Build number 5

Hi all,

It's been a while. I finished build number four sometime ago. It's a Jackson Dinky based super strat:
Attachment 43610Attachment 43611
The kit was from guitar kit fabric in the UK. The kit itself was not the best. The trem cavity was not quite straight so it needed some tweaking.

I swapped out the kit trem for a Floyd Special which is okay as long as you keep it well setup. The nut is also upgraded but still needs some work. The pickups are Iron Gear rolling mills and a smoke stack in the middle.

The top is finished with Rustins Plastic Coating gloss whilst the back and sides I left natural with some graphite dust mixed into the grain filler and a few coats of shellac sealer followed by a bees wax.

Over all I'm really happy with it.

I stopped building at this point as I'd run out of room in the house for guitars.

But then I saw this this FretWire kit on FB and I was weak:
Attachment 43612
More details to follow...

... so I was lying in bed one morning flicking through Facebook when this fretwire LP came up on the market place for a good price. I was itching to start a new project so I made the chap an offer. A few days later it arrives.

It's has a two piece mahogony back and top with a maple veneer. The neck is m'hog too.

Of course, I'm not going to use much of the kit hardware. I've got a TonePros bridge and tail piece and Gotoh locking tuners for a start. I'm pretty sure the pickups are going to be Monty's PAFs - I really like the set have from them in my Strat build.

For finish I'll do some kind of stain on the top and then try to spray some rattle can nitro - this will be my first attempt at that.

In a previous build I attempted an inlay which didn't work out so I abandoned it. But I've had a go at it again. I've got some walnut veneer that I want to overlay onto the headstock and here's my progress so far:

Step one - bear inlayed and some black stain applied.
Attachment 43615

At this point the filling was a bit sketchy - especially around the rear feet. I was using walnut dust and super glue as the filler. Charcoal dust instead with the glue was a much better choice.

Here it is rough cut to size and with the truss rod access cut out:
Attachment 43616

And here it is with kit TR cover and nut blank in place:
Attachment 43617

The next step is thin the headstock down so it’s square and thin the veneer too so it’s not so chunky. It’s currently about 2mm thick.

My plan is to use dowels to make sure it doesn't slip whilst gluing – but I’m not sure how to stop the dowels from sticking – wax perhaps? I’m going to make some cauls that will allow the dowels to pass through so I get even clamping pressure – any ideas?

Good to be back in the game!

Great to see you've been keeping a hand in. The Dinky looks great.
Nice colour coordination with the strap too!

Inlay looks good also. I immediately recognised it as a bear, so that a good start!
Look forward to seeing more progress.

I normally use cling film as my non-stick medium when using a caul for clamping, but I don't think that would work that well with dowel as you'd need a small gap in order to fit it, which will make the positioning less accurate.

I would have done the inlay on the veneer but not drilled the tuner holes. Trimmed the veneer down to be a bit larger than the headstock, stuck it on and then trimmed and drilled the holes.

What about drilling holes in a caul using the veneer as a template, gluing and clamping the veneer on and then immediately removing the dowels? Once the veneer is in place and clamped, you shouldn't need the dowels any more, so they don't need to remain whilst the glue dries.

Or else use the fretboard pinning method and knock a three of four thin panel pins into the headstock by a few mm, then cut off the pins about 1mm above the headstock face with angled (not flat edge) side-cutters so that they leave a pointed end. Use the dowel to locate the veneer onto the headstock face and tap it down so the veneer is then located by the pins. Then you can glue the headstock and clamp it with a flat caul without risk of the veneer slipping.

Very nice bear inlay!


Then stuck the

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

I would have done the inlay on the veneer but not drilled the tuner holes. Trimmed the veneer down to be a bit larger than the headstock, stuck it on and then trimmed and drilled the holes.

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Yes! this is what I should have done. I drilled the holes first as I thought it would give a good feel when positioning the bear. But I guess it doesn't matter as long as it roughly in the ballpark.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

What about drilling holes in a caul using the veneer as a template, gluing and clamping the veneer on and then immediately removing the dowels? Once the veneer is in place and clamped, you shouldn't need the dowels any more, so they don't need to remain whilst the glue dries.

Or else use the fretboard pinning method and knock a three of four thin panel pins into the headstock by a few mm, then cut off the pins about 1mm above the headstock face with angled (not flat edge) side-cutters so that they leave a pointed end. Use the dowel to locate the veneer onto the headstock face and tap it down so the veneer is then located by the pins. Then you can glue the headstock and clamp it with a flat caul without risk of the veneer slipping.

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Putting holes in the caul was what I had in mind - but of course - just push the dowels out when it's clamped - duh... I've seen people use salt to help avoid slippage which I guess would work a bit like the pins. But I do like the pin idea too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Very nice bear inlay!

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Thanks. It's inspired by father-in-law. He loved a project and we spent many hours working in my shed on lots of harebrained guitar based electronics ideas - like the valve amp that took us over 10 years - massively over featured and engineered. He was the brains of the operation helping me to bring to life my ideas without frying myself on mains electricity.

One of his own projects was to make a big 3D sculpture out of large sheets of plywood. For him it was as much about the engineering as it was the art. He built a bear, called him Eric (he was a big Clapton fan) and he stands proudly in their garden. Here's the prototype that he made:
Attachment 43620Attachment 43621
I don't have a picture of the real thing - but imagine that but about 2m in length

Anyway, we lost my father-in-law to cancer over the summer and so I thought this would be a fitting way to pay homage to him, all the things I've learnt from him and to remember all the happy times times we spent together.

Thanks for sharing the bear story. That's a good one, and I reckon a fitting tribute. Good on ya!

Sorry to hear about your Father-In-Law.

The bear story is cool.

Wood glue can be quite grabby even early on, so if the worst comes to the worst, and you can't pop one out, you can always chisel the dowel flat at each end and then drill it out.

Baking paper around the dowels.

Good progress made today. I sanded back the of the veneer to make it an even 2mm. Then thinned down the face of the head stock with a chisel. This was the first time using a chisel like this. I got some cheap whetstones from Amazon which worked pretty well on my old Stanley chisels. I managed to make some pretty convincing shavings. I think the right tool for the job would be a small plane but chisels is all I have.

In the end I left the veneer thicker than I was planning as I thought the walnut edge will look good as a contrast when finish is on it.. Or I could try staining the edge?

Attachment 43635 Attachment 43634

I'm running out of reasons not to glue it on now...

Hi everyone,

Progress has been steady - I've glued in the neck and filled the joint, stained the back/sides and done the top. The top started being quite bright but I think I'm in danger of over working it now - so I've decided to leave it as is. This is the final result:

Attachment 43756Attachment 43757

My plan is to spray it with nitro sanding sealer. I don't have a spray booth #obvs and all of the internet says don't spray in autumn / winter.

Is there anyway I can do this? Or am I going to have shelve this until the spring?

Ideas I've got include heating up the shed and spraying with the door open, me in the shed spraying towards the door with some electric fans behind me - then close the door to let it gas off. I could also build an extractor fan into the shed wall but that seems a bit drastic.

Also does anyone know what mask rating I need for spraying nitro?
Thanks!

I use one of these for spraying nitro.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/produc...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has gone rather cold and damp for spraying nitro. Too cold and/or humid and you get water vapour condensing and being trapped in the finish, which isn't a good look. Spraying with a gun, you can add anti-bloom thinners, which helps, but it can only do so much.

If spraying from a can, I'd put the mask on, and spray in a pre-heated shed with the door closed. Turn the heater off before spraying. Then leave the shed, shut the door again for 5 minutes or so, during which time the nitro will become touch dry and then open the door to vent the shed for 30 mins+. You can then shut the door and warm up the shed again. It's not ideal, but as long as you keep the interior over 16°C and it feels dry, it should be OK.

I'd certainly do a test spray on a piece of wood first before spraying the guitar, just in case you do notice any 'bloom' occurring.

I'd also try and rig up an internal spray area with old sheets or cardboard to stop the overspray from spreading all over the shed.

Thanks Simon - I’ve got a humidity meter which I’ll put in the shed. What humidity level should I be aiming for?

I’ve got some extra cans so good idea to do a test spray first… looking at the forecast it looks like it might be settling down over the next few weeks?

Wednesday onwards currently seems to be reasonably warm. I'd certainly want no more than 60% RH (cheap humidity meters are fairly inaccurate (about ±10% RH) so best to be on the safe side.

Outside air %RH is forecast to be around 80%RH, as all the recent rain is keeping things damp, but warm the air up to 20°C and it drops to about 58%, which should be OK.

Thanks Simon :)

Today I manned up to spraying - I've been apprehensive about doing it so found lots of reasons to put it off.

Last night I hung up some plastic in the shed and moved out anything I definitely didn't want overspray on. This morning I was up bright and early rewatching the YT vids before making a start.

My routine was to heat the shed to about 20C whilst the can was heating in some warm water. Then suited up and shook up the can for 2 mins. Against Simon's advice I sprayed with the door wide open and then shut it immediately after spraying. Despite having a respirator, goggles, gloves and suit, I was super conscious to give myself as much ventilation as possible. The door stayed shut for five minutes and then open again for 30 mins to an hour.

Following this pattern I got 5 coats of sanding sealer on before the sun started to go down and I reckon another 3 coats tomorrow should do it. My plan is then to leave it until I get another calm sunny day before spraying the top coats. In the meantime I'll sand any rough areas - 1200 wet sand, sound about right?

The spraying seemed to go okay - I tried to remember all the things I'd learnt here and from the YT vids. But as with doing anything for the first time, I'm sure mistakes have been made that I won't find out about until much further down the line.

Here's my setup in the shed taken before coat 3 - The plastic has fallen down a bit in that shot but I fixed that back up:
Attachment 43800

Here's the results after 5 coats:
Attachment 43801

Not much to see - but it has a slight sheen and there's no evidence of any blushing that I can see - but perhaps that doesn't happen so much with the sealer? Fingers crossed!

Ive wet sanded the sealer with 1000 and it feels lovely [emoji4]

One thing though - on the back, in one small area it seemed to blister. I’m guessing this is a temperature or humidity related issue perhaps? Moisture under the sealer?

If that’s the case then its made me think again about spraying the gloss until the gods bless us with better conditions.

For the time being Ive restained it and I guess I can reseal it? Or can I just spray the clear over the top?

Here’s the top with its sanding sealer lushness.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ad0414c24d.jpg


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Blistering normally a reaction to something on the surface, though I have had bubbles in the finish because I’m sure it got too hot in direct sunlight in the summer. Although it’s still relatively mild here I doubt it’s due to excessive heat. So I would suspect something hot onto the wood. Humidity can cause clouding of the finish but not blistering.

I’d like to be more technical but sometimes things like this just seem to happen and without a full chemical analysis of the surface, you’ll probably never know just why.

You can spray the clear without putting on more sanding sealer, but it’s going to sink in a lot more on that patch. You’ll just need more coats on that area.

Thanks Simon,

I’m wondering if it was a crack that the water got into when sanding? And that made it blister? I didn’t notice it before I started.

I think we’ve got some more settled weather on the horizon so I might just spray the gloss over a few days - perhaps one or two coats a day. That will give each each coat a good while to dry. What do you think?


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I suppose water in a crack is possible.

A couple of coats a day should be fine, given it's not that warm, so drying will be a bit slower.