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Hi Storm, Gavin has a great thread on levelling frets here: http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=1775. As for tools, I have used suggestions from others on the forum to make some myself. A notched straight edge can be made from a long cheap metal ruler with notches cut where the frets are on your guitar. A radiussed sanding block would be great, but I just used a level with sandpaper stuck on the straight edge, its good enough for brand new frets.
Thansk for the link AndewA ! I had a look through and there seems to many ways to get this job done!
I've been looking around on ebay and I found this kit, which seems like would be good bang for buck solution for fret leveling : Frater Music Fret Leveling Kit
Fret levelling file, Fret crowing tool, Fret protector, and a standard file (I'll probably use my scale model files instead).
Oh, I'll also need to buy a fret rocker separately too.
On the weekend just gone I managed to get the Color stain layers down, as well as 5 coats of Minwax Satin Hand Wipe Poly onto the back of the neck. Did this at my parents place in the country.
The body is fully drying at this time until in a few weeks I'll return to do the gloss layers onto the body. Stoked as with how the color has turned out!
For the frets I went with Dr. Ducks Axe Wax which Ill apply once ive installed everything once the gloss layer dries.
I should make a rig next time for staining a body so I can do back and front at a time. Not bothered either way as I had lots to do inbetween doing this at my parents.
Here are pics :
1. Set up the work space to start doing the back of the body. I masked off the binding to avoid having too much oil stain to clean off it later.
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2. Applied the prestain. This prevents the stain itself from looking streaky or blotchy (Evident that it works in the post stain pictures)
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3. First coat of the Minwax Sedona Red on the back.
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4. Second coat:
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Thats looking great!.
I had to notice the "next time" .......no one stops at one :)
5. Flipped it over and removed the painters tape:
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6. This was the end result, To wood on top actually took 3 coats in total (Didnt take pictures inbetween because?)
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7. Front on view
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Excited to do the gloss coats now.
Also I didnt take many pictures of the neck as it was hung up in a non lit pre 1900's farm shed/barn. There was adequate light for working, but pictures didnt really work in there. After I buff it out it should go from being Satin to a slight almost semi gloss (It already feels smooth with good movement though, where I think the gloss may have been a bit sticky due to that I get quite clammy hands when playing)
doing a nice job there, it's looking good
colour looks great Storm well done. Easy fix for staining/clearing the whole body at once drill a scrap piece of wood (about 300-400mm long, up to 50mm wide) into two of the neck screw holes of the body and drill a hole in the other end and it can be hung up to cure. If you have a vice you can clamp the hanger in the vice and stain/clear each side of the body
Built a stand to hold the body so I could finish staining both sides at once. Was just a simple cut a basic sized neck piece, and attach it to a base.
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I used Minwax Satin hand wipe poly x 8 coats on the body. These pictures are from when I started doing the work, I didnt take later shots (Sorry ><)
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This photo I took with the flash to show the satin a bit more (In person, its a very subtle coating that does not look glossy unless you get on an angle with the light in right condition)
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I wet sanded with 1200 grit after each couple of layers to clear up any crappy spots. The body is now airing for a week or more then I'll move onto a final wet sanding/steel wool, then I may use minwax paste finishing wax or dingotone wax (Will test areas that will be under the scratchplate in the end to see which i like better).
looking great Storm and love the staining rack/stand you built. You should be able to use it for your next bolt on neck build !
nice work, love the satin, looks good