Darrens HB4

Thanks for the kind comments Guys.

Looking forward to getting the clear on it.

Cheers

Darren

Thanks for the nice comments Guys.

As an update, the first burst fell victim to a very nawsty accident. I was cleaning up the binding a little too vigorously, and managed to slip and put a nice scratch across the front.

A bit of sanding and a revisit with the stains and I have revived it, however, it is now a slightly darker burst than before, and I think (by luck more than skill) I managed to get the flame to pop a bit better.

I'm now in the process of French polishing it, however, being an extreme novice decided not to go down the mixing shellac flakes process so I'm using a premixed shellac (which adds an amber shade to the colour).

I'm managing to make a mess of the binding again, but plan to make myself a couple of special tools for cleaning up binding and preventing me from scratching the finish again.

Hoping once its finished I can polish it up to a nice shine.

Anyway, pretty happy with progress to date.


http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...B4-Shellac.jpg

I've also progressed a little on the neck.

I have used inkjet waterslide decals before but was pretty disappointed with the results. these ones required that they are clear lacquered before soaking and application to prevent the ink from running. This was too much mucking about for my liking and the end result didn't look so good.

I stumbled across a different inkjet decal paper that doesn't require the "coat with lacquer" step.

At $8 a sheet, I'm hoping it works out better.

Basically, it's a matter of print, let it dry, apply.

Applying to raw wood requires that you first paint the wood with Mineral Turps first which apparently makes the decal melt into the wood.

The decals will dry with an eggshell white background, however, the background then fades to clear once coated with an oil based finish.

Here's some shots. Photo 1 is the decal wet (and hopefully how it will look after oil). Photo 2 is the decal dry (hopefully it won't stay like that, crossing my fingers):


http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-Decal-wet.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-Decal-dry.jpg

Aaaah, French Polishing always looks great on these classic shapes.

As an afterthought it struck me that, on a Beatle Bass (as I like to call this kit), no finish is more appropriate than one made from the shell of beetles (according to my year 7 woodwork teacher)....the big question is, the shell of which one?

Cheers

Darren

Well Paul McCartney, obviously. He was the bassist. Trouble is, how are you going to get his shell?

Could start with one of these...


http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ug-catcher.jpg

Love the new burst. You've really popped the grain and the tobacco brown is even deeper. Looking amazing.

cheers,
Gav.

Okay, now I've got 9 coats of shellac on the thing.

My French Polishing skills aren't probably where they need to be yet (and maybe not for years), but I am loving the experience and learning all the way.

I am really interested to know from any of you who know about Shellac, how many coats should I put on? and whats the best way to polish up a high gloss at the end?

The premix stuff I am using instructs me to put three coats on each an hour a part, leave for 24 hours, steel wool and do the next set of three and so on until you achieve the finish you want.

I'm putting the coats on with a cloth pad so the coats are pretty thin. Any suggestions would be great.



http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...b4_9-COATS.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-9-COATS-2.jpg

Whooo - that's a seriously Baroque look you've got happening there.
That French polish sure is the real Mc Coy.