Attachment 13575
Sanding. That is all.
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Attachment 13575
Sanding. That is all.
So what kind of finish do you reckon you'll go with?
This one is going to be a solid paint finish, I was toying with the idea of a homage of sorts to my Mighty FPV, but black and white is beginning to sound a bit bland. Especially with the gunmetal and hammered finishes being turned out by others. We shall see, I am going to draw it out and see what i think, then probably make it up as I go along.
A solid colour with pearl in the clear coats ;)
Pearl is going to require some testing and paint play. we shall see.
Swirrrrrrllllll!
How about
BLACK?
From the left of photo, 1, 2, 3 (as factory) or 4?
Attachment 13576
Pay no attention to 5 on the extreme right of shot. That is....something else.
if painting it black go the black fretboard!
I like the ebony as well.
I like the kit, but not a fan of the standard fretboard that comes with it. I'd pick #4
Yes, me either, the exercise is likely to be a complete Fingerboard strip, then a fitting, an inlay and a slotting and fretting of the ebony I think.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zandit75
What colour hardware are you using? Gold frets would awesome with gold fittings.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
I'm going to use the kit hardware, which is all black, for the build and potentially upgrade later. I want to just progress this to paint with a minimum of fuss.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zandit75
Fair enough, gold frets would still look schmick on an all black guitar!Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
Heh heh, yeah it would wouldn't it? I remember discussing an all black LP with Black binding and black frets and inlays with Dedman some time back. I guess the only problem would be wear on the frets exposing the silver underneath from when you bend.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zandit75
Unfortunately, yes, they would wear pretty quickly. Black MOP would look really nice too.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
I like the idea of a black chrome Trombone too, but there is only a cheap and nasty one available on ebay.
Attachment 13639
So I'm sanding away and as I've done the back I have noticed this little deviation in the line of the cut, admittedly its not hugely significant but to my eye it just looks wrong. This is better highlighted below, where i have run a pencil across it and roughed in a smoother line where I think it should run.
Attachment 13640
I got to work with trusty mr. shinto and took the cut out to the line I had roughed in.
Attachment 13641
Then it was back to sanding, the handle cut is quite interesting to try and get the machine marks out of, I now have a collection of round sanding cauls from about 8mm on up to 22mm as a result.
With the body sanded to an even 220 grit all over i decided it was time to do a mock build and see how everything sits.
Attachment 13642
Happy to report that the neck fits well, but needed to be guided slightly to the treble side to get a nice gap, string to edge both sides. the only criticism i have of this kit is that the holes for the rear two mounting screws are set quite far back, which has created a potential split issue, but other than that it is all pretty nice (florid fretboard aside).
SO the body is about to get hit with 320 and then I shall undercoat while I try and decide what colour to paint it. The neck is going to get some reshaping, mainly just bringing the heel closer to the body join and thinning down the neck. Then that will get a thorough sanding as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
The other way to sand the insides of the monkey grip is to take a piece of the sand paper and roll it up so you can poke it through the gap in the wood.
Yeah Doc, I started that way but its kind of hard to get consistent contact, thats why I made up the sanding cauls, they're just various bits of different gauge dowel I had lying around. They did the trick.Quote:
Originally Posted by DrNomis_44
I'll just leave this here.
Attachment 13647
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
I might try making some Sanding Cauls later on, cause I have a few spare pieces of Dowelling I could use too.
The SV-1 is another kit on my "To Buy" list, but I might wait till after I've bought a 51 Tele kit.
Your SV-1 build is looking good so far.
Thanks Doc! I am attempting to get this one finished quickly despite the fact the I am re-fretboarding it. It is now a fretless! As soon as I find the old steam iron i shall strip the board.
Attachment 13648
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
Cool, I made a bit of progress on my HotRod Strat build, had to drill-out and plug the mounting-screw holes in the neck cause they were in the wrong place, I'll give the glue I used 24 hours to dry before I re-drill the holes, just to be safe, I also have a can of Metallic Blue paint that looks very close in colour to Lake Placid Blue so I'm pretty stoked, the other can of Metallic Blue was too grey-ish.
Dang dude, why you gotta go give me ideas beyond my skill set like that! This one is already going to be a foray into custom inlay work.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dedman
it's single coat paint, only prob is its $140 a litre :P
Attachment 13672
I found the steam generator unit, and the above and below are the result.
Attachment 13673 Attachment 13674
I was (I thought) extra careful, knowing how difficult this can be, despite this care, I still ended up shredding the butt end of the board before I'd realised that it'd gone wrong.
It is just as well that I didn't want to use the board again as it is now essentially stuffed for anything other than decoration.
Tips for anyone wanting to do this/silly enough to do this:
1. make sure you have a good iron, that generates a good steam flow
2. using a sharpened scraper will do fine, as long as you have a sharp and straight enough edge to hit the glue join bang on.
3. Take your time, if you have to fill the iron three times, so be it.
4. if you have a straight edge and steady hand, think about pre-scoring the join edges to guide the scraper/knife as you go through.
5. Wear gloves.
6. If you are going to re-attach the board you are removing, leave the frets in, bar the first and 22nd/24th (you should put a fine drill through the fret slots here to act as markers for re-attaching), this helps stabilise the board as you ease the knife/scraper/tool under it.
I had heard nightmare stories from some on the forum about removing boards, tales of piles of splinters and cracked necks etc. It is not an easy thing to do, but it can be done with due care. At some point I may build a kit where i don't monkey with the Neck at all, but so far 2 from 2 kits with major neck mods! I'm on a roll!
You are a braver man than I.
Not really mate, I just like to see if I can do things, which basically ends up with me going off on tangents with bits and pieces of builds. You're streets ahead in actually getting guitars finished!
cool result mate.
another thing to consider is that steam can also damage pre existing finishes you may wish to leave in tact
I would never consider doing this to one of my other guitars without the services of a professional Luthier, that is for sure. There is just too much I do not know to contemplate something like a board strip on my Takamine or Eastman for example.Quote:
Originally Posted by stan
SO the next step is going to be the hard part, Laying out the Fretboard and fretting it!
oh yes, the fun part.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
i redid the fretboard on my Harmony the same way, luckily I was refinishing the neck anyway, but steam iron did the job
Yes i have read that thread, how did it end up? there seemed to be no conclusion, i'm hanging now!Quote:
Originally Posted by stan
havent finished it yet , truss rod in, new fingerboard on, not fretted yet, i like how it turned out so far
Okay wise ones,
I am going a full coverage paint finish, what is the recommended sanding limit prior to spraying an undercoat, and subsequent topcoats? Do you go as far as 400 grit? 600 grit? 800 grit?
Once undercoated successfully, obviously there is a need for sanding back or knocking off high spots etc, what grit limit should you set on that?
Where should one draw the line on smoothness of surface?
...and.....GO!
I usually go 600 before priming, 800 between coats, 1000 on the final clear coats.
Where to draw the line is up to you, on solid colours I make it glass smooth, on the ES and the LP there is traces of grain but very feint. you really need to go looking for them
Thanks Dedman, I shall continue sanding...YAY?
Hey Frankie, I'd agree with what Dedman says, 600 is a good level to lay down primer and then I go up in the grits after that to level colour coats
@ FrankenWashie Personally, I reckon there's no substitute for giving a surface a decent sanding-down prior to finishing it with paint, or some other kind of finish, I think Dingobass would agree on that, seeing as his mantra is "Sand, Sand, Sand, and Sand again", look at it this way, at least you're giving your arm-muscles a good workout in the process, seeing as I'm a bit of a skinny guy, I can't really say much about my arm-muscles, though....hahahaha.
Given the fact that the second finish attempt on the EXA-1 is still drying which precludes copious amounts of sanding in the vicinity I started messing around with building a fretting jig. (Yes, I realise that it would have been easier to get DB or another luthier to do it. No, I'm not an absolute Masochist. Yes, I probably am a very silly man.)
The results (while not wholly complete) are below. I had started cutting a blank fretboard (Rosewood) to test how everything works.
Attachment 13952 Attachment 13953
I still need to fix the toggle clamps, add a couple of magnets to the saw guide and glue that home and fix a handle to the sliding bed to ease movement and some general tidy up and sealing of the edges.
So far the simple little test has demonstrated that it cuts square and supports the Fret saw reasonably well. Now I just have to see how accurate I can be with measuring out and cutting the fret spacings.
There are a couple of adjustments to be made to it, but on the whole I am pretty well satisfied with the outcome.
Edit: before anyone has a moment about wasting a rosewood blank as a test, this blank had some splintering at the base end, so was effectively useless. I have filled this with CA to hold it all together, as this is a test piece for both fretting and probably inlay work, I am not too fussed if I duff it.