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Saaawwweeeettt! That turned out very nice and very alive! Stain? We don't need no stinking stain! Just use colored woods duh! lol Again, incredible guitar, it looks super comfortable to play, how does it feel?

So, was finishing that guitar a B-Day present to yourself?

Happy Bday and one more smiley for your guitars B-Day which is also today

Happy B-Day to the both of ya

how did you know it was my birthday haha? thanks though!

the neck feels unbelievable. I just kind of shaved off wood until I thought it felt right, but damn!! I really plays fast! I let a bunch of my friends at school play it (even though the nut isnt fixed down yet, but who really cares right?) and all they could do was rave about the shape of the neck. so thats sweet. Also, the cutout for the chest on the back of the guitar is super comfortable which is an added bonus. Even though I'm happy about how the guitar turned out theres still soooo much room for improvement. then again, if i could make perfect guitars then what fun would the pursuit of making the perfect guitar be?

thanks! yeah, i can't quite tell if it looks like its from the past or the future haha

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all thats left is to solder, make a truss rod and control cavity cover, and glue the nut down! I've been playing it with the nut floating on the headstock and the neck feels wonderful.

+1 for solidworks. i do a ton of laser cutting, AWJ, and CNC work with it for classes and guitar building.

I've never been a fan of V's, but that is one of the most beautiful guitars I've EVER seen. Congrats on such a fantastic build. I'm jealous!

Its probably going to be super expensive. I am however impressed that the tuners are actually lighter than a standard tuner that you would find on a typical Les Paul.

http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/?gclid=C...CFR1AgQodoBVEpQ

It can tune itself into different present tunings

Thoughts?

Yeah...I'm pretty sure I had the flow setting wayyy too high...Although it is on pretty thick and it does look cool as is.

Its a water based lacquer from stew mac. I don't think leveling it will help much because the pores are still very deep.

I noticed a small drop of super glue in two places on my fingerboard from inlaying. I'd prefer not to sand it down as the frets are already installed and the fingerboard is already nicely sanded to 400 grit. Any advice for removing superglue?

also, does anyone have any tips for sanding off 20 coats of lacquer? The finish seems super thick. I've never had to sand off a finish before, so this should be interesting.

I've decided to do this the right way and sand everything off. Too bad I wasted almost 1/2 of a gallon of lacquer

I decided to buy sanding sealer and clear grain filler. I suppose I can deal with the monetary setbacks, but I was soooo ready to put the parts on and play this thing next week. It'll pay off in the long run though.

I've decided to do this the right way and sand everything off. Too bad I wasted almost 1/2 of a gallon of lacquer

I decided to buy sanding sealer and clear grain filler. I suppose I can deal with the monetary setbacks, but I was soooo ready to put the parts on and play this thing next week. It'll pay off in the long run though.

i think my plan for now is to leave it because it looks pretty cool as is. the finish is level and there are no runs. if it becomes a problem in the future then i always have the option of redoing it.

I figured I was out of luck. I thought that 20 coats would be plenty to fill in the pours, but even still it seems like I would need twice as many coats to get anywhere. Live and learn I guess.

After 20 coats of water based lacquer the grain in the padauk of my guitar project is still not completely filled. I'm worried that if I buff it the compound will get stuck in the grain, which happened to a small extent on my first guitar. Are there any alternatives out there to buff without a compound, or some sort of solvent that will dissolve the compound if it gets trapped in the grain? Or does anyone else have any other suggestions for me? Of course I will be waiting a few weeks for the lacquer to cure.

Drak, interesting point on using water to wet sand a water based lacquer. I never really thought of that. Too late now though! I wetsanded and just finished the final 10 coats of lacquer, now I'll let it cure for two weeks and see what it comes out like when i wetsand and buff it. Check the in progress forum for eventual pictures. Thanks for the advice everyone.

Ok, I wetsanded with 320 then 400 grit, and everything seems level. The finish looks a bit more milky than before, but that is expected. I just have to wipe the excess off and I will be ready to spray the rest of the coats later today.

hmm, ok i think I will sand with 400 grit to level everything, but should i wet sand or dry sand it?

I can't find a clear answer in the finishing tutorials, so I figured I'd ask.

I sprayed 10 coats of Stew Mac's water based lacquer today and plan to spray 10 more. It is consistent however in some places there is a tiny bit of orange peel, and a few spaces have dust particles in them. Should I continue spraying the next ten coats and then cure then wetsand and buff, or should I wet or dry sand it now, then spray 10 more coats then cure then wetsand again and polish?

Hmm, on my first build I think I did 4 coats then wetsanded, then another 4, and wetsanded again. o well. I'll forgo wetsanding until the final coat is sprayed. Maybe I should do more than 20 coats, maybe 25?

Stew Mac says the lacquer needs only a week to cure, however I plan on waiting 2 weeks before wetsanding and buffing. Maybe longer if I can find the patience. I suppose I could work on another guitar in the meantime.

i am wetsanding it and then spraying the final 10 coats after wetsanding it. or should i not bother wetsanding it yet and just spray the final 10 coats tomorrow and let it cure for a while and then wetsand and buff it?

I got 10 coats of Stew Mac water based lacquer sprayed today! I'm going to let it dry overnight then wetsand it. Does anyone have any recommendations for the grit sandpaper to use? I forget what I did on my previous build. If I have time tomorrow I will be able to do another 8 to 10 coats and let it cure for a few weeks then it should be done! The reason why I am doing 20 coats is because the wood is very porous and I did not do any sealer or grain filler and the lacquer spray needs to fill in the wood pours so the buffing compound won't get stuck in there.

I have been working on them a little bit.

The purpleheart/padauk one is done, it just needs to be sanded with 220 and 320 grit and its ready to laquer. I just need to get around to buying some laquer... but i should be spraying it next week sometime.

As for the semihollow...i glued the bec and finished shaping hte beck. all i really need to do is route the pickup cavities, do the body and headstock binding, and sand sand sand.

not yet...the amp plays but its not completely finished (the cab, that is). ive been really busy with school lately so the amp got shoved to the side for a few weeks. i promise when its completely done ill post more pictures, but that might now be for a while