I went to Jaycar and bought a $25 weather station - it shows the temperature and humidity. I find it handy to tell me whether to spray or not to spray in the humid Brizzy environment. Plus I love electronic gadgets!
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I went to Jaycar and bought a $25 weather station - it shows the temperature and humidity. I find it handy to tell me whether to spray or not to spray in the humid Brizzy environment. Plus I love electronic gadgets!
Swanny, you are a life saver...I've been looking for an affordable one of these for ages. I even went to Jaycar to get my soldering station..how did i miss this!Quote:
Originally Posted by Swanny
What a morning! finished my sanding prep. donned the Nitrile gloves, ripped out my 5x5 100% cotton cloth and a fine bottle of Karijini Red.
Attachment 7075
It all went pretty fast, the rag was wet and red, there was a lot of rubbing involved...pretty sure I pitched a tent somewhere in there, but in the end one coat of Karijini Red was applied to the entire body and neck.
Attachment 7076Attachment 7077
I think because of the ebony timbermate The spalted maple is about as dark as i want it, I'd like the mahogany a bit darker so I might apply another coat on just the mahogany parts.
Do I have to wait until its cured or can I apply the next stain coat whenever?
nice one Andy that looks unreal. You got to be happy with that !
If you applied the stain coat pretty heavy, DB normally says you should wait 2-3 days for the first coat to cure.
It's usually ok to re-apply within an hour or 2 if it went on fairly lightly. On the safe side I'd let it cure.
Can we please have an above photo of that lovely spalt cap ?
Oh my. Tent pitchingly good.
Very, very nice.
Very happy indeed. Its gone a bit darker since leaving it. I did apply the dingotone stain very well so i think i will wait for it to cure properly and decide if i want to go darker on the mahogany. Here's some more photos (sorry I had to use the flash as the room was dark).
Attachment 7078Attachment 7079
looks excellent Andy. Worth being patient with DT and wait 3 days if you can between coats. You might consider a dark brown stain for back and sides of the body, I did that on my build and it gave a nice contrast with the karijini on the cap.
How nice is the smell of DT ?
You will find the colour will deepen as it cures so wait and see how it looks in a couple of days.
Was that the back of the neck you have applied karijini ? Was thinking if the neck will be clear you could do a fret level. Was it you that we discussed this with this week about either getting the tools or getting DB to do a fret level?
Thats why you need more than one build on the go so you can work on the other while this cures hahha it's called GAS !
Yup, I'll wait for it to cure...I'm in no rush.
Tell me about the GAS! I already had 8 guitars before I started with Pitbull (and I got rid of 2 before that)! Now I'm even more addicted, I think it may take a little convincing the wife before I can have two on the go :cool:
DT smells great, I felt like i got my daily dose of vitamin C:D
Yeah the build was always going to be Karijini all over, it sounds a little simple but I wanted it to be about the spalted maple through Karijini and the gold hardware. not so busy, you know.
The necks done as well, so i'll have to wait. It wasn't me regarding the fret level query. I did my ST-1 with a Pabs signature notched straight edge, Stanley knife blades as a rocker, a dead straight aluminium beam with double sided tape and good quality sandpaper, some small files for crowning, wet and dry, 000 steel wool, metal polish and a bucket load of time. It may not be a professional job, but I was proud of it and there's no fret buzz.;)
Yep, I bought one a couple of weeks ago too as this spring humidity was driving me nuts with figuring out curing time using DT.Quote:
Originally Posted by Swanny
I bought one of their soldering stations about a year ago... I had a Weller station that I bought from my first job at 16, and it finally died. Hopefully the Jaycar one will last as long.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy40
That Karajini Red is coming up beautifully!
@Wazkelly - It's hard to gauge what the humidity actually is. When I thought it was getting muggy, it was just under 70% - so it's a handy gauge to have.
@ Swanny - beats me too as looking on iPhone weather app it shows much higher humidity readings, and mostly at night which seemed odd. Just goes to show that local weather monitoring varies dramatically as it can cover quite a vast distance and is mostly situated outdoors whereas I am using mine to monitor indoor humidity in my garage.
Loving the colour Andy and encourage you to go at least 2 more stain coats on the sides and back and then hit it with at least 2 intensifiers all over too as that really brings out the colour with DT. The trick up here in SEQ seems to be give it at least a week to 10 days between each coat, particularly if it looks thick or layered as when you go to do light 0000 steel wool scuff sanding it may still be a bit green and turn to muck as I have experienced several times over the past few months. Actually gave up on DT top coats due to these hassles and just applied 4th coat of TO tonight and starting to look good. Puzzled at how each level of finishing wants to attract fibrous airborne particles even though I operate in a clean dust free environment. Just means more light sanding every few coats to get rid of such before it gets buried too deep in the layers of finish.
Haha, funny Pabs...Quote:
Originally Posted by pablopepper
Mate it looks great
That's looking REALLY good, friend!!
Thanks Swanny and Waz, I got an Indoor/outdoor temp and humidity guage from Jaycar. I am now in the know instead of just guessing or relying on the internet.
Update
Research
First stain coat (3 clear days curing) - colour comparison only (no red wine was harmed during the research - I cannot not confirm or deny that any wine didn't perhaps become savored and/or consumed.
Attachment 7116
Test results: further stain needed
Action taken
No steel wool or sanding - still looks like plenty of tooth there. One further coat of DT Karajini Red applied to entire body and neck all over. (I have enough left in the bottle for one more coat on mahogany only)
Attachment 7117Attachment 7118Attachment 7119
Further Action needed
See you in three days time
Thats going to look really great
looking excellent Andy, you must be happy with the colour now
I agree, but one more stain on mahogany I reckon she'll be perfect.Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
yeah might as well use up the rest of the stain coat on the mahogany
Agree with Woks as one more stain coat and then 2 - 3 intensifies should give you that Merlot colour you are craving.
Looks sweet! I am finding choosing a colour is the hardest part of building a guitar. I see so many great choices on other builds...
So she's darkened up a bit whilst curing, so I don't think I'll add anymore stain just in case it goes darker with the intensifying coats or final coats.
Regarding DT. I'm a bit freaked out as to what happened with Wazkelly's and Darthdamo's recent builds. I am monitoring the temp and humidity constantly and have put a bucket of Damprid nearby to absorb air moisture.
Attachment 7134
Unfortunately for me, this is Brisbane and its almost constantly over 50% humidity, it got up to 70% this morning (until about April 2016) and the chances of it going over 35 at some stage of the day is highly likely (although we are in for some wet weather). I most certainly do not have a dust free environment either. I'm pretty patient but I can't wait for a change in season.
My other choice is to keep it in the air-conditioned room, seems to hold the temp at about 24 degrees and humidity between 40% and just under 50%.
OK so, in summary, no more stain needed at this time, going to wait the full 5 days to cure in the "hot" room with damprid. Then apply the intensifying coats but at that stage I need to decide whether to keep it in the hot and humid room or put it in the air conditioning for a less humid, more stable environment but it will be cooler (and attempt to explain why to the wife:eek:).
So, I am going to try DT before resorting to another finish, mainly because I really really want to. However, if it goes wrong I suppose I can resort to Wazz's fix or maybe shellac? does shellac even go over DT?
Any guidance would be appreciated.
Hey Andy, looking good, is that a guitar rack you use for curing ? haha that will be full of builds soon mate !
I'd sand off the stain on the neck heel the part that will be glued, this should be bare wood. A good method is to draw a line of tape off where the heel will be glued, in line with the half circle route.
I've never used shellac so can't comment. I've had good success with tru oil over the DT stain. I didn't have much success with the DT clear coats
Thanks Wokks, I'll sand the stain on the neck heel. Yeah that was my old guitar rack, now i have 7 wall mounted in my study/office/mancave, so i can fill the rack!Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
Mind you, my wife wont let me wall mount any guitars outside my study/office/mancave. She thinks its upper-middle bogan or something. I think that's unduly harsh, so I have a bet with her, I bet her that the next finish I had would be so good and such a work of art she would let me hang it in the lounge room. That's why i chose DT Krijini red over spalted maple.
A lot is riding on this one guys....but I guess if she doesn't think its good enough for the lounge room wall....I'll bet her that the next build will be so good and such a work of art she would let me hang it in the lounge room.
haha good one Andy, sure this build will be good enough to hang in the loungeroom, you just got to hope your missus is a fair judge !
Haha, looks good Andy, perhaps " straight to the pool room..."
Hi Andy, looking good and maybe you could get away with one intensifier coat but make sure it has been at least 7 days left to cure. Whilst it has been mostly dry in this part of Oz lately the next few days could be wet and strangely the indoor humidity readings are still quite low at my place on Sunny Coast, only 62% as I am writing this. What usually happens is when the Sun comes out again the humidity rises as moisture is burnt off, maybe not the most scientific explanation and merely just my observation. It is this part of the weather cycle that seems to prolong the curing process leaving the DT green for much longer and easily turns to muck if sanded or steel wooled too soon. Trust me, I have experienced this several times.
Woks has built more kits than anyone and from his comments get the impression it is easier to use TO for the top coats although it also has a habit of attracting minute dust or fibre particles too, as did DT on many occasions.
Lost count of how many stain & intensifier coats were applied due to sanding back 3 or 4 times, most recent after 4th TO coat using 1200 grit wet. Stripped a lot off but that was good as it also levelled out the layers already put down.
Doing the finish indoors with airconditioning may help with the build but I don't think my minister for war & peace would provide consent.
Conditioned the fretboard with DingoWaxxxxxx
Before
Attachment 7499
After
Attachment 7500
silky smooze:cool:
OK so removed the plastic nut and......anyone spot the issue here
Attachment 7501
Yup its cut on an angle.
Any suggestions on a fix would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Andy, fingerboard looks nice after the wax. Thats a worry looks like the fingerboard not cut perpendicular. I'd measure high and low side distance from the edge to centre of 1st fret and it should be about 35mm, to work out if it needs to be cut or shimmed so the nut is perpendicular to the fingerboard
thanks wokks
So I thought I would post an update on my finish. I didn't do too well with the DT as a finish with the humidity, despite leaving it a week It hadn't cured properly leaving me with a mess sometimes and I even had to re-stain the headstock face. Regrettably, this time I did not have the patience of a saint (I'll try again DT finish with my next build).
I've gone with naughty oil. Thanks Wokka and fellas, I'll have a beer in the naughty warehouse.
Attachment 7512Attachment 7513Attachment 7514
that's looking excellent Andy, very similar to the results I got.
I will pour you a pint of the NW bars finest on your arrival !
mmmmm mmm yum!Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
Hi Andy, I feel your pain and frustration. My EX-1 was coming along reasonably ok with DT CG, used up all the stain = 5 coats and had 3 intensifiers down and colour was just about right but went for one more last weekend and once dried it looked like little small blobs of colour pigment had dried all over the place like dust particles. Was off work on Thursday and had to aggressively use 0000 steel wool to get rid of the last intensifier coat which in turn took much of prior layers and colour out too. 2nd build where the final touches with DT have been less than perfect and maybe I was too greedy trying to put down more layers? Brushed on 1st coat of TO tonight and looks better already. Will get another 3 or 4 coats on then lightly sand, repeat again until thick enough for final polish with Maguires.
OK so its 34mm from the first fret to the nut on one side of the neck and 33 mm on the other. so neither is 35mm which I think it should be according to the fretboard calculator on a 630mm scale length.
It seems that the best fix for the scale length would be a shim and sand perpendicular but I don't have pieces of rosewood floating around. Given that the shim will be able to be seen I'm not seeing much option other than rosewood, or it will look like poo.
Alternatively I could just sand the higher side down to 33mm but I have no idea what the ramifications would be to the scale length and intonation?
What would you guys do?
You want to measure to the centre of the fret not the edge to get the proper measurement. Just thought I should put that out there.
EDIT: Just saw the pic. Holy crap that thing is wonky af.
Hi Andy, this is the first time I have seen this issue so I am trying to think of a fix. Think you should file/sand the fingerboard so it is perpendicular so 33mm. I think it would be wise to put a 2mm shim in, as messing with the scale length I don't think you will be able to intonate the axe.
I'd send DB an email to see if he has an old neck or rosewood fingerboard he could cut off a bit at the nut end so you can glue it in place so 1st fret will be 35mm.
I think it was 35.3mm for first fret to nut on the G type scale of 24.75 inches.