400 initially, then 600 for later coats of the intensifying coat. Mostly 0000 inbetween coats.
400 initially, then 600 for later coats of the intensifying coat. Mostly 0000 inbetween coats.
#1 TL-1Q - First build ... aborted
#2 TLA-1 - Blue with Black Burst - Complete
#3 NonPB ES-335 - Red Flamed Maple - in progress
#4 ES-1TL - on order
#5 PRS-1 - on order
#1 TL-1Q - First build ... aborted
#2 TLA-1 - Blue with Black Burst - Complete
#3 NonPB ES-335 - Red Flamed Maple - in progress
#4 ES-1TL - on order
#5 PRS-1 - on order
Haven't yet seen a Bondi Blue axe where there has been much colour absorbed into the timber.
Headstock faces are hard to colour up as they already come very smooth and shiny. In my personal opinion if you want to colour necks and headstocks all they need is just a very light 180 or 240 to knock down any obvious lumpy bits but never bring the timber up to a sheen as that just then repels all attempts to get stain into the grain.
Share your pain with the DT blues after using steel wool, know it all too well. Andy is on the money with finer grade wet sands after a few intensifiers however I never had any luck with the top coat and reverted to a naughty product that cannot be mentioned. Tend to think the DT Neck finish may work better all round as it is supposed to cure into a harder finish.
If you are happy with the neck colour just lightly wet sand it back to take the streakiness out and proceed with DT Neck finish or another product. Both my explorers were done with DT which coloured both necks and headstocks quite well too and proves that it can be done.
# 1 - EX-5 https://goo.gl/fQJMqh
# 2 - EX-1 https://goo.gl/KSY9W9
# 3 - Non PBG Tele https://goo.gl/W14G5g
# 4 - Non PBG J Bass https://goo.gl/FbBaFy
# 5 - TL-1AR GOTM Aug 2017 https://goo.gl/sUh14s
# 6 - MMB-4 Runner-up GOTM Oct 2018https://goo.gl/gvrPkp
# 7 - ES-1 Runner-up GOTM Aug 2018https://goo.gl/T9BEY8
Next update since the, well, staining failure with the DT. There will be multiple posts so I can upload the photos of each step.
It was sand back to bare wood and start again time.
I decided to put a 45 deg bevel on the edge of the body (hey, what's the point of building your own guitar if you can do some mods). With the help of #FredA and his trusty router the bevel was on without any dramas.
Back to sanding down from 240 to 400 grit and we are ready for staining.
#1 TL-1Q - First build ... aborted
#2 TLA-1 - Blue with Black Burst - Complete
#3 NonPB ES-335 - Red Flamed Maple - in progress
#4 ES-1TL - on order
#5 PRS-1 - on order
Here we are all ready for the wood sealer.
Before that I checked the pickguard to make sure fit was OK after the bevel edge was put on. It needed some reshaping so out with the 240 grit to cut it back and then 400 grit to shape it to the body nice and neatly.
This time I went with artist dyes, a black and blue ocean. I needed to seal the timber so I mixed up some of the colour into the neutral timbermate for the blue faces and black sides as a thin slurry and applied liberally.
Last edited by Marze; 17-01-2017 at 07:09 PM.
#1 TL-1Q - First build ... aborted
#2 TLA-1 - Blue with Black Burst - Complete
#3 NonPB ES-335 - Red Flamed Maple - in progress
#4 ES-1TL - on order
#5 PRS-1 - on order
Last edited by Marze; 17-01-2017 at 07:29 PM.
#1 TL-1Q - First build ... aborted
#2 TLA-1 - Blue with Black Burst - Complete
#3 NonPB ES-335 - Red Flamed Maple - in progress
#4 ES-1TL - on order
#5 PRS-1 - on order
Last edited by Marze; 17-01-2017 at 07:31 PM.
#1 TL-1Q - First build ... aborted
#2 TLA-1 - Blue with Black Burst - Complete
#3 NonPB ES-335 - Red Flamed Maple - in progress
#4 ES-1TL - on order
#5 PRS-1 - on order
Now back to the body and sand back the timebermate. After a lot of sanding (again) we are back to 400 grit and wiped down ready to do with the stain.
Unfortunately my eye sight must be worse than I thought. When it looked all nice and smooth before the timbermate application, once sanded back it appears I missed the router marks around the edges.
So back to more sanding to clean them up, more timebermate and NOW we are ready for staining.
First stain coat came out nicely, need to work on the black burst a bit more to blend it out.
#1 TL-1Q - First build ... aborted
#2 TLA-1 - Blue with Black Burst - Complete
#3 NonPB ES-335 - Red Flamed Maple - in progress
#4 ES-1TL - on order
#5 PRS-1 - on order
A couple more layers of stain and we are now ready for the clear top coats.
These look a little dark as they were taken at night. It is actually close to the previous post colour is just a little deeper.
For the top coat I have opted for a wipe on polyurethane finish. I do some some DT neck top coat, but not feeling brave enough to try that after the previous dilemmas.
#1 TL-1Q - First build ... aborted
#2 TLA-1 - Blue with Black Burst - Complete
#3 NonPB ES-335 - Red Flamed Maple - in progress
#4 ES-1TL - on order
#5 PRS-1 - on order