Macarel31

4 hours ago, curtisa said:

The thread you refer to is asking a different question - "Should I inlay before applying the radius or after?" The mention of a router in that context is related to people asking how to use the router to cut the inlay pockets if the fretboard is already curved with a radius, rather than how to apply the radius in the first place. 

 

Yes - the router is not the way to remove excess material from brittle or very fine inlay material, and in that respect the router jig is most certainly not the best tool to add a radius to a fretboard if it has been inlaid first. Sanding is still the most appropriate method.

I'd still suggest that a quality sanding block/beam is your best course of action here. IME the router radius jig tends to be a one-trick pony (and even then, only if the fretboard timber lends itself well to being machined in such a fashion), and you'd have to weigh up if the complexity of it in comparison to a radius block is worth the trade off to you. Early on I built such a jig for radiusing fretboards. It worked OK for material like plain maple or rosewood, but for anything more unforgiving like figured wood, or extremely dense or 'chippy' material, it made a complete mess of things. The surface finish coming off the jig also tended to be fairly rough, so I'd have to use the sanding radius block to clean up all the router marks, which immediately negated the purpose of the jig in the first place.

I think you are right.

The aim to use jig is to avoid sanding block. If after using the jig i must use anyway a sanding block at the right radius to level the inlays or to improve the surface's rugosity of the fretboard, it's not interesting. So I'm going on with the sanding blocks

In addition,  making a jig for making sanding blocs can be useful for all the reasons mentioned in the previous posts.

Thank you!!

this subject seems to be complicated. I find a post on this forum (subject When To Radius... in the forum inlay and finishing).

it appears that it's possible to use this kind of jig (with router) with inlay already installed on the fretboard but with "simple" and small shapes such as round. Everybody isn't agree when the inlays are big,  fine or have more complex shapes.

Hi,

yes, I thought about it but I may still need sanding block for the fretboard at the right radius after installing the inlays. I'm not sure that I can pass the fretboard on this jig twice.

Hi everybody,

i'm building my second guitar but unlike the first construction, i want to make the neck.

After having studied the different steps of the neck's construction, I can not make a choice regarding the shaping of the fretboard's radius.

There is two way to process; the sanding block or the jig (with a router). Using the sanding block is the simplest process and I think the most used. But there is a small problem which I was even confronted with, it's the imprecision of the sanding blocks. I bought one and it was a little twisted in the length. This can create inaccuracies in the radius of the fretboard.

On the other hand, the second option requires the construction or purchase a jig, which is much more complex and expensive.

There is a third option, this is to make it's own sanding block but this require the construction of a jig too.

I would like to know if you can share your experiences with all of this. I feel like using aluminum sanding blocks is the best way, even though they are expensive.

thank you for your help!!

I have a question about electric guitar tops (Bookmatched tops).

I want to make mine from a live edge and lumber dealer. However, I don't know if there are restrictions about the wood grain orientation (in the thickness)  to avoid deformation even if it's glued to the guitar body.

Thank you for you answers.

I'm thinking like you Prostheta. 

I started to sand the oil finish completely, even if i have to sand the stain too. I don't mind doing it again. In addition, with the oil, the blue turned green. I will radically change the finish for this guitar. It will be a finish that does not yellow, so a water-based finish.
The most annoying thing for me is knowing how deep to sand the wood to remove the oil. What will annoye me is to redo the pore sealing again.
It was a unpleasent, long and dirty phase...

yes, blue stain with raised grain by black wood filler...

I can confirm what you says Bizman62. I can feel with my finger the little droplets. I'm also able to see them.

The real question for me now is how to go back with this product?

No, i didn't shake the oil
I know that it's not recommended for polyurethane because it cause bubbles.
What's the risk when it's not shaken well?

Hi, the oil used is the "penetration oil finish" created and provided by Crimson Guitars". It was recommended to me by several amateur luthier. It look like tru-oil.

I'm a litlle confused because between each coats, i waited many more  time that specified by the recommandations (several days even if the recommandations specified 4 / 6 hours between coats).

 In addition, I was careful to remove all the oil excess until nothing appeared on the towels. I used the tru-oil on my neck. It's the same process and i didn't had this problem.

Honestly, I'm not sure I want to reapply this product if I can go back. It look like that the product come froma bad batch. I contacted the provider and for the moment i have no answers.

Hi,

yes, for every coat i wipe all the excess when it became tacky. That's why i'm surprised that it's still sticky.

Concerning the solvent. i mean apply the oil. The solvent contained in the oil dissolves the layer below. Then i can wipe off and remove some of the oil that does not dry out.

I have heard about this method before for the same problem as me with Danish oil. I don't know if this can work with my case.

Hi,
i used an oil finish  on my guitar and the three first coats goes well. I let dry several days between each coats.
But since the fourth coat, after 15 days, the surface of the guitar stay sticky. I'm even be able to mark the finish just with little taps with the flat of my nails!!! 
Do I have to wait longer for drying (the last few weeks have been very wet), reapply oil and wipe off immediately (reactivate the solvent) or sand everything and start again?
Thank you for your help!!!
Best regards,

Hello everybody,

First, thank you for all your answers.

I see that the subject has drifted on the accuracy of the terms.

So to clarify, yes I am French but i live in Canada since 10 years. I am neither a luthier nor a woodworker. The terms that I use, I learned them by doing research on the internet. When i search on the internet "raising grain" or "enhanced grain", I found what I want. So I considered that these words are the right ones for that. I’m agree with you, in the internet, there is a lot of people that are using approximative terms but a deal with it. For example, after several weeks of research on internet, I don’t know the difference between the terms stain and dye…

As people says, a picture is worth a thousand words, so please find here pictures that show that I want to do.

But honestly, i’m sure that everybody here has already understand that I wanted to do. So i come back to the first subject of my post. First, I want to explain why this post and add some precisions.

I prepared the wood with the following process:

I sanded the wood with those successive grits: 180 / 220 / 320. Then I wetted the wood surface with a humid cloth, let it dry and sand with 320 grit. I did it a second time.

Why I’m worried about water-based grain filler. First after several weeks of research about who to improve grain appearance, I founded a lot of different methods. Is the one I chose the right one? I don’t know.

The second reason is that timber mart grain filler is a water-based grain filler. I want to dye after and I am afraid that the dye dissolves the dry grain filler (on the package there is specified that it’s possible to reconstitute the product by adding water). So, I preferred to ask before.

I finally tried timber mart grain filler with back stain on a remaining piece of swamp ash and it work but… the grain filler smells horrible. it looks like burnt rubber of something like that. It’s surprising for a water-based product.

Another thing that I saw, it’s that the timber mart grain filler is very compact and it take a lot of water to obtain a malleable paste.

So, your answers seem to confirm that I choose a good way to obtain what I want.

Thank you all.

Hi,

I'm starting the finish for my seamp ash guitar body and i want to raise the grain and dye after (blue).

I will stain the wood filler with black before to apply to the wood.

I want to know if there is a difference between using a water based woof filler (such as timber mart) or a latex wood filler?

Did the process stay the same: wood filler first and dye after?

thank you for your answers!!!

Hi,

i'm finishin my guitar body and i want to enhance the wood grain (swamp ash) with a black grain filler. After, i'll apply a blue dye.

I made a lot od research about the preparation of the wood and most of the people sand the wood sucessively with 150, 180 and 220 grit.

However, when i look the wood into the light i can see little scratches made by the 220 sand paper. Is this a problem?

I already finished the neck and the sanding was with an higher range for the sand paper (600/800).

thank you for your help.

first, i'm curious. I've never tried a neck finished with tru-oil and i heard a lot of good thing about this. I have a guitar and a bass but i think that the necks are finished with poly. So i would like to test a neck with tru oil.

The second point is that it's nor necessary to have a space ventilated such as for nitro or poly. I didn't have a ventilated place. So tru oil is very convenient for me. Acrylic finish can be less toxic than poly or nitro but i didn't found a lot of personne that use this kind of stuff for the neck. So i don't know if it's really the best choice for the neck and what specific product i can used.

Hi,

I’m building my first own guitar and I bought an unfinished maple guitar neck (neck and fretboard).

To finish it, I would like to use tru oil. However, maple fretboard needs to be protected by an waterproof layer to avoid dirty stain on the wood. Tru oil is not a real oil because it became hard but can it provide a sufficient protective layer for maple?

If it’s not the case, can apply tru oil just on the neck part and use acrylic or polyurethane lacquer for the fretboard? Personally, I don’t seed any difficulties but perhaps I’m too confident.

Has anyone ever done that?

Thank you for your answers.

Hi,

I'm looking for polyurethane instead of Nitro because it's less toxic. However, i'm not sure that it's easy to get Nitrocellulose in Canada because of it's toxicity.

In addition, Nitro turn to yellow. I Think that poly too but it take more time. Acrylic don't turn to yellow but i have doubts about its wood protection properties.

Hi everybody,
I'm from Canada and i'm finishing my first electric guitar (hope that it's not the last!!!).
I looking for a satin or semi gloss lacquer for my guitar solid body. 
However, since it's my first guitar, I don't have all the material to make one completely. 
I will equip myself gradually with the next guitars.
For the finishing, i don't have a spray gun so i have to deal with lacquer in spray can.
I'm looking for clear (satin or semi-gloss) polyurethane lacquer (no-yellowing) in spray can which is available in hardware store in canada.
I find this: Varathane Diamond Wood Finish - Outdoor (Water, Satin) available in home Hardware https://www.homedepot.ca/product/varathane-diamond-wood-finish-outdoor-water-satin-aerosol-/1000423123

Has anyone ever used this product for a guitar finishing? Does anyone know of another product that meets my requirements easily available in Canada?
otherwise, I also found an acrylic lacquer that meets my requirements however I do not know it's good as a guitar protection. It does not turn yellow but it does not turn out to be hard when dry.
However, it seems that it has already been used as a finish.
For information, I don't want the discussion to slip on the influence of lacque on the sound. I have already found enough discussion that turns on this topic where everyone have his opinion on nitro and poly laquer. I especially want to have advice or feedback on the practical aspect.
Thanks a lot for your answers.

Hi everybody,

i'm building my own electric guitar. I have some questions about neck installation, especialy for the drilling.

1- for the solid body, i have to drill the holes larger than the screws but how many?

2- for the neck it's the inverse, i have to drill holes (to avoid wood rupture) smaller than the screws but how many? 

Thank you for you answers.

Hi everybody,

I have two unfinished necks; one maple neck with rosewood fretboard and one maple neck with maple fretboard.

First, I made some research on the internet to get some information on the neck finishing and for the fretboard this is not clear. For the neck, it’s pretty well documented. To resume, there is three way: use nitrocellulose (as Fendre), use polyurethane lacquer or use oil (tru-oil, Danish oil).

However, concerning the fretboard, it’s isn’t clear. What I found is that for the rosewood fretboard, the is no treatment. Only citrus oil, just to preserve the wood. For the maple fretrboard, there is a lot of things. True or not, I don’t really know.

-          First, the sweaty hands can change the color of fretboard in the long run. So laquer is recommended. For oil finish, some people says that oil doen’t protect from moisture od change of color. However, it’s possible to finish maple neck with oil. So I don’t understand why not fretboard.

-          Then, for laquer application on fretboard, what is the process? How many coats and should i sand between layers?

-          If it’s possible to finish fretboard with oil, How many coats and should i sand between layers?

Thank you a lot for your answers.

Hi,

I’m building my own guitar and I’m ready for the finish of the guitar body. I want a body stained blue but with natural wood grain visible (it’s in swamp ash). Find here some pictures for examples. I have made some research but I didn’t find exactly what I expected. So I want to have some confirmation that what I planned to do is correct.

As you can see on the pictures, the wood grain is a little black. It seems that before to stain in blue, I have to do something to enhance the visibility of the wood grain. I found different way to do it:

-          Burn the surface of the wood with a blowtorch and sand after until only the grain of the wood grain remains dark. It seems that this is the most used method but for me it seems very aggressive and suitable for failure (wood too much burn)

-          Stain with a dark color and sand after until only the grain of the wood grain remains dark.

-          Use a dark pore filler and sand after until only the grain of the wood grain remains dark. It works with wood which have open pores, which is the case with swamp ash.

Finally, I planed to apply an oil finish (tru oil or Danish oil).

So mow my questions:

1 – Which is the best technique to enhance wood grain visibility

2 – For the oil finish, I find a lot of tutorial but none when the guitar body is previously stained. So is it possible to use an oil finish on a dye?

3 – Swamp ash is wood with open pores. Am I obliged to apply a pore filler? If it’s the case, at what step of my finish process should it be made?

Thank you very much for your answers.

Hi,

i'm building my first own electric guitar and for this, i want to used a fixed bridge. Its more easy to install and adjust. It.s also allows a better transmission of vibrations from the cords to the solidbody.

I made some research because i want to have a good quality for this guitar parts. But it appears quickly to me that it's a expensive part of the electric guitar when you are looking for quality (hipshot, Babizs,...).

Then a found the Tight End R fixed brige which seems to be good, it also have a good style but i didn't find reviews about this fixed bridge.. I just want to be sure that it's a good item before tu purchase one.

does anyone know this item and can give me his opinion.about it.

Thanks a lot in advance for your answers.

Best regards,