Bizman62

Whoa! That's a lot of questions you got there! There usually is some advice on the paint can but if not, I'd recommend to wait overnight before sanding. Between coats some 400 wet should be good. Wipe the dust off! As you said there's a clear coat on top you'll have to enlarge the shallow bowl a bit so you'll apply clear on clear. The grey marks the new black, the blue is old clear and the lavender is the new clear: After you've got the patch level with the surrounding you can sand up to 2000 wet a bit past the patch as I instructed up there. The scratch removers are finer abrasives than any papers so they come last. The fine scratches don't necessarily require any sanding before using the paste but if you want to, you can try the two finest wet papers all over the area. Most likely it's not worth the effort, though...

Twoodfrd is on my occasional list, there's so much material on YouTube that I've had to limit whom I follow to the minimum to get anything else done. I like to watch them in chronological order to see if the information really is solid on a channel that looks good, especially when the performer tells that they has learned a better way to do something they've already shown in previous videos. Crimson was the first I've mostly seen, Rosa is now halfways. PaskMakes is always fun to watch.

It looks very neat looking from the opening, very much like a finished product.

After having seen the first 250 or so Rosa String Works videos I'd say you've done your homework well!

Cigar box guitars are so last season...

I'm with that "someone", the top wood simply requires the horns. And since she was born a longhorn, cutting them now... Well, living in the Longhorn State you should know!

As @curtisa said, it might be best to leave it in place and just patch it. For making it look nicer and getting rid of the chips a small sanding roll for a Dremel type tool might work. Like these https://www.amazon.co.uk/AUSTOR-Including-Sanding-Sleeves-Mandrels/dp/B074ZHP6L6/ref=psdc_1939279031_t1_B07GYRH8ZK

LOL! So you already have a guitar that's way better than most of those on the upper shelves and you're not happy to leave it that way... Makes me think that you must be an artist of sorts. That reminds me about Terry Pratchett whose books had to be ripped off his hands to be published - he always found something that required changing or at least adding something.

That makes me wonder what it tells about your neighbourhood. Is it sold out or have they never ordered it? Do the locals match with the descriptions of articles like https://www.thelist.com/260667/what-it-means-if-you-wear-black-nail-polish/ If you're going to use acrylic paint then a similar type of lacquer might be the safest choice. Before painting and lacquering I suggest you to strip all electronics away and sand the body matte with wet sandpaper starting from about 800 up to 2000. Far Eastern guitars usually have a very thick coating so you don't have to worry too much about sanding through. A satin sheen surface will help the paint to grip (unlike a glossy one containing silicone polish and skin oils!). The satin sheen will then become glossy again with the clearcoat.

That's the joy of building, you can customize everything according to your likings instead of having to take what the factory runners think will sell best.

Yes. Draw a circle with a 10" radius and another with a 12" radius to see that the latter is flatter.

As you say, without masking the surrounding is easier to sand. If you want to mask the area, leave about 5 - 10 mm around the plug unmasked so you can smoothen the edge. You're aiming to a shallow bowl, not sharp edges. See image:

nail varnish is dirt cheap, comes in a large variety of colours and is perfect for fixing chips as it seems to fill the gaps pretty well.

Reminds me of these lyrics as I remember having heard them: "Momma never told me 'bout nothing like y-o-u. Bet your momma must've been a good looking honey too! Hello, good l-double o-k-i-n-g, I smell t-r-o-u-b-l-e..."

I had to do the plugging and redrilling twice for my first Tune-O-Matic no matter how carefully I measured the locations. These are the two things I learned from that episode: A good quality brad point drill bit is essential! The ones I used were common property and cheap quality from the start. The collar of the bushing can hide the plug if it's less than 1 mm off.

Do your fingers go numb after some sanding? My experience is that after carefully sanding the neck it feels perfectly smooth but after a couple of days it's full of humps and lumps!

For such a small area wood paste should be just fine. I've even heard of gypsum based paste being used on guitars. So basically anything that fills the pores without shrinking at a later stage should do. The layer needed is so thin you don't have to worry about any cracking caused by shrinking. Just slab it there with a spatula and when it's dry, sand it level with the surface. Tooth paste is slightly abrasive and since you most likely already have it at home there's no harm in using it. I suppose it would be as gentle as swirl remover. And as @mattharris75 said a less than perfect repair should be hidden under the bridge and strings.

You don't have to lower the plugs much, some 1/5 of a millimetre should suffice. If you don't want to build a tool, a narrow strip over your finger should do the trick. I'd start with 180 and go to 400 before filling, then go from 240 to 400 before painting. Depending on how bad brush streaks you get, sanding from 240 or 400 up to 2000 before the clear coat and after that the same. When sanding a finish, make a 45 degrees turn at every higher grit and sand until the previous scratches vanish! Another rule for sanding is to never force the paper as that would only create balls of loosened grit and lacquer dust which will dig deep grooves. You simply can't make the paper cut deeper than the grit's height which is measured in micrometres. And yes, after you've got finish over the bare wood you can use wet paper and another yes, sand the old finish over the edges. If your hand slips simply sand that area with finer grits turning 45 deg every time you change to a finer grit. The goal is to get an almost shiny matte surface - 6000 grit isn't glossy yet but compared to the scratches you have there it will look like perfect! The final touch can be done with a rubbing compound. Basically you can to use a regular coarse paste like Biltema Rubbing 36-629 already after 2000 grit wet and a swirl remover like Biltema Polish Premium 36-84 after that. Use the pastes all over the top to make the gloss uniform.

First, you've got a good start as the grain direction of your plugs matches with the body! For a level finish you'd need to fill the pores of the plugs. If you can, try getting the plugs a bit lower, approximately the same amount as thickness of the original paint layer. A similar plug with a piece of sandpaper glued onto the tip, attached to the jaws of a pillar drill might be accurate enough. Some dishing at the edges is required but not much, that can be done with a finger and sandpaper. Apply the filler and resand just below level. Apply the black, I guess a small brush might be even better than spraying for such tiny areas. Black nail varnish might be a better choice than spray paint. Sand flush to a satin matte. Apply a coat of clear, sand level and buff. Something like that...

Lay the bracing where it is going to be, make a drawing tool like shown and copy the curve.

Doesn't look too bad at all! And the mahogany sure is too pretty to be hidden under a layer of paint. As @mistermikev said, the neck pocket needs some veneer. If the side of the pocket is straight then all you'd have to do is to glue an oversize strip of mahogany there and reroute the pocket to size. A couple of mm's should be pretty much invisible if you choose the piece right. Another option is to use something different on both sides of the neck pocket - a thin stripe of ebony might match with the pickup ring and if you put the same ebony on the bottom of the neck pocket as well it would look like you had originally designed a dark stripe around the neck pocket! That would require some careful re-routing, though. If you can't hide it, make it a feature... The aluminium plate to hold the strings is a valid idea, all it requires for added comfort is gaps for the ball ends of the strings. So if that's a 1 mm plate, you'd need a 8-10 mm thick piece inlaid into the body.

That's what I was thinking of as well, both the solution and potential strength issue. So I started thinking the @mistermikev way. I've always wondered why there's so much flat area in the heels of bolt-on necks even if the lip is rounded for easy access on the uppermost strings. On your build that issue is pretty much solved.

Rather 'if you think you can DIY-it, do it!'

Hi and welcome back! While waiting for your post count to reach the level that allows you to upload pictures there's not much we can do other than encourage you to take another look or three to find all the issues that require addressing. There's most likely more than one way to make your build solid and good looking.

Just think about how much you've learned during the process! Not something I'd call a wasted effort.