It is looking good. Though it's crying out for a bone nut to replace the yellow plastic one.
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It is looking good. Though it's crying out for a bone nut to replace the yellow plastic one.
Or a black graphtec version.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Looks amazing Kick
Beautifully executed burst, colour really pops the veneer and i love the slight grainy effect on the headstock.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kick
I think you could probably sand that a bit flatter and get it a bit more glassy. How many coats of TO now?
I think that I have applied around 18 to 20 coats. As said before, I'll continue until the bottle of TO is empty.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dedman
@Simon: If I'd go for another nut I have to find a pre-slotted one because I don't have the tools to make it myself. I'll do some Googling!
PBG should hopefully be selling affordable nut files soon. You can order a set to arrive with your next kit!
Looking good Kick. Don't think were ever satisfied eh, that's probably what drives build 2,3 4....
Looks great Kick.
If you want to smoothen up the Headstock some wet sanding with 1500 Wet & Dry should do the trick.
I found a nut here from a guitar parts supplier so that's easy. Only thing is that they say it is meant for a 'single cut' guitar but I think i'll sent them a mail to ask for the dimensions of that nut. It must be the same as it is now. To be continued!
They normally come as either 42mm or 43mm wide. I always go for the larger size as you can simply sand it down to fit. You often get a range of heights as well. Depends on what tools you have but again, I normally go for the taller size and file/sand it down to size after I've cut the nut slots.
Looking great Kick. the burst looks great
Looking good Kick glad to see some new pics. If it were me I would keep wet sanding and applying until it looks like waz's swampcaster.. maybe take 20 more coats. The color and finish of that guitar crys for a wet glass like finish.. just my opinion.. looks great either way...
Try wet sanding between coats before adding more TO. Really gets out all the bubbles and blemishes
Spot on Darryl.Quote:
Originally Posted by darryl.bellotti
On my latest build MMB-4 after 2 coats did a proper water based wet sand on 1200 grit and again after next 2 coats before reverting to applying 50;50 turps to TO with a small square of 1200 W & D paper. Using a rag just seems to trap all sorts of crap or lumpiness in the finish that wet sanding and wet sand finishing eliminate.
On yours Kick it looks like 1500 grit with water should knock off the lumpy bits and then give you a smoother platform to work with. Funny thing is that 1st coat after wet sand goes on really well but the next one doesn't seem to want to stick which tells you that the surface needs a bit of 'tooth' for additional coats to grab on to. Remember to just lightly sand as even with very fine grit it can take off more finish than you can imagine.
The Widow is looking very glassy already and with just a bit more work it will look awesome.
Cheers, Waz
Yeah, I have been thinking that I need to do all this crazy buffing and polishing, but everything I've attempted has been crap. So I've taken it off and started again. Now It's just TO and thats it. I have been thinking about the 50/50 method too after seeing a dude on YouTube using it. After that, I'll just leave it be. Does that sound about right?
Hi Waz, thanks for your usefull (as again) tips. Do I understand correctly that you are using a small piece of 1200 grit wet sanding paper to apply a 50/50 (Turp/TO) coat? So no piece of rag?Quote:
Originally Posted by wazkelly
Hey kick i hit mine with a wool buffer on the corrdless drill once the t/o was touck dry. Its not quite as shiny as wazkelly telly but its close and super smooth
It's looking great - hopefully not too long until fitup time
Depending on how big your bottle of TO is you might take longer than me to finish your Les Paul kit!
I bought the 90 gram bottle and I think I have 1/3 left to use and since I'm doing a 50/50 mixture of TO and turps I hop I can do lots of more coats.Quote:
Originally Posted by CascadiaGuitarGeek
@Adam: I have been thinking to do the same but I can't find the proper pad for my electric tools.
Big green shed
What's that in Dutch?Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Barnes
Grote groene schuur
Whatever the largest Dutch DIY chain store is called.
Hi Kick, sheets of grit are about A4 size and I start by creating 3 equal sized strips which are DL or envelope size. Next thing is to hold horizontal and fold in the middle, then middle again so that you have 4 panels, and cut one of them off, then cut that piece in half. This should leave you with roughly two 60mm x 47mm sized pieces to use.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kick
After mixing 50:50 brew gently pour a few drops in the middle of the small grit paper and then proceed to rub that on the surface. It will feel like sanding to begin with and you need to keep adding TO brew frequently to lubricate the paper. Alternatively you can pour a small amount on the guitar surface but this raises risk of runs significantly.
To wipe a body and neck takes about 10 minutes with a similar sized cotton t-shirt rag but with wet sanding application it will take longer as you have to keep adding finish solution to grit paper more frequently. Be careful on edges and in curves as they seem to be worst places for runs to occur.
Don't be afraid to swap back to cotton rag every few wet grit coats just to add a bit more thickness and shine as the wet sanding method dries more satin than gloss which is ok as the underlying surface is being polished and smoothed at the same time.
To get a deep lush gloss there needs to be a decent depth of finish to work with as the final polishing action can burn through a bit more than expected.
Cheers, Waz
I discovered something too! I've been using a foam brush for my last applications of TO. Cost about $3 from Bunnings (Australian Hardware mega store - pretty much the best shop ever invented!) and makes applying it a breeze. No uneven strokes - just smooth sailing all the way to a nice gloss!
Thanks for the explanation Waz! And those brushes are looking great Daryll, I'll see if I can find these as well ;)
Oh, and I ordered that black Graptech nut :)
Little update: I received that black Graphtech nut so I decided to take of the stock nut. That was done in I think 20 seconds. First a few cuts with a Stanley blade and then with the help of a block of wood and the little knock of a hammer it came off.
I noticed that this nut is hollow so I think that spending a few bucks on a new nut will give me much more sound in the end.
Hmmm... I just did a quick compare between the nuts and the original nut is 41.5 mm wide while the Graphtech is 43.0 mm. That means I have to take of 0.75 mm of each end. That makes that the slots for the high and low E string are frightingly close to the side of the fretboard. So allthough the package says it is a nut for 'a Les Paul' it doesn't really fit...
I think I'll do a mockup first with both E strings before glueing that nut into the neck.
A shame, Kick, but as they say in woodworking, - measure twice, cut once. If in doubt, I always look up the details data on the manufacturer's web site. Graphtech do a whole range of nuts in different sizes. http://www.graphtech.com/products/br...xl-guitar-nuts.
I'd say either the PT-6225-00 or PT-6642-00 is probably the closest to your needs. I normally buy them a bit oversized and file/sand them down to the right length.
But as you say, test the nut with a couple of E strings. You may be OK.
I think the PB guitars are more closely modelled on Epiphones or other Japanese copies then actual Gibsons.
41mm - 42mm nut width seems to be fairly common on these kits.
But this one I bought is 43mm. Well, I'm just going to make it smaller (41,5mm) and see how the slots of the E-strings will turn out.
If the nut is very tall when fitted, you might have enough height be able to file the top of the nut smooth and cut your own slots in it (if it looks like they will be too wide apart).
I have already been thinking about that option. Only point is that I do not have these special slot files (or viles?)... Could I use different types of metalsaws?Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Go to this link....download the PDF.....mark the string slots and slowly carefully cut them. The files are the best option....but something to create the initial groove is good....then you can use an old string of the size desired.....the Stew Mac guy glues sections of old strings to paddle pop sticks.
http://www.tdpri.com/threads/compens...t-tool.109915/
Thanks Ozz, that is looking very interesting. But are you saying that you use old strings like a file to cut the slots after making some sort of groove with, let's say, a cutting-tool like a sharp knife or blade?
I think that this may work with the slots for the E, A and D string because those strings are wounded. But how about the other unwounded strings? You can't 'file' with an smooth string...
Or am I completely wrong?
Using old strings as a file is slow and painful on a bone nut but eventually gets the job done. For the unwound string slots this method would indicate using the thinnest wound string which should always be thinner than any saw blade you may have been considering.
In today's mail I just received a rather cheap and very tiny set of needle files that could get me by on a few small jobs.
Here is the link... http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/13-Sizes-...53.m1438.l2649