ZekeB

Here was my original thought.  I think I'll have a little more than 10 mm.  thanks for your help guys.  

Forgot to mention.  About three nights into the neck profile.  Just taking it slow.  I put a 2 degree angle on the neck so it sits further in the body and doesnt get cut directly off from the pickup cavity.  I'm not sure if there's real merit there in logic but it does feel very nice and looks cool.  Not sure how far to mellow out the heel to body.  Time to go peruse the forums.

Thanks Mk.  I'm going to stick with the gold for now.  I think it goes well with the gold inlays.  Also they didnt have black for a replacement, lol.  

I agree bizman.  I think the black is a bit harsh.  I do believe a lot of that is my technique.  I'm making a new batch with less black and other natural colors to see if I can find that right balance.  We'll see!

Learned some really good things on grain filling.  I had issues having to refill multiple times and decided to try a light layer of shellac before the filler.  The next big lesson was scrape it.  Don't sand it.    So heres the colors.  Regular mahogany on the right.  Black on the left.   Getting better

Heres no filler.  Just realized that other piece was darker all together.  That being said I like the golden hue.  I think the black would pull them together well.  Nitro will bring that out some more as well I believe.  Feel free to chime an opinion in.  I'm experimenting and I'm in no rush.

Thanks Mk, I'll check that out.  Here's a quick and dirty of the red grain filler vs the black.  I could have sanded more and sprayed the shellac but I'm just interested in the effect right now.  

Oh, it's my only language, lol.  Still not very good at it.

Sorry I meant shellac.  My English es nah good

4 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Golden hue sounds yummy!

Forgive me my ignorance: In Finnish nitro belongs to the lacquer family as well as all polys but you said you may do lacquer before the nitro. To me that's confusing. Are you possibly talking about shellac there?

Sorry you are correct.  My English is no good

22 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Just how much darker will that wood go with a clear finish? And what will that finish be?

Oils tend to have a brownish hue which adds warmth to the natural wood colour whereas lacquers are more or less glass clear. Applying some dye (amber?) into the lacquer might result a similar tone.

I'm going to do a laquer befor the nitro.  Last time it game that deeper gold hue.  I think that might look decent.  I'll try a piece with tru oil as well

Did black last night and red tonight.  We'll compare them tomorrow.  Then I'll try some shellac and then some nitro on that

Wow.  That's coming together great

Gorgeous 

No black.  Going natural.  going to experiment with the grain filler.  I like the idea for the darker filler.  Any other ideas?

That's a great idea.  Yes sir it is

I've got a meeting about the finish today discussing a natural look.  I'm of the same mind for the natural look.  If we go that road I'll do a nitro gloss.  I would like it if the wood contrasts more with the binding.  Just seems like a missed opportunity if we cover it up

Playing around with my hardware that finally came in.  My headstock was a little to thick as well.  All good now.  Getting anxious to see the end.  Hard when you're work slow as molasses.  Miles better than my first build.  Just waiting on my pickups.  They are blackbirds from oil city pickups.  The guy, Ash, is pretty cool and helpful too.

Did you get that at clarks?

Another detail added.  Trimmed down the plate.  Glad I did.  Grain is awesome on that piece.

Man you did great on the swirl.  It's a booger to keep that full and symmetrical.  Were you worried about the tip breaking?

I think its a no go on my headstock plate.  it conflicts with my inlay too much to me.  I was fun thought

Idea of the finish.  Doing a nitro gloss finish.  Will shellac for the sealer just in case it doesn't work out.  May do some gold knobs instead of black. Not sure yet.  I enjoy the simple balance of it right now.  I think if the binding pops against the body it won't need gold knobs.  If it does its an easy fix.

Congrats!  So would this be your favorite build at the moment?

Here's a short video of the setup in action.

https://youtu.be/DNCLMQQ63KY

I'm at the point where i need to fret my fret my fretboard but I totally forgot a headstock plate cover.  I really didn't know what to do so I had some scrap zebrawood and ebony and thought I might be able to tie the pickguard in for a little more unity.  I got a free un-square spindle sander and I jigged it up multiple ways to help shape the angle with a little ramp and plane this little guy with my fret slot jig.  I figured its like the same thing as a drum sander just smaller and it was pretty fun.

I'll post a video of it in action.  Spindle sanders are pretty cheap compared to other big tools and to me it seems using one side of the drum against a fence give you some really good results.  I think I'll use it to make the angle to rest against the nut as well.  I'll try to post a video.  It was a good little discovery for me.  Its gentle enough to get things very thin.

Using a white primer on top and laquer mixed with a black toner.  The back will be natural with a clear coat.  Made the control cover out of wenge which turned out really nice.  Using the same spieces on the cover doesn't look right unless you can perfectly match the grain