guitar2005

Wow. Nice project. I have a couple of questions for you. I've been wanting to make one of these too.

1- What is the neck pocket depth?

2- What is the depth of the floyd recess for the studs?

3- What kind of paint did you use for the back?

4- What kind of clear did you use for the finish coat?

Thanks.

I've used Dupli Color acrylic lacquer (Truck/SUV) for my lastest project. The product builds up easily and is easy to spray. Sanding is easy, so are repairs, due to the nature of the product (lacquer).

The only drawback with this product is that it takes forever to cure. I've been waiting 3 months for my guitar to cure but still, the finish is soft. I've heard that this product can take up to a year to fully cure, maybe more. I've decided to start using the guitar and I'll repolish it when it has cured a little more. I can see the lacquer is continuing to dry because it is shrinking and sinking into the pores of the wood (honduran mahogany). Its still very soft and fabric will leave an impression in the paint. The reason why I decied to use this product is that acrylic lacquer is supposed to be more durable and chip resistant than nitro lacquer.

I've used DEFT nitro lacquer on another project. The nitro doesn't build up as fast as dupli color acrylic lacquer. It chips more easily but dries faser and also cures faster. After 3 months, the guitar had cured to the point where it passed the fingernail test. I have noticed though that it has continued to dry/shrink because I can now see the finish sinking into the pores. I don't mind that though - I actually like the effect. This was done on a stained Korina body.

I'm not sure what i'll use on my next body. I'm seriously thinking of using the Krylon line of products. I've seen impressive results with the product.

Doesn't the Dremel saw accept pinless jeweler's saw blades?

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They do accept the pinless jewler's was blades and I have some. Being able to control the workpiece with two hands instead on one seems like a real advantage vs the "traditional" method.

Has anyone here ever tried cutting inlays with a dremel saw? I've never cut inlays before and it seems to me like the dremel would be a great tool because it has:

Good support

Lighting

Variable Speed

A blower nozzle.

Any comments?

I'm planning on using Dupli-Color metallic blue paint

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... later ...

Did you even bother to read my post? I'm not using all dupli-color.

Thanks

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I read the post - It says that you plan on using dupli color - I say don't use it, try something else... Geez, what's with the attitude... just trying to help.

Not only is it a bad idea to use dupli, it is also a bad idea to put it under a different brand / type of lacquer.

I'm planning on using Dupli-Color metallic blue paint(basically i'm still on the fence about mixing metallics so far). I wan't to clear over that with my McFadden nitro. Would this work or would it cause some sort of problem? The only reason I'm not testing anything is it's humid as @$$ up here and should be for a few more days.

P.S.-I REALLY don't wan't to EVER use Dupli-Color clear again, so if I can't clear over the acrylic with nitro just tell me and I will figure something out.

Thank's guys

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I would avoid the Dupli Color line of products. Their product does not cure well. I've been waiting 3 months for one of my project to cure (Black base, White pattern, clear). If you really need the metallic paint, try to find an alternative. Doesn't re-ranch have metallics?

F.M.

I did a Korina Jem copy a couple of months ago. I didn't fill the grain, but ended up filling it with multiple layers of nitro. It was mirror smooth when I was done with it.

As the finish continues to cure, you can now see the finish settlilng into the pores, which I like.

Next guitar which will be a solid color, I was going to attempt to fill the grain with regular wood filler (putty). It comes in several shades, is stainable, readily available and durable. Has anyone thought of this? Sound a lot easier than using Epoxy

To speed it up a lot you can put a couple of infra reds on it along with a fan. You can get heat lamp bulbs at you local homeowner's warehouse.

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Thanks the the tip.

I got the infra red light. its about 18" away from the guitar right now. How long should I put the light on the guitar?

are you saying the "red on white on black" paintjob i just did is going to come out wrong??

GOD DAMN, it was looking soooo good too....

Trust me, its ok. White covers black. Ive got two guitars in the workshop, both with over a hundred polka dots on each, thats says white covers black.

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Yes, I've done this too - White covers black very well in two coats.

However, the EVH frankenstein has a white base with red over it and then, black stripes.

Maple is more dense and heavier than mahogany. I speak from experience in working with both woods. There is a lot of scientific data that show the greater weight and density of maple over mahogany (hoduran, african or korina).

Silver leaf maple is the only type of maple that could be ligher than regular maple. Compared to mahogany, I don't know.

this may be bad form or something but when i'm finishing a body i take a 2-2 1/2' piece of 1x2 and and mount it on the inside of the neck pocket with two screws.  i place it right in the center of the pocket so i end up with a couple of extra holes but the back of the guitar is bare with nothing in the way..just my two cents worth.

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I just use neck screws with neck screw washers like the ones found on Ibanez guitars. Stew-mac sells them.

F.M.

There are two things that affect the cure time of finishes that cure by evaporation.

One is temperature.

The other is moving air. If you put a small fan directly on it it will cure a lot faster.

The last one can be argued but I have done a bunch of fiddling with this over the years and I've found that a fan really speeds up the cure time. When you are doing woodworking for a living and have to get a table top shot out, rubbed out and delivered so that you can keep the lights on you learn some tricks.

To speed it up a lot you can put a couple of infra reds on it along with a fan. You can get heat lamp bulbs at you local homeowner's warehouse.

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Thanks for the info. I'll get the infra reds asap. I just put a fan in front of the guitar.

One of the things I've noticed is that in the areas that I did not buff/polish the guitar (in the control cavities - where there's also less paint), the finish is pretty hard. Its the buffed/polished areas that are problematic.

I wonder if the Turtle Wax scratch & Swirl remover may have caused a reaction with the lacquer. Does anyone have experience with the turtle wax?

wow I just put 8 coats of duplicolor acrylic lacquer on a body and it hardened enough to sand a run out. That's weird.

Uglogirl

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Sanding is not a problem. I've sanded the clear twice between coats. Run out sanded out no prob.

Hey,

I've searched for some info on this but I've had a lot of trouble getting answers.

I've built a Randy Rhoads polka dot V. I filled the grain with a shellac based sanding sealer. For the color and clear coats I used dupli-color auto lacquer which is acrylic based (which I chose over nitro for its greater resitance to chipping).

I've used the dupli-color on a separate project and it worked fine, although I had less coats of paint because it was a re-finish/touch up job.

I started with 4 coats of black which I sanded back a couple of days later to smooth it out. Then, I masked the guitar for the white dots which were sprayed in two heavy coats. Over this, I sprayed 6-8 coats of clear which I also sanded back twice to get a smooth finish (3-4 coats, sand, wait two weeks then another 3-4 coats). When sanding these coats back, I actually sanded to the level of the white dots in some areas. The goal was the get the dots level with the clear coat.

To completely finish the guitar, I sprayed a final 3 coats and sanded that back. I waited about a month before buffing the whole thing. I had a couple of small spots that buffed through around the edges. 2 weeks later, I final polished the guitar with Turtle Wax minor scratch remover. The guitar is now very shiny BUT the finish has gone soft on me. Its wasn't super hard before the final polish but it seems the polishing made things worse. Its marks very easily with a fingernail and even with fabric.

I put the guitar hanging (so the paint doesn't touch anything) in my basement in a room with a dehumidifier. Its been 3 days and the nail test is showing that its not as soft as 3 days ago but I'm worried still about this now...

What I'm wondering is how long should I wait for the finish to cure so I can put it in a case and not worry about it getting marked by the fabric? What are teh ideal conditions for the finish to cure?

Did I do something wrong?

Please help!