live with it, or get yourself a new guitar.

Always trust the guy that is trying to talk you out of giving him money.

thanks guys, sorry I haven't been back to check in a while. I thought about sellign and rebuying buy i love this guitar, It's just a schecter I know but still its an amazing ax. I contacted schecter and they told me to talk to some ron guy, Contacted him and he said he actually designed the inlays for schecter and he could do it, but its a little pricey.

How bout completely replacing the fretboard?? How much does that normally cost for a 25 1/2" scale with 24 frets? I'd make it an ebony board with dot pearl inlays...

Once again, probably not worth it. That's pretty major surgery and the guitar may not play the same afterwards. There are a lot of amazing axes out there. I would still recommend getting a new one.

what type of inlay shapes are they? Dot? Blocks? etc.

From what i can see from a quick google they have a sort of 4pc cross thing - quite a lot of buggering around even for a pro like yourself.

Yes, I see what you mean. That would be a real pain to get right. It would probably be cheaper to sell this one and buy a new guitar that works for you.

what type of inlay shapes are they? Dot? Blocks? etc.

Yes, you can cut shell with it. In fact there wouldn't be any reason to have a cnc for inlay unless you cut the shell with it. If you cut the shell by hand and the hole with a router, nothing would fit. That would actually make things worse.

CNC are great.

I'm curious about the CNC for inlay. I can see where the CNC would cut very acurate slots for the inlay to fit in, but isn't that backwards? At least in old fashioned hand inlay you cut the inlay material and then scribe around it, right? So is the CNC cutting out the little pearl/abalone/stone pieces also? If so, can you post a picture of it doing that? I just can't imagine how you would keep such small pieces of shell imoblie and fixed to a work board as you have a machine rout out the edges.

Wow, I'm really sorry that it took me two years to respond to this, I just saw the question. Hope I'm not too late

As someone said before, I use double back tape for wood products sometimes, if I can clamp them down. For shell, I wood glue the to a piece of junk wood and cut away. The pieces stay glued to the board. Then I soak the board and the piece come off. Works great.

Sorry, no pics.

Also, try switching to epoxy. Just did a piece on maple, no problem at all.

This is the only place on the internet I have found the super glue...

I assume this is it right?

http://www.castlewholesalers.com/SUPER-GLU...ve-Syringe.html

Yep, that's it. Warning, buy a few because once you try this stull you won't want to use anything else. I know I don't. When Home Depot stopped carrying it, I just about freaked.

Personally, I think lace wood looks amazing with just clear coat. Just my personal opinion, but I wouldn't mess the nature.

As far as the staining, not a glue. Sorry

Hi gang,

I know, I know, bats and fairies really don't go together, but it's what the customer wanted. Still thought it was cool and wanted to share.

Yep, that's the stuff. Yes if you use it by itself is doesn't dry as dark as mixing it with the dust. Making your borders less noticable.

Of course, as always, test it for yourself to be sure you like the results.

This glue really mixes well with dust like ebony and rosewood though.

So the epoxy comes already with a slightly yellow tint to it? Care to shoot me a link of this stuff so I can try it out?

Thanks

Chris

Hi Chris. It's made my superglue corporation and it's the 20 minute clear with the blue plugger. Unfortunately, I was having a problem finding it on the shelves. The last place I was buying it directly from was Home Depot. It is still in their stock numbers so some of them may still carry it.

I use so much of it that I buy in a case at a time right from superglue corp (their minimum order). Their are some web-site that carry it, but they don't stock it so the order forfillment time is really long. Some Ace Hardwares may carry it too.

Check around. It's the best stuff I have ever used and it cheap combared to like Stu-Mac or something. It's about $2.50 a tube. Highly recommended. Mixes fast, cures fast, solid as a rock, little if any bubble problem, and colors well with saw dust.

Whereas the gaps on my maple pieces are really small and very uniform because I use a cam machine, I actually use clear (slight yellow tint) epoxy without coloring the glue at all. The color of the wood is seen through the glue which is lighter than mixing dust with the glue. I think this is a better look. I like to you superglue expoxy in the 20 minute cure time mixture.

You might want to experiment with this.

Get a radiused sandy block that is the same radius as your board. This will allow the block to mainly ride on the dots until that are flush with the board.

The blocks I use are 8" long so it only hits the high points. This should allow you to make it perfect.

Good luck with it.

Hi,

With the material you used it shouldn't be an problem. However, I have just spent from time this spring working with a professional guitar finisher trying to discover the problem he had with messing up inlays on headstock. NOT inlays he got from me, but from a pretty famous guitar builder.

After some study, it turns out that the client's inlay had been super glued in and left air bubble sized holes that allowed the dye to leak under the inlay and if the inlay was thin from radiusing, is discolored or shown through the shell. These tests were done with abalam so it may not apply in your case.

What we discovered is that epoxy makes a much better seal and this prevents the leakage.

Of course, once again, you are using recon stone and that will be a lot less transparent than the abalam so this issue may be moot. Just though I would bring it up for concideration.

Good luck with your project.

I like the "scene" inlays as well, though every time I see them, it just kills me that it's not on a fretless board

Yeah, I hear ya. I know that I do spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the best placement for all the parts. Sometimes the dang frets just fall in the worst possible places. Right through an eye, wiping out the tip of a horn. I had a case once were a fret ran right over the most complex part in the entire inlay. A bunch of little, hard to do pieces and nobody ever saw it. Oh well ... such is inlay.

What material did you use for the cactus?

It's malichite recon. Perfect for this application.

Very cool stuff! I always get a kick out of your "scene" inlays, they are just amazing. I truly wish my best friend played guitar cause I'd definitely contact you for a similar take on the Quail/Dog inlay. Wow, that was such a cool inlay and would suit my friend. I'm still trying to find a way to fit it into something else, maybe a gun stock? I'll figure it out one day. Anyhow great work, very cool. That board would have perfectly fit one of Draks southwestern teles, when he was on that kick. Best wishes Craig. J

Thanks Craig. The tough part of this board was the 10" radius. I had to special design the inlay so I could layer the piece in more of a v shape. I did it without a single blow through, but it took some custom depth cutting to do it.

I like it. I think it will look really nice when you're all done. Please post pics of the final product.

Hi,

I thought this one came out pretty cool. Haven't shared anything in a while so I figured this would be a good one. It's going on a Griffin guitar.

I don't know if removing the fret tang is really all that important. I would, however, suggest using a fret press, instead of a hammer to put the fret in where the frets cross the inlay. As long as you use a fret press with even pressure, the chipping shouldn't be a problem.

Also, since you have two pieces that are the same design, try glueing two pieces of pearl together with wood glue and cutting both pieces are the same time. Then soak the pearl in water to separate them. Then you will have two pieces that are exactly the same.

Mask it for sure. Funny, I just did another post on this same subject 30 seconds ago. Go get a product called Friskit from any good artist supply stores. The stuff works great.

Ok, to answer your original question, inlay the guitar before you paint it. They buy a product call Friskit that you can find an any good artist supply shop. This is a clear masking flim that what you find on a new clock face when you buy it from the store. Mask of the part not to be painted, paint the guitar and remove the mask.

I use this stuff all the time. Works great.