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Post by RosieTGC on Dec 13, 2016 10:43:36 GMT
ashley there have been many times in the past I have been shaking and heart pounding as I carry out certain jobs - it's critical that they go right so it's normal to feel nervous - comes with the territory! It's looking absolutely wonderful.
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Post by ashley on Dec 13, 2016 11:37:40 GMT
Thanks very much Rosie, all I can say is it's a good job my pics are all taken from a distance lol. If it was easy it would be boring, the sense of relief and achievement the first time doing something is brilliant, scary at the time to think that one slight mistake could ruin weeks of work!
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Post by ashley on Dec 15, 2016 15:44:54 GMT
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R the F
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 1,135 
My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Dec 15, 2016 17:18:07 GMT
I never make mistakes myself, ashley, but one dodge that I've heard of people using is to display pictures a bit smaller so that we can't see the warts and all! Lovely job despite your tribulations, by the way. One question: what happens to the colour of that purple wood after it's had a few years of daylight? |
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Post by ashley on Dec 15, 2016 17:59:15 GMT
One day after many, many years of building i hope to replicate your mistake free craftsmanship š
Do you know I really don't know how it will react but I believe that it will turn deep purpley brown after a few years. I read that heating it up will intensify the colour. Hopefully under lacquer and in the case it will keep a lovely colour for quite a few years.
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Post by ashley on Dec 17, 2016 6:56:26 GMT
Well I had a busy day yesterday and have got the neck on, I cut the motice and tennon by hand but I think for future builds I want to cut these with a router and move to a fully bolted on neck similar to Taylor or Trevor Gores design. the fretboard has been radiused and heel cap in. The heel cap is umm interesting.... I had to cover up the mistake that I mad routing the binding channels, it's not a very elegant solution but better than leaving it. Anyway a couple of progress pics, still a bit of fine tuning to do on the neck but hopefully I'll get the bridge done today along with the headstock inlay and move on to finishing.   |
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Post by ashley on Jan 24, 2017 10:44:13 GMT
Well life has been taking over recently and I haven't made anywhere near as much progress as I had planned. I've finished the pore filling process after a of trial and error with a couple of different methods. I first tried a thixotropic grain filler which I will not be using again as it was horrible stuff, a nightmare to sand. I ended up scraping, sanding and washing it off with meths. I also tried rustins grain filler for the neck and quite like it, easy to use and sand. I decided to go down the epoxy route in the end and used some BSI finsih cure epoxy. I really like this method of grain filling and will be using it from now on. The only thing I didn't think about is the coulour of the rosewood leaching into the resin so the pores on the binding are now a bit on the dark side. (pics are before scraping and sanding the epoxy back). I've also finished the headstock inlay, very basic on this one, installed the frets and made a little spray booth out of plastic waste pipe and some plastic sheeting.    |
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Post by ashley on Feb 10, 2017 0:27:31 GMT
Since the last update I have been busy figuring out how to use a spray gun! I already had a compressor so it made sense to use spray finishing and I'd decided nitrocellulose was probably the best place to start. I made a wee spray booth out of plastic waste pipe and sheeting, hooked up a bilge fan and filter to extract the fumes etc and got a proper mask as it's meant to be fairly nasty stuff. I also got the side dots on the fretboard installed, I used copper tube to match the head stock inlay.  Anyway after countless coats of epoxy pore filler due to daft mistakes on my part I was finally ready to start spraying. I did a fair but of sanding using 600 grit to prepare the surface for the sanding sealer and gave it a couple of decent coats. The orange peel in the pic looks fairly bad but the lacquer levels out quite a bit before it dries (thank god  )  Then after it had flashed off over night those coats were sanded down using 600 grit. Then it was 4 coats of clear nitro, 30 mins apart, overnight drying and then sanding to 600 grit, another 4 coats the next day and then it will be left for 3 weeks to harden before sanding down to 2000 grit and polishing. The wait will be easy as I'm back offshore so it will be ready by the time I get home. Still have to make the bridge but fingers crossed I can have it ready soon.  It turns out getting a decent coat of lacquer is fairly tricky but I was reasonably happy with my first attempts, there is a bit of orange peel but I think it went on a bit thicker than ideal so it should be easy to sand back and polish. Apologies for the completely rubbish pictures, I must try and take pictures that are in focus and have a bit of thought put into them. |
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R the F
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 1,135
My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Feb 10, 2017 9:24:01 GMT
I can almost smell it from here! I reckon it's going to be pretty shiny when you've put all your care and attention into it. Can't wait!
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Post by ashley on Feb 26, 2017 11:45:45 GMT
Well after patiently waiting for 3.5 weeks I finally managed to start wet sanding and polishing the nitrocellulose lacquer. I sanded to 2500 and then polished it, it looked ok but there were quite a few low spots that I missed. i.imgur.com/oFMA7zD.jpgWell I decided I would resand it and try and get rid of the low spots, back and soundboard came out well and most of the low spots had been sanded out. The sides were actually pretty good but there was the odd sanding mark so I decided to give the a quick sand.... not the best idea I've ever had if I'm honest. Sanded right through the lacquer. i.imgur.com/uofSqbQ.jpgwell the good news is I'll get more practice spraying š© After turning the air blue, I cleaned up and went straight into the workshop and got a coat of nitro on the sides. Well i know what I'm doing for the rest of the day š Still I've plenty to be getting on with for the next guitars while I wait another 3 weeks for the lacquer to harden |
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R the F
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 1,135
My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Feb 26, 2017 20:45:28 GMT
I feel for you, ashley . Not a nice moment when you realise how much time the remedy will entail. (Probably not a very tactful time to mention it but...) that's why I french polish mine; I can sort out problems pretty quickly and there seems to be a certain kudos attached to french polishing. Alternatively, a nice oil finish seems to be another kudosful way to go; colins 's builds will guide you through. On the other hand, the finish you have in your first picture looks way shinier than anything I've ever produced so stick to your guns if you've got the patience. |
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Phil Taylor
C.O.G. 
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Post by Phil Taylor on Feb 27, 2017 9:31:40 GMT
Well after patiently waiting for 3.5 weeks I finally managed to start wet sanding and polishing the nitrocellulose lacquer. I sanded to 2500 and then polished it, it looked ok but there were quite a few low spots that I missed. i.imgur.com/oFMA7zD.jpgWell I decided I would resand it and try and get rid of the low spots, back and soundboard came out well and most of the low spots had been sanded out. The sides were actually pretty good but there was the odd sanding mark so I decided to give the a quick sand.... not the best idea I've ever had if I'm honest. Sanded right through the lacquer. i.imgur.com/uofSqbQ.jpgwell the good news is I'll get more practice spraying š© After turning the air blue, I cleaned up and went straight into the workshop and got a coat of nitro on the sides. Well i know what I'm doing for the rest of the day š Still I've plenty to be getting on with for the next guitars while I wait another 3 weeks for the lacquer to harden That finish looks gorgeous  Phil |
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Post by ashley on Feb 27, 2017 10:26:52 GMT
Thanks Phil š
Rob, it's taken a 2 years to get to this stage I guess a few more weeks won't hurt in the long run. 4 coats on yesterday so a quick sand to level it and then the final coats.
Valuable lesson learnt about how many coats of nitro to spray in future and to get the sanding right first time!
I might look into other finishes but I've quite enjoyed finishing with nitro and was fairly happy with the results, just the cure time thats not ideal.
Well hopefully I'll finish spraying today, polish the neck and then I'll make the bridge and twiddle my thumbs for a while.
I need to spend a few hours clearing away the spray booth etc and start on the next project.
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francis
C.O.G.
Posts: 2,483
My main instrument is: Whatever I'm building...
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Post by francis on Feb 27, 2017 15:30:58 GMT
Use more thinners in the final coat it will flow out better
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Post by ashley on Feb 27, 2017 16:28:32 GMT
Cheers Francis, I'm using Dartfords nitro from Rothko and Frost. I've been adding 25% anti bloom thinners. I've read that some people thin over 50% and even one guy who sprayed neat thinners over the final coat š¤ I'll hopefully be spraying this evening so I'll try 50% on the final coats and see how it goes
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Jo whoever he is.
