Mateyboy

Hi all

I've raised the grain, sanded it down (240 grit) and all that jazz (4 or 5 times, can't remember). I used some black ink to cover the top, sanded down and applied 3 coats of crimson guitars water based stain.

I think I am happy with the results so far. I'm going to leave it for 24 hours and see how it comes out. I can then start thinking about how to get the black 'burst' nitro finish.

My next build won't be poplar, I fancy something with a better grain, however another first for me! 

Now back to that neck... 

54 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

I personally dislike using black to highlight figure as it looks highly artificial and more like a photo finish or veneer. Try using dark browns or other colours, as they tend to look more natural. Either way, test on scrap and see what you prefer.

I know what you mean, but I kind of like the idea of having my black burst going into the black grain under the cherry top, however I will take your advice on this and try both out on some scrap wood.

some great advice on finishing, thanks a lot!

Hi all, looking for a bit of advice. I'm almost finished sanding the body. I have read somewhere that I should raise the grain and sand again with 220 grit. I assume that this means I dampen the wood with a damp cloth then resand it. 

Then I want to enhance the grain with black ink on the top side of the body before I stain it. Again, assumptions; I stain the body then sand it back down? 

Then there's grain filler? Do I need it, is it essential?

Any tips/advice would be much appreciated.

23 hours ago, Mike.Mara said:

My first attempt at radiusing and slotting by hand did not go well lol

Yeah, I'm not confident enough to slot a fretboard, although I have an idea. When I buy my next fretboard I might make a slotting jig with it; that is use the bought one to make a template from.

last couple of days I've left the neck alone, I've been 120 gritting the body. Moving on to 180 grit today. I'll go back to the neck when I can dedicate some quality time to it. 

16 hours ago, Mike.Mara said:

 

Since you're in the UK like me... Maybe check this out? I'm considering using it for my build as I don't want to "colour fill" the mahogany. http://www.tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/aqua-coat-clear-wood-grain-filler.html

 

Anything that helps create a smoother finish is worth a look! 

16 hours ago, Mike.Mara said:

Also... To your radiusing problem,

It's not a problem... yet... fingers crossed! 

16 hours ago, Mike.Mara said:

flipping your radius beam over and moving the neck against the beam instead of the beam against the neck

This is interesting, never actually looked at it this way. I guess it would be a lot less hassle than unclamping the neck every number of strokes to check progress.

Today I sanded 120 grit to get the router marks out, you can't really see any difference from the picture, at least I don't think you can.

The cutaways are proving to be a pain in the butt. I ned to go back to those tomorrow, my arms feel like Popeye's now!

I'm not really sure when to move on to a finer git other than when all visible 'marks' (mostly from routing) are gone.

There's a tiny hair width hole/mark about 1mm in length in the side. As I am planing on the sides and back being solid black I'll probably fill it in with a tiny bit of filler. The top-side is going to be a nice cherry stain burst to black so no filler allowed on the top. 

I don't the I would use poplar again unless I was building a solid colour, I'm not that keen on the crappy grain of poplar.

JT

I left the neck alone today and started to sand the body.

thanks for all the advice on radiusing the fretboard, I'll leave it until I can get enough time to concentrate on it, don't want to rush it and ruin the board.

Maybe I should learn to use a planer too! 

I took quite a bit off it and I'm left with around 6.5mm so there's a little bit to go. I had a stack of other jobs to do so I've parked it until tomorrow.

I don't have a thicknesser (it is something I'd like but I don't really have space for one) and I didn't fancy routing it down this time, I think this might be an option on the next build.

So I've made a jig and it seems to be working well.

didnt realise how much sanding was required for radiusing, might be some time!

Ok, I think the best bet is to make up a quick jig and see how it works. No great loss if it fails.

My initial thoughts are something like:

I guess the key is ensuring the neck stays clamped solid to the jig... screws, double sided tape, clamps?

11 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I've been watching this develop with great interest.  Yes - valuable lessons being learnt along the way - but whatever, this is going to be a really nice guitar once it's finished

Thanks, I hope so!

Now I've hit a problem - yep I am now regretting not radiusing the fretboard before profiling the neck! It doesn't feel stable enough when screwed into the body whilst sanding and I don't want to damage it. I have two options:

1) Figure out a way I can radius the neck as it is... all help appreciated.

2) Start the neck from scratch... I really don't want to do this if I can help it - I'd rather finish and improve on the next build.

Again, no stress it's part of the learning process.

Any help/thoughts would be appreciated.

JT

10 hours ago, ScottR said:

Ultimately you'll be building them because they are better than anything you can buy commercially.

That would be great, and something I can aim towards. I do love my SG though!

5 minutes ago, ScottR said:

And let's not forget you are getting quite a decent guitar out of the deal as well.

My theory is each build should get better than the last one... My wife won't let me buy anymore so I'll have to make them!  

1 minute ago, mattharris75 said:

Hey, I decided to bind the neck on my first build after I'd already radiused the fretboard. Ingenious ways to recover from mistakes, either mental or physical, is one of the most important things one learns when building instruments.  No worries, it'll end up fine.

That's what I keep telling myself!  Thanks to the great encouragement from people in this forum I'm convinced it will work out fine... or perhaps I'm deluded!!! 

1 minute ago, ScottR said:

It's been done in just about every order conceivable, but I suspect you are going to wish you radiused and fretted before you attached the neck.

SR

Err, yep! There's lots of things I wish I had done in a different order but I guess that's how I will learn for the next build. I was pondering over this and thinking 'there's no way anybody else would make a neck in this order'. The crazy thing is I've done loads of research, read books, watched videos etc. and STILL went about it my own way! 

I can of course detach the neck, but I wish I had radiused the fretboard before I had shaped the neck because it's a nightmare to clamp etc. and I guess it may not be a perfect radius when I'm done.

So the next neck will be something like this:

1) Cut the scarf joint and attach.

2) Shape/rout but not profile.

3) Attach and rout fretboard (after it has been slotted of course) - even thinking of binding the next one!

4) Profile the neck.

5) Some other stuff I haven't done yet - inlays, nut, etc. So the above might change!

I'm still having fun so that's all that counts at this stage!

Got the guitar all jigged up to do a bit of radiusing, and realised I have run out of 120 grit! 

That's a nice fretboard. 

It looks like it hasn't been radiused, would I be right in thinking that?

So yesterday I attached the fretboard to the neck - still plenty of work to do there before I start thinking about radiusing it:

And... because I get excited far too easily I just had to do a test fit to see what it looked like:

Not sure why I placed it in the garden against a brick wall! 

Not sure how much time I'll get to spend on it today.

JT

3 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

Burner, same as "burner phone".

Ah got you, no I will not be burning this guitar. 

38 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

Fair call. I wouldn't call this a burner build by any means, however I'm sure that you already know what experiences you can take forward from it. Doing anything on this over the weekend?

Yeah, the neck has been a first for me so I have many, many things I will do differently next time (I'm not sure what burner build means ). For example, I will attach the fretboard before I start profiling the neck; not doing that made attaching the fretboard a pain in the backside!

I've done a bit on the build today but no photos yet. I attached the fretboard which is curing now. I also drilled a few holes in the body. The body is almost ready to start sanding down.

For a first attempt I'm pretty happy with the neck but I know for sure that when this build is complete I will start on something else and I can't wait to get stuck into a new neck blank! 

3 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

I do think that this build will produce a playable instrument, but provide that vital education in seeing a better path from start to finish for subsequent builds. I guess this won't be your first, right? It certainly shouldn't be! Keep chipping away (not literally).

Thanks.

It is my first, but it won't be my last. I'm making a point of not starting anything else until this is finished. 

10 hours ago, Prostheta said:

Fibreboard goes black under a clearcoat. Acetone might be too strong a solvent for cleaning; simple alcohol is likely best if the greyness is caused by dust or whatever.

I'll try that on the scrap piece this morning. I'll probably clear coat the scrap too and see how it comes out.

10 hours ago, Prostheta said:

Whether it "looks amateurish" or not is unimportant. You're taking a lot from the build which you can carry forward. That's where it matters. I don't think that many people without skills in this field nailed anything first time. If it doesn't feel or look right, it probably isn't. Be self-critical in that area and you'll rattle out most of your issues.

Thanks for this. When you are immersed in something it's easy to lose some clarity. I've taken a closer look at the bits I don't like this morning and I reckon they can be fixed.

I already have some ideas on what I can do during the next build to avoid similar errors on this build.

I'm getting near the end of shaping the neck:

It's my first attempt and it's been hard work! There's a few areas where I need to put a bit more into as the transitions between the neck, the heel and the headstock aren't too great. I guess it's simply practice that will make them look better. (Somebody please tell me I'm not deluded!) 

I'm happy that I've managed to shape my first neck but I'm not happy with the transitions, it looks amateurish (yeah I know I'm a hobbyist/amateur)!

I also have a question for anybody that would like to answer it. 

I bought a piece of ebony fibreboard to veneer the headstock. It's really bumpy, I cut off a piece to test and sanded it down (320 grit) but it looks grey and to be frank a load of crap. Do I need to clean it up with acetone? Will it come good? Or have I bought something not worth using (it only cost £5)? Any advice would be good. Thanks.

Next jobs... Finish shaping the neck and attach the fretboard.