wow looks great Doc, shape looks like the shape you pencilled. Looks like you are ready for 80 grit sandpaper and go up through the grits.
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wow looks great Doc, shape looks like the shape you pencilled. Looks like you are ready for 80 grit sandpaper and go up through the grits.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
Cheers mate, it took me a long time and alot of filing to get it to that state, I rounded-off that corner adjacent to the A string tuner hole, I'll add some 80 to 400 grit sandpaper to my Big Green Shed shopping list.
I'm assuming that I should sand the edges of the headstock down a bit so that they are slightly rounded, I reckon the neck will look great clear coated.
Doc you could always use some black and gold toilet paper to sand the headstock edges, but it would be about 5 grit probably too harsh haha
The bigger your Green Shed shopping list is you do know the longer your naughty warehouse sentence will be ?
Depends how nice DB is feeling at the time
Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
Lol....I'm not really too worried about being sentenced to the naughty warehouse I'll gladly take my punishment like a man, yeah I know black and gold toilet paper can be a bit rough, you have to make sure you have a good sock of it cause it can be very bad when it runs out at the wrong time.
I did a quick check to see what the neck would look like with the Gold Grover Locking Tuners installed and it looked pretty smikky.
I'm debating to myself whether I should go ahead and drill the holes for the mounting screws for the tuners, I've been testing the fitting of the other parts of the guitar and so far I can't see any issues, I must have gotten lucky with this kit, I like the quality of all the body routing, everything looks well-centred.
Good work on the headstock Doc. Always good to get any wood cutting out of the way with no incidents.
I'll have to fire up my kwakka and patrol your local big green shed, looks like a booking coming up!
Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk
haha good one Ponch, I didn't know you booked forumites for shopping in the big green shed !
better pack a cushion and a fat fuel card, fair trip NSW to Darwin !
@ Doc no need to rush drilling tuner screw holes unless you are 100% happy with the alignment.
I find it easier to do after the finish is on
@ andrewdosborne I'll tell you what, I'll just save the time and expenses for a Trial and just plead guilty, I talked to my Lawyer and he agreed, given the extenuating circumstances.
@ wokkaboy No worries then, it may be better if I just take my time with the build anyway.
Update, I decided to go ahead and drill the holes for the neck-mounting screws in the neck, I used a 3.5mm Titanium-coated drill bit in my 12V Ozito Cordless Drill, before placing the Drill Bit in the chuck, I used one of the Neck-mounting screws as a gauge to make a mark on the drill bit so I could consistently drill the holes to the correct depth and not end up drilling all the way through the neck, which would have been a disaster, once all the holes were drilled I grabbed the neck plate and black-plastic cushion from the cardboard box the kit came in, and then proceeded to install the neck on the body, the screws were a bit of a tight fit in the screw holes so I used some of my Big Bends Nut Sauce lubricant to lubricate the screws, worked a treat and I didn't end up with any broken screws, pretty happy with that.
The neck seems to be solidly in place now so I shouldn't have any major issues later on, the reason why I decided to drill the holes for the neck-mounting screws is because doing that is going to make doing my mock build alot easier,since the neck fit is slightly lose in the neck pocket, the screws will hold the neck in the pocket and I won't have to use a hand to hold the neck in place, both my hands will be free, the neck is going to be clear coated anyway.
Incidentally, I bought my Ozito 12V Cordless Drill from the Big Green Shed as a replacement for my old Cordless Drill because the Old Drill's battery died and couldn't be charged, if there's one tool I could recommend for building these kits, it's a decent quality Cordless Drill, I reckon they are ideal since they usually feature some kind of speed control, and they are pretty light too.
Anyway, once I find my Samsung Galaxy Y Phone I'll post another pic of my guitar with it's neck installed, the White Pearloid Scratchplate has the three Entwistle AS57 pickups installed too, the Bridge and Output Jack are in their places as well.
A bit of candle wax or soap on any screws always works.
I bought a 14.4V Ozito about 5 years ago as a backup when i misplaced my good one (lent it to someone who forgot to bring it back)
Up until a week ago all was good then one of the batteries carked it, but the drill has done alot of work without a whimper, so i have never replaced it. Negatives were short battery life, but with 2 charged you could go for a while. I will get a new drill next week, probably a Bosch, but i wouldnt hesitate to buy another Ozito if i need a backup, probably an 18V as i go pretty hard with them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tonyw
One thing I like about my Ozito Cordless Drill is that it has a bright white LED lamp that comes on when you pull the trigger, pretty handy to have when you're drilling a hole and the ambient light is dim.
I'll make a mental note about the Candle-wax trick...cheers.
One thing I'd like to know is, what is it about people who borrow things and forget to give the things back?, had that happen to me quite a few times, I think they deliberately forget to return things because they covet the things they've borrowed, makes you wonder why they don't just go and buy one of the things themselves.
Check in any tradie's tool box or tool bag which cordless machines they use. You'll never see an Ozito.
Some people buy them because, their thinking is, if (when) they go belly up, you just go out and buy a new one and still have change left over. BUT... a quality tool should last a lifetime with less than daily use, and feels so much better in the hand. I'm pretty sure all the cordless drills have the LED feature. My circular saw does too, but it's useless once the sawdust starts flying.
Having said that, my Metabo 18v drill's gearbox sh*t itself 2 months out of warranty. Cost me as much as 3 or 4 Ozito's to get it repaired.
I will loan friends my car, amps, guitars, FX, PA, lawnmower, house, surfboard, pretty much anything... but never my power tools. Ever!
And time to don my grammar nazi hat... 'alot' is not a word - it is - 'a' space 'lot' - 2 words.
Sorry, it's the teacher in me... (I'll climb back under my rock now...)
Quick Update:
I just did some rummaging around in some plastic boxes full of bits and pieces on my balcony, and managed to find two Tone knobs and a Volume knob for a Stratocaster guitar, they are a bit more yellow in colour compared to the scratchplate, but I think they look nice enough anyway, so all I need now is a good 5-way pickup selector switch and it's plastic knob.
This guy just packed up moved back to New Zealand, i wasnt aware he was moving at the time, 5 yrs ago now, learnt another of lifes lessons again.
Ah yes, lending out power tools. Last time I did this my Bosch hammer drill (as new) came back like it had been dragged behind a ute down a gravel road. Not impressed...
Quick Update:
I've just finished installing the three 250K CTS Pots on the scratchplate, and put the knobs I found on the pots, even without the 5-way Pickup Selector, this guitar is looking good.
While i was looking through my bits and pieces, i found some 360 grit sandpaper and used it to get rid of some red pen marks on the rounded edge of the headstock, I'm happy with the way the headstock has turned out so I reckon i am well and truly ready to do some sanding, sanding,sanding, sanding.....yet more sanding, and when I think I've sanded enough....some more sanding.
I'm going to go with wokka's suggestion of using some Ebony Timbermate on the body (assuming the Big Green Shed has some in stock), and will be staining the body in Coolangatta Gold MK II once I get it from Dingobass, along with the Gold Highlights, so we'll lock that in as my official plan for this build.
Still looking for my Samsung Galaxy Y Phone so stay tuned for more updates where I'll post a new pic of the body.
I swear the more I work on the guitar the better it seems to look, maybe it's just my imagination but you never know.
Finally managed to find my Samsung Galaxy Y Phone so here's a pic of my guitar with the 250K CTS pots and their knobs installed on the scratchplate, I think the colour of the knobs does work with the colour of the scratchplate.
Attachment 9032
Update:
One thing I noticed about the neck was that it had a bit of back-bow but adjusting the truss rod soon fixed that and now the neck is much straighter.
Since I'm going with a Dingo Tone finish, I'm going to order some things from the Luthier Supplies section that I will most likely be needing for finishing my guitar, will do the order next Tuesday.
Update:
I just did a search for Ebony Timbermate on the Bunnings Darwin website and according to the search they do in fact stock it, they stock a 2Kg container of Ebony Timbermate that sells for $35.95, and a 250g container of Ebony Timbermate that sells for $9.30, so, I might see if I can buy two 250g containers, that should be more than enough for my kit build, I'm still wondering how I should finish the neck, I want it to be the natural colour of the Rock Maple wood, I keep coming back to the idea of clear coating it with an Acrylic Lacquer, I've used Acrylic Lacquer to clear coat the neck of my Headless Guitar with good results, it is a Maple neck with a Rosewood fretboard.
So the Ebony Timbermate is going on my shopping list for this coming Tuesday, along with some tools I may need, I might see if I can find a set of long-shank drill bits for drilling the holes for the Trem-spring claw-screws.
A little timbermate goes along way...
mock build looks great Doc, pity the pic was a bit out of focus
ebony timbermate on ash will make that grain pop twice as much. 2 x 250g will be heaps
Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
I'm definitely going to have to do something about getting a replacement for my old Canon A480 Digital Camera, my Samsung Galaxy Y phone's camera is not really cutting it, will see if I can get a new camera soon.
I'm happy with how the mock build went, since I found no real major issues, so I reckon I'm ready for the next stage in the build process, I'll have to order some PBG Luthier supplies which'll probably mean another two week wait till I can start, not to worry.
I now understand why I should start the body finishing with the Ebony Timbermate, to make the grain pop, should look great with the Coolangatta Gold MkII, I think I'll end up with a unique looking Strat.
I just had another look at the Dingotone Products section on the PBG website and found that there were some neck finishes in stock, so now, rather than going with an Acrylic clear coat I'm going to go with the Dingotone Colourless finish which I'll order along with some Luthier supplies.
You will only need one small tub of Timbermate...
I have a small tub that must be at least five years old now and I haven't used a quarter of it...
As Tony said, a little bit goes a long way.
When you go to use it, thin it down with water until you get a thick cream consistency then use a rubber squeegee or an old credit card to scrape it on.
I apply it across the grain, working both directions to make sure it gets in.
Let it cure over night and sand.
Hey DB, do you sand a bit and then apply timber mate and just put it on straight out of the box?
Me thinks a light sand at least to knock of the usual machining marks and then grain fill but keen to hear you wisdom as I am sure what you have to say will save me heaps of time and effort.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dingobass
No worries and cheers mate so I'll add a squeegee to my shopping list then, will start work on finishing the body on Tuesday this week, or maybe later on this week once I get some time, I'll have to buy some sandpaper from the Big Green Shed while I'm at it so I can get started since I'm going to be doing an order for some PBG Luthier supplies on Tuesday, I'm assuming I'll need to buy sandpaper with grits from something like 180 to 400, will post some pics of the progress with the Ebony Timbermate.
Hopefully my local Bunnings shop has Ebony Timbermate in stock otherwise I might have to order some which may take some time, looks like my build may get off to a slow start and my build diary will be an epic one...lol.
I guess as the saying goes..."Slow and steady wins the race", I'm sure ShazzRandom is going to be finished with her build long before me, but that's totally okay, means I'll most likely end up with good results.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wazkelly
I checked out a video on youtube about applying Timbermate to wood, the guy in the video applied the Timbermate straight onto the wood after thinning it down to the consistency of a thickshake with water, next the guy let the Timbermate dry and then sanded it down.
Hey guys, don't stress this too much. You've described the right process: sand, mix timbermate with water, spread on the guitar, wait, sand.
I've put a few photos of the process on my STA1M build diary: http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ll=1#post87787
Yep, wot Fred sed :)Quote:
Originally Posted by wazkelly
Sand out the worst of the machining marks, say up to 220 then apply the Timbermate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dingobass
No worries, I'm just making absolutely sure that I know what to do once I've got what I need to start work on finishing the body and neck, tomorrow I'll go get the Ebony Timbermate from the Big Green Shed and a few other things I'll need, but the shopping for the PBG Luthier supplies will come first.
@ Dingobass How are things coming along with the Dingotone MkII?, looking forward to doing the beta testing.
Update:
Seeing as I had successfully completed the mock build, I decided to go ahead and drill the holes for the mounting screws for the tuners in the headstock, I noticed that other forum members have experienced screw breakages but I got lucky and didn't have any breakages, I didn't have any candlewax that I could use as a lubricant on the screws but I did have some pieces of bathroom soap, and as I've heard that you can use soap as a lubricant on the screws I thought I would give it a try, it seemed to work well, you just scrape the screw on the soap and get some in the threads, then you use a screwdriver as usual, the screw should go smoothly into the hole with no binding that would cause breakages, I used a 1.5mm Titanium-coated drill bit to drill the holes.
Reason for drilling the holes?, I wanted to check the alignment of the neck relative to the bridge, seems to look okay to me.
good stuff Doc. DB said I could pick up the DT mark II yesterday so he should be ready to post it off soon. Does he have your postal address Doc ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
He probably doesn't but if he wants I can pm him and give him my postal address with no problems, that's great news about the Dingotone MkII by the way.
I just got myself back online after experiencing a long NBN outage that's affected alot of people here in Darwin.
ok Doc, sounds like NBN has been a big pain in the butt !
Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
I just pm-ed DB my postal address, yeah my NBN internet connection has been a bit temperamental lately, today's outage was the pits, had to ring Aussie Broadband Tech support twice, the NT Government really needs to give the NBN and landline infrastructure a good overhaul, a few years ago we had some serious power outages, I heard from someone that apparently the power station was still using 70's technology.
Update:
I just did an order for some PBG Luthier Supplies along with some Dingotone Colourless Neck Finish and also a couple of Medium-sized PBG T-Shirts, I decided to buy a couple of the PBG T-Shirts so I could show my support for all the PBG staff members, and also my fellow forum members too, let's make it a show of Solidarity 'cause we're all in it together....right mates?
Update:
Just got back from doing some shopping, I've got the Ebony Timbermate now so it's just a case of waiting till I have everything I need before starting work on finishing the body and the neck.
good stuff Doc, hope you are small as a medium shirt aren't very big !
which shirts do the shop sell the grey shirts with the picture of the Pitbull dog or the black ones with Pitbull Guitars writing ?
EDIT just checked the PBG shop they have both, did you order one of each ?
I got quite a few black T-shirt spares as in the early days they came free with the kits ! Also got a grey one
Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
I ended up ordering one medium white T-Shirt with the Pitbull logo on it in black, and one medium black T-Shirt with Pitbull Guitars written on it, I'm a pretty skinny guy so those medium T-Shirts should fit me okay, I'm 5 Foot 10 inches (about 1.75M) tall.
You can hook straight in with the Timbermate
Hey Tony be worth waiting for the sandpaper to pre-sand to about 220 grit before the timbermate
Thought he had sand paper, disregard.
no worries Tony, think Doc did the right thing and ordered sandpaper from the PBG shop. He's trying to lower his naughty warehouse sentence by not buying sandpaper from the big green shed haha
Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
Which is why I'm waiting till the Luthier Supplies I've ordered arrive in the post, in the meantime I can watch the guide videos.