H's TL-1Q, first build.

hey H, i think they are all glue spots, i dont know if some gentle spot sanding may work...

nice colour

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Originally Posted by UpperCaseH

Thanks Andy!

I didn't do any grain filling. I decided not to on the veneer based on the whole "it's really thin!" thing people were saying, then I just... forgot on the back. It was part of the plan but it completely slipped my mind.

I'll wait for it to cure then I'll carefully sand back the ink marks and re-stain, goof-off the glue spot and re-stain, and probably not worry too much about the marks on the veneer and back and hope they disappear or at least become less prominent with further staining.

I think I went a bit too thick with the initial stain. I did rub it in really well, then when it was touch-dry I went over it again much thinner. Hope I didn't mess up too much there.

How do I tell when it's cured? When it stops smelling? It's dry to touch now (~30 hours later), I know that doesn't mean it's cured, but I'm not sure how to tell.

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I would check on it after three, then 5 then 7 days. depending on the weather. I expect it will still stain your fingers to the touch after 3 days, after 5 it will be dry but not fully cured in this cold weather, I reckon 7's the go. If its dry to the touch after 3 I expect it may cure after 5.

If you don't grain fill the timber will soak up heaps of DT stain so you won't need too many coats. You might need to be a bit more patient with your intensifying coats.

When timbermating the thin veneers, I just sand it back to the veneer lightly with a high grade say about 320 or 400 only. If you're careful you wont go through.

Good luck H

G'day H, dreaded stubborn glue spots on the quilted top and most likely filler on back and also near neck pocket. A bit more vigorous Goof Off scrubbing on the 2 on the top may shift them. If not, may need to also use a toothbrush sized wire brush. They can be found at the big green shed and also at golfing supply stores. Need to use them very lightly and go in the direction of the grain which on a quilt might just be swirls? Careful not to go too hard at it as you can easily add deep scratches and gouge marks that may not come out.

Andy's advice with DT is spot on. Also used DT on my Explorers and on the Orange EX-5 had a similar looking bit of filler near the neck pocket too and just added a bit more stain to that immediate are hoping it would soak in. Only made a slight difference and being mainly located on the back wasn't too worried about it. The one on the back is also filler and same deal on my Basswood bodied Tele and tried to dig out as much as possible but was creating a hole and had to stop. Different story on the Red Ash J Bass as I knew the timbermate would fill any holes and dug the crap out on that build.

As Andy mentioned, with the 1st DT stain coat the bare timber is quite thirsty and soaks up plenty. 2nd and subsequent coats won't take as much effort and use less stain. With very chilly weather forecast for remainder of this week for Southern states suggest it may need at least 7 days curing time unless you can sneak it inside somewhere where it would be nice and warm?

The big thing with DT is it is a lesson in patience.....if rushing things it could end up in tears.

OK, lots more work to do then!

The body's hanging inside, so it's probably sitting at around 20-22 degrees during the day and around 15 at night. I'll check it on thursday or friday and see how it's curing. If I have to wait until next week that just gives me more time to get the neck ready.

I'll Goof Off the spots on the top, already got a wire brush when I picked up the tin, but hopefully I don't have to use it. Might leave the one on the back (it's not as visible in person as in the photos) and see how it comes up with more coats - it seems to be holding some colour and I'm kind of curious to see where it goes.

Don't know about the filler spot by the neck pocket. It didn't retain any colour at all, but because of where it it I'm not sure I want to try digging at it. I don't particularly want to leave it, but it's in a place that'll be hard to see once the neck's in so I'm not overly worried. Might dig into my modelling paints and see if I've got a red close enough to obscure the mark (which would look awful in a prominent location, but maybe it'll work out here).

In future, I guess I'll avoid problems like this by using Timbermate and scraping/refilling any similar patches.

Silly question time!

I spent all morning sanding the neck and head. I've masked the front of the head (it's gonna be red). I'm getting ready to mask off the fingerboard, and I've realised I don't know where to mask it.

So... Red, blue, or green arrow for where the stain/finish stops and the wax starts? And how best to mask it? The head's just done with blue 3m tape, same as I used for the binding.

Or do I not mask at all and just try to carefully get the DT clear up to the red arrow?

http://i.imgur.com/TE6aNKZ.jpg

Totally up to you dude!
I had a rosewood FB and used your green arrow to split the stain(Ebony on the FB and Aizona orange on the neck), then I used your blue arrow to split between the oil and the clear coat(I cleared the side of the fretboard).

Haha, thought that might be the answer! Thanks!

Reckon I'll mask off to the blue arrow. Since it's just going to be a clear coat on the neck and a waxed fretboard, I'm not trying to do anythign fancy, just wondering if I was about to make a huge mistake without realising.

Edit: All masked up, 1st coat on, and hanging up to dry on a nerve-wrackingly jury-rigged arrangement of dowels and string. Neck coat went on lots easier than the body coat, and it looks great. The only thing I'm really having trouble with right now is patience!

The neck cured quite quikly - 3 days hanging inside next to the body. It looked a bit patchy, so I put a second stain coat on and now it seems to be fine. Can't wait to see what it looks like with the finishing coats, hopefully I'll be able to get started this week.

The body... first coat's still not cured. I think the advice about "non-grain-filled wood will drink lots of stain" is spot on. I checked it after 3 days, 5 days, and now 7 days, and if I lightly rub it with a bit of paper towel it's still leaving a little bit of red on the paper.

No pics because nothing has visibly changed. Patience is hard. I really want to see if I can get these glue spots off!

Good touch dry test there and suggests you may need to double drying & curing times just to be on the safe side. The upside with applying second DT coat is the guitar won't soak up as much stain from the rag so best to use a very light touch, and we all know you will probably apply at least a 3rd or maybe 4th stain coat and from personal experience subsequent coats will not be as forgiving after 2nd has been done.

Andy's tip about using a clean rag to wipe off the excess on each coat application makes sense as it would also help speed up the drying and curing time and hopefully prevent the patchiness that can develop without warning.

Body seemed to have cured this morning, so I spent about 45 minutes rubbing the glue spots with Goof Off. Didn't seem to work super well, so I gently used a wire brush, re-applied Goof Off, repeat, etc. Looked like it was coming up OK, so gave it a few hours to dry off and got he second stain coat down. Wiping the excess stain off with a clean rag seemed to work really well! Spots aren't totally gone, but are much better - way less visible, but still stand out pretty clearly under a camera flash. I'll have another go once this coat cures, so probably next week.

Noticed the masking has lifted off the binding in one spot, probably stretched the tape a bit when applying. Didn't drip too much stain in there, but I guess I'm gonna be scraping later on.

Colour's coming along nicely, gonna leave it at 3 stain coats though, it looks like it might bet a bit dark if I go for more. Still can't take a decent photo inside.

http://i.imgur.com/AC5bUQJ.jpg