wow, a nice natural look, what a bonus that the nicest timber is where you will see it
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wow, a nice natural look, what a bonus that the nicest timber is where you will see it
Bloody hell Weirdy going to need at least 20 minutes to read the post a thon. Looking good
Hey Weirdy, did you use the Dremel to re-route the bridge pup cavity? I may end up doing this on my current JB project and have a Dremel laying around...
I used my Makita Trimmer with a short 3/8" pattern following bit (this is from another build, with a longer bit)
Attachment 17061
You could use a Dremel with a flush router bit, but you will need to use a wooden template as the shaft of the bit is your 'guide bearing' and will melt a plastic/acrylic template in an instant.
Your other, safer, option is to plug the lug holes and then use a Forstner bit in a drill press to drill out the new lug holes. Clean, easy and less likely for things to go horribly wrong.
The blackened fretboard has drying for a couple of days, so I gave it a rub down with paper towel to remove any excess black and peeled back the tape for an inspection. The fretboard masking actually came out sharper and cleaner than I expected, despite the uneven nature of the rosewood's grain.
Attachment 17062
So, I decided to bite the bullet and go all in masking right up to the edge of the maple for the second coat. This tape is really good for masking (Oldfield's), but I still spent a lot of time rubbing it along the edge to get the best seal possible. Here's hoping.
Attachment 17063
2nd coat of Fiebings black.
Attachment 17064
After 5 days of hardening it was time to work on the epoxy.
Again, flush cutting with my Dremel. The leaving the tape on provides a little extra leeway.
Attachment 17065
Dremel'ing done and tape off.
Attachment 17066
cont.
Scraped and ready for final sanding. Looks like there's a hint of an air bubble at the upper inside of the S, but I can live with that.
Attachment 17067
Two days drying and time to see what happened with the fretboard black. I gave it a dry rub with some paper towel to get rid of loose surface black. Then, repeated with some Metho and paper which pulled the excess black out of the grain holes (a lot of black as I was pretty generous with the last dye coat). Once that was dry I gave it another dry paper towel rub just to clean up and very nervously peeled the tape back…
Attachment 17068
… to see a beautiful crisp, clean, sharp, unsullied maple edge...
Attachment 17069
… almost! It turns out there was a tiny nick/slice at the edge of the fretboard that I didn't see and the sanding didn't remove, and that was enough to provide a channel for a little dye to seep under the tape :(
Attachment 17070
I wasn't too bad, but disappointing and tough to remove. I could have just kept sanding to get rid of it but that would've left a dip on the side of the neck. Instead I used several applications of acetone, a bit of scraping and a touch of sanding until I got it to the point I could live with.
Attachment 17071
cont.
The neck got a final sanding up to 800 grit and was ready for some finish. Again, I have an attachment for my painting rig. In this case it's designed to work with standard or curved neck plate screw layouts while providing access around the end of the neck, held in place with the neck's own screws.
Attachment 17072
Attachment 17073
Ready for finish.
Attachment 17074
Attachment 17075
I'll be using Tru-Oil on the neck (and body), but I don't want to risk any of the black from the fretboard edge being transferred onto the clean maple neck. So, I decided to mask up and do a couple of TO coats on the fretboard edge to seal it before doing the rest of the neck.
Attachment 17076
cont.
Edge sealed up and tape off. No sign of any black coming off.
Attachment 17077
7 days drying for the final coat of Dark Tease, and it was time for the first coat of Tru-Oil on the body. I wasn't sure how it would go over the old Wudtone.
Attachment 17078
Attachment 17079
Attachment 17080
cont.
First full coats of Tru-Oil on the neck, no stain as I wanted a light natural look to contrast with the body and dark fretboard.
Attachment 17081
Attachment 17082
After 4 coats.
Attachment 17083
With the body I did 4 coats of Tru-Oil the first day, 3-4hrs apart. Next day, I started with a thorough wet sanding with White Spirits and a piece of 1500 grit wet and dry paper. I then did 3 coats for the day, each about 3 hours apart and using that same piece of 1500 grit with white spirits to knock down any rough spots prior to the next coat.
After applying the 8th coat.
Attachment 17084
Attachment 17085
cont.
Once again, my favourite bit is looking even better.
Attachment 17086
Attachment 17087
Attachment 17088
I repeated that same process for the rest of the coats. White Spirits wet sand at start of the day with fresh piece of 1500, then used the same piece for touch-up wet sanding prior to each coat for rest of the day. In total, I did 20 coats of Tru-Oil on the body, with the last 6 being a 50/50 mix of White Spirits and TO.
Attachment 17089
I used the same basic process with the neck (and the same piece of 1500 grit paper as used on the body for the day) but only a total of 10 coats of Tru-Oil, with the last 4 being a 50/50 mix. I then did 2 extra coats on the just headstock face to finish it off.
cont.