colins
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Post by colins on Jul 24, 2015 10:06:07 GMT
Hello Colin, The Liberon Oil finish looks very nice indeed. How many coats are required for such a finish and how long does it take to apply? I have a flamenco guitar with a shellac/French Polish finish and one of the things which I really like about it is the smell of the guitar; does a guitar with a Liberon Oil finish have a different smell to nitro/poly? Also, would it be possible to ask what oil you use for your fretboards (if you do oil them...) Thanks. I tend to use very thin finishes, especially on the top. Though a finished guitar always sounds better to me than one in the white, so I do believe that the finish has a sonic benefit, which I also believe, like top thickness, has a best point, neither too thin nor too thick.
I usually wipe on one coat a day, lightly sanding every other coat, more as a key than to level as Liberon is pretty good at self levelling. The back/sides and neck will probably get 10 coats, and the top 6-8. These are very thin coats which as I said are sanded, so the finished film is very thin. I then leave it to cure for a week or so then wet sand it with micromesh, more to remove dust etc than to level, I go up to 12000 grit. The final result is a gloss sheen, rather than a buffed out plasticy gloss, so beloved of the factory guitars. The good thing about Liberon (and French Polish) is the ease of repair if it gets scratched or dinged.
I tend not to oil fingerboards, the rosewoods are naturally oily woods anyway and this bog oak had a nice, but subtle, patterning which would get lost with an oil.
Colin
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Post by earwighoney on Jul 24, 2015 17:33:39 GMT
Thanks for the reply Colin, Great info about the Liberon finish and an interesting point about not applying oil to fingerboards. I asked a similar question in a nylon string forum and from the replies there seemed to be a more opinions for fretboard treatment than replies! |
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Aug 14, 2015 15:57:32 GMT
Lovely guitars colins  , I even thought about flying back from Spain to enter the draw but the 46mm nut width changed my mind - 44mm is a maximum for me  Phil |
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Akquarius
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Post by Akquarius on Aug 15, 2015 20:35:38 GMT
For me, 46mm is perfect :-D
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Aug 18, 2015 8:40:24 GMT
For me, 46mm is perfect :-D Good luck then Bernd Phil |
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Post by andyhowell on Aug 19, 2015 12:47:16 GMT
I'm happy with 46 as well :-)
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colins
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Post by colins on Aug 19, 2015 14:56:06 GMT
I did once build myself a steel string with my 51mm classical guitar nut, oh it was lovely!
Anyway, on with the builds, sorry for the hiatus but it is tournament season and with the light evenings I've been on the archery field rather a lot. As I've just ordered a new £600 set of limbs for my bow, I guess I'd better get the commissioned guitar out asap!
Time to make the bridges, the all English guitar is going to get a bog oak bridge and the claro a Madagascan rosewood one.
The blanks are cut to size and attached to my complicated jig with double sided tape, a board with an angled line drawn on it, and the saddle slot cut on the router table.
And the bridge pin holes are then drilled and the bottom of the bridge sanded on the 25' dome, then on the guitar top to ensure a good fit. Then they are cut to profile on the bandsaw.
The bridges are then shaped on the sanding drum in the drill press. Incidentally the bog oak bridge turned out to be exceptionally light so it'll be interesting to see how this affects the finished guitar.
Well I've made them so I might as well glue them onto the guitars. I find the bridge position using one of the Stew Mac thingummies, telling myself repeatedly that these are 13 fret to the body!
To find the centre line I use, obviously, a centre line finder.
Next I drill the two outside holes through the top and fix the bridge to the top with a couple of bridge pins.
Next comes my least favourite job in building a guitar, and an unavoidable one if using wipe on finishes. With a new scalpel I carefully mark round the bridge, being careful to only cut into the finish,
and carefully scrape off the finish where the bridge will go, again using the scalpel, this really is the last buttock clenching moment in building the guitar, as a slip can mean refinishing the top.
Time to break out the baby bottle warmer, plate warmer and pink hair dryer!
I carefully mask round the bridge outline, this isn't for locating the bridge, the pin holes do that, but just to make glue clean-up simpler.
While the glue melts in the bottle warmer I put the bridge to warm on the plate warmer and lightly waft the top with the pink hair dryer.
Then on with the bridge.
Next day the remaining bridge pin holes are drilled and the holes reamed for the pins.
And we have two finished bridges, I'm rather proud of myself in that I managed to glue the right bridges to the correct guitars!
Just nuts and saddles to go.
Colin
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Post by Martin on Aug 19, 2015 15:15:29 GMT
Both bridges are really cool, but I think the bog oak one looks fantastic.
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leoroberts
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Post by leoroberts on Aug 19, 2015 16:13:32 GMT
and one of these guitars is going to be available for (potentially) £25! It's madness, I tell yer - and the perfect reason to come along to the Forum meet (quite apart from the craic, music and the alcohol)
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colins
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Post by colins on Aug 19, 2015 16:34:35 GMT
and one of these guitars is going to be available for (potentially) £25! It's madness, I tell yer - and the perfect reason to come along to the Forum meet (quite apart from the craic, music and the alcohol) And don't forget it comes complete with a £129 Hiscox case and a spare set of strings! Alcohol? I thought this was going to be a TT meeting.
Colin
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Post by ocarolan on Aug 19, 2015 17:37:10 GMT
Yes, feel free to bring a motorbike Colin.  Keith |
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Aug 19, 2015 17:51:00 GMT
Colin, Gorgeous. Bog Oak makes great guitar bridges - ask Bernd  Did you use white bridge pins (fossilised ivory?) because of the cherry tuner buttons or because you don't have any British wood bridge pins? |
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colins
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Post by colins on Aug 19, 2015 18:12:46 GMT
Colin, Gorgeous. Bog Oak makes great guitar bridges - ask Bernd Did you use white bridge pins (fossilised ivory?) because of the cherry tuner buttons or because you don't have any British wood bridge pins? Dave there just isn't a source for English bridge pins, frets or tuners and the saddle and nut will be camel bone, which I'm pretty sure isn't a native species. I do make lute pegs, so possibly could have made some bridge pins, but that was never going to happen, as despite some views to the contrary I do have a life!
Colin
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Post by Akquarius on Aug 22, 2015 18:13:54 GMT
Colin, this looks extremely classy!
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colins
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Post by colins on Aug 27, 2015 12:11:59 GMT
One step that we never seem to talk about is cutting the slots for the strings in the bridge. I use two separate tools for this, a burr in my Dremel and three different width jigsaw blades set in handles. First I mark the position for the slot on the top of the bridge, it's important to get this right as it is this slot that will determine the position of the string over the saddle.  The I make the initial cut with the burr in the dremel.  And finish the slot with the correct width jigsaw blade.  The slot is checked with the string, the string should be able to be tensioned without slipping out.  The fit of the pin is checked as I increase the size of the slot for the string, I want to just get the pin back in to it's fully seated position.  Last step after all of the slots have been cut is to make the ramp for the string up to the saddle.  I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone here of the importance of slotting the bridge and using unslotted pins as against slotted pins and unslotted bridge in terms of ball end position on the bridge plate Colin |
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, I even thought about flying back from Spain to enter the draw but the 46mm nut width changed my mind - 44mm is a maximum for me 
Did you use white bridge pins (fossilised ivory?) because of the cherry tuner buttons or because you don't have any British wood bridge pins?
Jo whoever he is.
