RobSm

The second..The throat of the drill press isn't deep enough...It's a 335 shape scaled down a bit but the bottom bout is full & curvey. I couldn't arrange a suitable alignment. THanks for the ideas..I'll test on scrap!! Rob Sm

Hi.. I am building two guitars sort of in parallel ...one to learn on & the other to be...er...good. I drilled the tail piece holes on no! (SG shape) OK. a bit tight but not so as I have to force the bar...but when I went to drill the holes on No2..a CS 336 shape I found that because of the shape of the guitar I cannot align the drill with the positions of the holes. Does any one know a reliable method to use a hand drill..do you build some sort of jig to keep things straight? Could a plunge router be used OK? All suggestions appreciated. TIA RobSm

What do you guys use to carve the contours in an SG? Are thet flat enough to use a plane? All advice appreciated. TIA RobSm

Try here: http://www.ubeaut.com.au/ubhome.htm I am currently using the white shellac, hard shellac, water based dyes and timbermate filler. You can buy the little book - Polishers' Handbook - but it's not essential. I am applying shellac with a brush and it's going quite well. Also the timbermate filler takes stain well which has really helped me in one instance. Also on a Saga kit I used White Knight spray cans, coloured and clear and they worked well. Avaiable any hardware & paint store. Regards RobSm

Try browsing here: http://www.guitarattack.com/mattocaster/sagakit.htm These guys have done a couple of Saga kits and IIRC they strip all the original sealer off and re-prime. I did a Saga Tele and stripped the sealer from the fretboard but painted over the body as shipped. Both turned out OK. The whole project went well. I upgraded the tuners. It's a ggod place to start and the guitar actually sounds OK!! RobSm

LOL....it's everywhere!! You could browse here : http://www.warmoth.com/gallery/gallery.cfm to look for some ideas. There are some great teles.. Man this finishing...I've read books & studied web sites & will probably use clear shellac LOL. Best of Luck with the project. RobSm

Try this one: http://www.mimf.com/cgi-bin/WebX?14@28.6FM...Y.4@.1dcf4b0f/0 You can do a concert for G dubbya

NO NEED TO SUBMERGE THE GUITAR. JUST BUY A PINT OF EACH PART OF THE MIXTURE AND AN ADDITIONAL EMPTY CAN TO MIX IT IN. A HALF A CUP OF EACH MAKES MORE THAN ENOUGH TO DO A GUITAR. GET SOME DISPOSABLE BRUSHES AND A BUNCH OF OLD T-SHIRTS OR OTHER SOFT RAGS TO WIPE IT DOWN WITH. BRUSH THE MIXTURE ON LIBERALLY AND LET IT SOAK. BE VERY CAREFUL WHAT YOU DO WITH THE RAGS WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED WITH THEM! TAKE THEM OUTSIDE AND HANG THEM ON A TREE BRANCH OR SOMETHING UNTIL THEY DRY OUT. IF YOU THROW THEM INTO A TRASH CONTAINER WHILE THEY'RE STILL WET OR THROW THEM ON THE FLOOR OF YOUR SHOP THEY CAN AND WILL SPONTANEOUSLY IGNITE. Thanks for your help. YOU'RE QUITE WELCOME. ANY TIME. ←

You haven't done anything wrong as far as I can tell. IMO you haven't gone far enough. You haven't described the last grade of sandpaper you used. After getting a surface that smooth to touch but matte ...I assume you're at the 1200 grit stage...keep going with (say) 0000 steel wool then rottenstone powder then guitar polish. That should result in a good gloss The Meguairs Mirror Glaze range in various grades are also recommended. Hang in there!!

I think all you need to do is a light 600 grit to allow the next coat to grab. If there are runs you might want to remove them but be cautious as the last thing you need is a 'rub through'...Care round the edges!!!! As for the number of coats...it's hard to say..are they going on thick or thin?..if you see what I mean. When you rub to gloss or matte you will be working on the lacquer itself so make sure there's enough. Will it affect the tone? Don't go there!!! You could probably go from 600 grit to 0000 steel wool to rottenstone (or some of the Meguiar's preps)..I have used rottenstone as above followed by Gibson guitar polish and I got a result that I'm happy with.I do mean a good shiny gloss.Could I have done better? Sure..but you have to stop somewhere. Don't let the mistakes throw you. Finishing is very time consuming..( a friend of mine always has three projects going at once because you might have to wait weeks between steps). Enjoy the journey. RobSm

Hi. I'm a newbie gearing up for my first 'real' DIY. In the tutorial on staining a figued top Kevin uses black dye on the wood lets it dry adjusts things if needs be, then applies the 'coloured' dye ie the desired colour. I don't understand what's going on here and there are no pictures. Why is the black dye used on the bare wood? What does it do? TIAS Robert.