Hi everyone,
Here is a photo of my next build which I will start soon:
Attachment 11354
Cheers,
Alkay.
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Hi everyone,
Here is a photo of my next build which I will start soon:
Attachment 11354
Cheers,
Alkay.
Hi Alkay, kit looks great, is this the same kit you were querying the scale length and sanding or another build ?
hard to keep up with all the build diaries !
Hey mate,
No this is a new build which I haven't started yet.
I don't think I'll try to pop the grain on this one. On my current build I put too much timbermate with black ink on and ruined the spalted look.
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ighlight=alkay
Cheers,
Alkay.
Hi Alkay, forget the dark grain popping on this one.
One thing I successfully experimented with on my blue non PBG tele was through applying a good soaking 1st stain coat and then 24 hours later wiped as much off as possible before applying a 2nd coat. This helped to double up in certain areas to provide a darker highlighting effect of the same colour on the flamed maple top, a bit like grain popping from within the same colour tones of the stain.
Also only lightly sanded the top with 180 or 240 from memory just to knock down any rough bits as it looked far too easy to sand through if not careful and if you paid extra for the top you want to make the most of it.
Wishing you better luck with this one.
Hi wazkelly,
I'm so glad to hear that. That's really helpful for me, thank you WazKelly. My sanding is getting better now after some great advice I got on my other current build(the ruined spalted one with too much black ink in the timbermate).
Thanks to wokkaboy for the link and gavin1393 for making the videos. They were so helpful.
*For future reference I would really appreciate a pic of how timbermate and black ink should look after its applied before taking the cap off. If that's the right word. Eg. Trying to get the grain to stand out. I hope that makes sense haha.
I'm not sure what colours to go for but I'm going to do some tests on the pine I have to try and get an idea. I have some left over ink here to try. After reading through these forums I have seen it's good to try different colours on a test piece of wood to get an idea. There are so many good builds on here. I want to get to that stage.
Cheers,
Alkay.
Spalts can be a challenge to pop mainly due to the extreme porosity of the timber.
In my experience, there is already enough going on with spalts and popping can be be detrimental.
Usually you will find a lot more figure will come out when you apply the finish.
IMHO, the best course of action is to make a slurry (consistancy of thickened cream) of timbermate and use a rubber squeegee to force it into the pores before sanding..
Let it dry overnight. Timbermate does need some time to harden, it may feel and look dry but it still needs some time to cure.
Then give it a light sand with 320 grit to flatten out the surface.
Check it to see if there are any spots you missed and apply a second coat of timbermate if needs be.
Then sand the top carefully with 320, remember spalts dont require a lot of sanding.....
Hi Alkay, here are some shots of my Ash J Bass around the time I did the ebony timber mate.....
Attachment 11374Attachment 11375
Now add some timber mate....
Attachment 11376Attachment 11377
Then sand it back....
Attachment 11378Attachment 11379
Then add some colour.....
Attachment 11380Attachment 11381
End result.....
Attachment 11382
As your spalt already has highly defined dark grain don't think you need to bother with timber mate on the top at all as if using a bright colour it should turn out something like the last shot above.
Thats great advice DB and wazkelly,
Thank you so much, that looks sweet as. A really nice finish that's shiny is what I'm aiming for too like the photo's above.
I still don't know what colour yet but I will do DB's advice and give an update soon. I think I'm better at sanding now. I'm really impressed with the other build I'm doing and I'll update that soon with some photos.
Cheers,
Alkay.
Hi again,
So I started with the timbermate and made a slurry as suggested.
I may have made a slight mistake. The timbermate slurry has slightly gone into the pickup cavities and it's about 1mm thick on a couple of edges. Yes I used a squeegee, applied to much I think. What should I do?
It's been drying for a few days.
Cheers,
Alkay.
Hi Buddy, sanding will get rid of it quite easily but be very careful on that precious spalt cap as you can sand through without noticing before it is too late.
In the PUP cavities, do the PUP's still have enough clearance? If so, nothing to worry about, in fact you may even prefer the dark background down in those holes. If not, maybe scrape out from above with a very sharp chisel or Stanley knife blade. The aim is not to touch any wood, just scrape off the Timber Mate as it will be almost like a plastic film on top of everything. Once you get back to the timber switch to light sanding, probably 240 or 320.
Hi Alkay, don't worry too much about timbermate in the pup cavities, you should be able to remove most of it with a narrow paint scraper, chisel or large flat screwdriver. I usually leave a bit of TM residue and just line the cavities with copper shielding. Next build maybe mask tape off the cavities as it does tend to go everywhere !
As Waz says be careful not to do any damage to the veneer
Ok thanks waz and woks,
I was thinking stanley knife or chisel but I thought I would check here first.
Anyway, here is a pic of the mess:
Attachment 12168
Cheers,
Alkay
Doesn't look too bad. Even 0000 steel wool would take that off if you think you need to.
Hi Alkay the timbermate doesn't look too bad in the cavities. Definitely clean up the neck pocket so the neck heel fits flush.
Rest in the pickup cavities will come out with a chisel carefully or even sandpaper, but don't worry if there's a bit of residue in them.
I just use a vacuum cleaner to suck out the particles as it's messy stuff
Ok thanks wokkaboy,
I'll do that, I have access to an air compressor I can use so that should do the trick. Might be a few days before I get to that. The weather isn't so great here. My other build is coming along nice and I'm about to do another coat of tru oil.
Cheers,
Alkay.
Ok it's been awhile on this build because of the problems with the other one but this is where I am at:
- 1 coat of timbermate over the whole body. I can't see any obvious blemishes over the body. Maybe it was 2 coats, a few beers were involved back then so I'm not absolutely sure haha. I'm on 320 at this stage.
I have seen a video on raising the grain after sanding which uses denatured alcohol(metho) to achieve this and then hit it with 320 again. Then move up to 400 and repeat with the metho with each grit as you go up. Apparently it raises the fine fibres so they can be carefully brushed off to give a smooth finish.
I'm thinking about trying this but here are some photos first.
Front:
Attachment 14603
See the white dots that don't look so great beside the control cavity, any thoughts on fixing this:
Attachment 14604
Cheers,
Alkay.
Hi mate, timber looks like Mahogany and the white dots are showing up the grain pores which may not have been sanded off.
May need to go back to 180 or 240 to sand those off as higher grades will just polish everything all around and do nothing towards removing the slight grain indented bits if that makes sense.
Alternatively, depending on what you plan to use as a finish, sometimes additional top coats will act as a grain filler but it does mean more wet sanding further down the track if you are chasing a smooth as glass finish.
Hi Waz,
Yeah it's Carved Mahogany. Cheers, I'll go back to 180 and work my way up. I'm not sure what finish I should do yet but I would like to get rid of them.
Cheers,
Alkay.
Mahogany usually has a reddish tinge which lends itself to reds, browns and natural coloured finishes.
Cheers Waz.
Zandit's profile pic looks awesome so I think I might go with a natural grain on this one with some clear coats and maybe use a jarrah stain for the sides and back of the body/neck.
Someone suggested using Feast Watson clear coat because its very durable and doesn't need as many coats as TO and it dries allot quicker.
What are your thoughts?
Would I still wet sand up to 12000 grit using this?
Cheers,
Alkay.
Has anyone heard of using a cross hatched sanding technique and then a light layer of metho to burn off the fibres?
Cheers,
Alkay.
Hi Alkay, never used Feast Watson so cannot comment. Reckon that most top coat finishes if thick enough would benefit from super fine wet sanding to take out any small lumps and bumps if nothing else.
Never heard of a cross hatched sanding method as it is almost taboo to sand across the grain on anything as you run the risk of introducing scratches.
Ok thanks waz I might do a test run.
Here is the advice I got:
...the way to get a glass flat surface is to sand in a cross hatched way, so thats basically just one stroke at a time, you glue your sand paper to a longish flat peice of timber, something like chipboard, in this case maybe 25cm by 10cm. Then you take just one stroke from top to bottom at a 45degree angle, top left to bottom right...then the opposite, and the last stroke is just straight top to bottom at no angle, then you repeat that entire process until you can put a steel rule all over the surface in all directions and get no light between the timber and the steel rule, then as you coat up, you go back and keep on repeating that sanding*process with every coat
Ah, Houston Mission Control, we have a problem.......top of your guitar is curved, not flat so part of the above explanation might not work. Even Micro mesh pads can build up with crud and easily add scratches before you notice however if in the direction of the grain they may not be so noticeable whereas across the grain they would possibly stand out.
The size of the sanding block sounds huge as a standard cork ones are 110mm x 60mm x 30mm and the guitar kit micro mesh pads as per this link are 2" X 2" ... https://www.thesandpaperman.com.au/s...keep_https=yes and they are much easier to work in tight curves such as on a lower cutaway on LP's.
Ok thanks waz.
I should have mentioned I was thinking about doing the above for the back and sides of the body not the face. However I think its best to do what I have been with my sanding as you guys have taught me go with the grain. Haha...oh well just looking at other options thats all.
Cheers,
Alkay.
All good mate and hope I didn't patronise or offend you.
As a kid I grew up around my father building or working on sailing boats and learned very quickly all about sanding as that job was delegated/outsourced to the unskilled child labour he had at his disposal.
Hi Alkay, I think one of the DT Cooloongatta Gold images is of Wok's Spalted LP and it looks great. Nitroburner's current SG build is being done with Feast Watson Golden Teak and that looks very similar to DT CG too and reckon both would work. Just depends on how yellow, mellow, or gold you want it to turn out.
Andy40 used Karajini Red on his spalted LP and that looks good too.
Agree that a burst might detract however DT Bushfire Sunrise would give a bit of that type effect through it's colour tonings, just without any black.
Don't go too high on the grits as that prevents the stain from penetrating. If you want to absorb lots of colour I reckon 240 is plenty, definitely no more than 320, as you can smooth more off later once top coats are done.
Hi waz,
Nitro gave me some great advice today about finishing. Like him I would rather not wait for so long for the clear coats to cure.
I'm thinking of the following finish:
- Clear coat the body face and headstock to highlight the spalted maple
- Cedar or Jarrah stain for the sides and back of the body. Same for the sides or back of the neck and thin it out if needed.
*If I do this I will mask between the two and allow appropriate curing time.
Nitro suggested using clear poly wipe on to highlight the natural timber colours which I am leaning towards.
I don't really want to spoil the nice spalted look so I think this is the best option for me. I am going to go to the hardware store tomorrow and have a look at clear satin poly at 80/20 turps mix to wipe on a few coats as needed for a faster curing time.
Would this method be ok and then do what you suggested previously and micro mesh to 12000 and then cut and polish with the megeuires ultimate compound?
Cheers,
Alkay.
Hi Alkay, all of mine have been finished using Tru Oil so cannot comment on how things work with other products.
Reading other people's build threads has indicated that if there are enough coats or thickness of finish the micro mesh & Meguiars polish do the same trick.
Thanks waz. Thats what I'm thinking. Just important not to go to finer grit so the poly adheres.
I'll stop at 320 for the spalt face on body and headstock face.
Go up to 400 for the rest and apply stain.
Hope that makes sense I'm typing this on my phone.
Cheers,
Alkay
Hi buddy, bit risky going anywhere near 400 before applying stain as that is just about where the grit starts it's polishing action and may cause the grain to repel stain coats.
Ok thanks waz and noted. Im in the garage atm sanding so im glad you said that.
The other current lp I did im sure I did 400 when I stained with cedar....hahaha but anyway you will see the results soon. Just waiting on that notched straight edge from pabs. Should be here monday so then I'll do the intonation.
cheers,
Alkay
Sounds good mate. I tend to sand up as smooth as possible with 240 and then apply stain coats as when sanding later that smooths it all out anyway.