Also here's a video demo of the H90s (not by me but someone who actually knows how to play):
https://youtu.be/frjWXVtoXIo
Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Printable View
Also here's a video demo of the H90s (not by me but someone who actually knows how to play):
https://youtu.be/frjWXVtoXIo
Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
It has been a long time since I posted.... and worked on the guitar. Life has been getting in the way and I've also been distracted by other projects. Plus it's been rather cold here in Canberra. But it's now Spring and I'm finally getting back to this build.
Wet sanding! I've started off with some 600 grit wet dry lubricated with mineral turps. Really surprised by how much fine white dust comes off. The whole guitar ended up looked dusted. Stopping it down helped a bit but the "dusting" would come back as it dried.
Looking much smoother now but there are still quite a few pits. So... another coat of poly.
I'll do this a couple more times I think until I manage to fill those puts and get it looking really smooth. Not 100% sure if I'll go for a satin, semi-gloss or gloss finish at this stage. I'm leaning towards a semi-gloss.
So of course I didn't take any pictures while doing the wet sanding or the end result. Just one of it hanging up with another coat of poly, and it's only the back. It's hanging up with the Ukulele I've been finishing for my daughter. I'll post some photos of that too. I think it looks quite nice.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...92be78105a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2084c4c33f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cb0b048646.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1dad572c15.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0eb66691d1.jpg
Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
And here's the front after a further coat of poly. Not terrible but still more pits / dimples to fill. Will this ever end?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...45fbc906c6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...db775cecf3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3e53d09e61.jpg
Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Totally understand about life getting in the way. There's never enough time...
What did you use to stain the Uke? It's a nice colour
We should have a Canberra PBG hangout sometime now the weather is warming up and we can actually go outside without freezing our feet off
Feet???Quote:
We should have a Canberra PBG hangout sometime now the weather is warming up and we can actually go outside without freezing our feet off
:)
Yeah I quite like how it's turning out. And more importantly my daughter loves it. It was mostly done with ink. I think it's acrylic? The purple around the edges was done with a water based fabric dye which was being sold in a bargain bin for half price.Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnH
On the back and sides I used the purple dye over the whole area rather than just the edges and it gave it some kind of darker bands with how the wood grain took it up. And finally I've been mixing the blue ink in with the wipe on poly. It doesn't really mix... but I guess it kind of atomises, or something, as it turns blue as I mix with a sponge.
Here's some recent shots. The clear has become a lot darker with more coats (and probably the ink). Still a nice colour and the wood has some nice fire in it. Can't see from the photos but as you move it the dark parts will catch the light and become bright and vice versa. Switching between purple and blue. Pretty cool. I think the wood is Spruce......
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a20ed8d94a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e5dac4d393.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7e0ff2caba.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4aaaa9dc4f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...22a52a33c6.jpg
Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Ah cool, that's what I've been using on my LP jr kit too.
Ha ha ha, family friendly version lolQuote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
Yeah, I get it.Quote:
Quote Originally Posted by McCreed View Post
Feet???
Ha ha ha, family friendly version lol
And I used to live in Canberra too, so I know what you mean about, ahhhh... feet!
wow that looks so nice in the light, doesn't it?
Yeah it's quite pretty. If I played outside in the sun it would look awesome..... oh well. I like black too at least.Quote:
Originally Posted by TZK321
Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Some lessons learnt for the next build :)
Most definately. That's why I'm doing this build in particular. In fact it's probably "good enough" already but I keep doing more as I want to learn more and get closer to the level of finish I want in later builds.Quote:
Originally Posted by FCD
Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
I haven't been happy with the finish on this guitar. It seems to be never ending. I keep putting on more coats of poly hoping that they will fill the small dips and imperfections but ultimately adding extra drips and imperfections while not filling the holes. So I've been putting off doing work on it.
Today I had something else I should have been doing so what better excuse to do more work on this build?
I think the problem from the beginning was that I didn't sand enough. Too scared of going through the veneer. And everytime I've sanded between coats I've only done lightly as the few times I did more I went through, particularly on the edges and the binding which I covered black. But doing this has cost me greatly trying to get a smooth glassy surface on the front.
So today I threw caution to the wind and sanded. And sanded. And sanded. All with an ultra fine sanding pad, P1000-P800. I figured if I went through then it wouldn't really matter.
What I've ended up with instead is a lovely silky smooth matte finish. So nice in fact that I'm tempted to leave it just like this and do the rest of the guitar the same way and give up on a gloss finish. I think the blue even is more noticeable with the matte.
I'd be curious about what people think.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a3ee8bde24.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6a3970f0a3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...96176dae1e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3b22861189.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3a72239605.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ea624fdabc.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f44f99e338.jpg
Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
This is the best I've seen it looking mate. Go with your gut, it's often the best way to go.
At the end of the day your the one who needs to be happy with it. I see nothing wrong with a matte finish and in some cases actually prefer them. I like the last picture. My vote is do the whole guitar like that
Almost any finish will always follow the micro-contours of the body and not just fill up the dips. You'd need something with really low surface tension to do that. So as you found, you just add enough layers so that you can sand off all the high points and get a nice flat finish.
I'd continue to sand with finer grits and then polish it. You'll get a wonderful smooth gloss finish. IMO you will see more detail once it's glossy.
Just check that the pots fit in the holes as the holes will have become slightly smaller from the finish. If necessary, carefully enlarge them now before progressing with the finish.
Thanks guys.
Still not sure exactly which way I'll go but I figured that I'd need to sand the rest of the body either way.
So went back to work on the guitar last night and under the fluros could see that the front still had lots of low patches. So back to sanding again, this time using P600. This dulled the finish much more than the sanding pad.
And of course what had happened previously happened again. Around the edge and f-hole binding I sanded through and the white showed in places. But I think that's ok because the surrounding areas are now flat and without dips. It does mean that I'll have to put on another couple of coats of PU though after I've touched up the stain.
So after I did the P600 I them followed that with wet sanding P600 with mineral turps. I was hoping that some of the larger scratches (possibly from the sand paper becoming clogged) might get filled from the PU turps slurry.
Did the back with the wet P600 and sanded the neck with the P1000 pad. The neck I'm definately leaving as is. It is now so silky and nice. In fact I liked it so much that I took out the Burnt SG and sanded the neck of that one too.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f8263ab96c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...203ffb6e7a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...335d6d33a9.jpg
Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Are you going to scrape the binding around the f holes anyway? might not matter that you've broken through there.
As others have said, don't worry to much about it looking dull at the moment. Once you get it polished (or the final coat of clear on) it will take on a lot more depth and look great.
No. There were cracks in the binding which the stain seeped into and were impossible to scrape off. That's why I went with the black instead. And honestly I quite like the black now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain
Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Oh I see, fair enough.
This guitar has been sitting for a long time not getting any work done on it. Was waiting for it to get warmer to do some more clear coats after sanding it months ago.
But tonight I did something possibly a bit crazy. I sanded the top back to (mostly) bare wood and re-stained using the Angelus leather dyes I recently bought. Blue with purple to black burst. Certainly is a much richer colour now.
Sanding back I noticed all of the glue spots, which I now recall may have been one of the reasons the top ended up quite dark. I went over them all again with acetone and some sand paper to try and improve the staining of those areas. I was quite happy that they didn't seem to be much of an issue for the spirit based dyes.
I left the horns black and have a thin black "burst" around the body. Looking at the guitar now I think I might sand back the horns too and just do the same thin black line around the whole body.
https://i.imgur.com/B1XlLkg.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NzhY32q.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/dtkhjXu.jpg
Yes, either that or stain the horns a solid black. But I’d go with all-purple myself.