NON-PBG - LP Build Diary for DIY Guitars GLP-40BBK

[Alkay]

Hi Alkay, since it's still winter would be safest to wait another 2 weeks after your 2-3 fix coats. DB always stressed not to leave a curing body/neck in direct sunlight so I presume too much heat from a fire could do the same for the finish but sounds like you have kept it far enough away from the fireplace.

Ok cool,

Thanks Wokkaboy. I tried to take another phone picture and my phone had a brain fart and turned off. You won't actually see the mark on the body anyway. I tried several angle but it's noticeable to the naked eye.

Other than this it is starting to shine.

Sounds like a good plan to wait. Wouldn't be a problem if I was in a better climate I think haha. I'm near Ballarat so yeah it gets cold haha.

[wazkelly]

G'day mate. Looks like you may have sanded a bit too hard and also had a bit of bubbling too. No big deal as you can either lightly scuff sand with 0000 steel wool and apply a few more coats of TO or just lay some down on top of where things are at. TO is mostly quite forgiving with each subsequent coat provided ones underneath are OK.

With the wet sanding, starting with 1500, make sure you have lots of water, no more than 3 back and forth light passes, wipe off the milky liquid, and then feel with fingers for smoothness. Repeat until it feels smooth with no lumpy bits then move on to the next level of grit which should most likely be 2000, then onto the micro mesh pads but only after being left for a very long time to cure.

On my last couple of builds, wet sanded up to 2000 then applied just 2 or 3 more very thin coats to bring on the glassy finish so that the micro mesh pads had something to work with rather than cutting down through the layers after the 2000 sanding. Hopes this makes sense?

[Alkay]

G'day mate. Looks like you may have sanded a bit too hard and also had a bit of bubbling too. No big deal as you can either lightly scuff sand with 0000 steel wool and apply a few more coats of TO or just lay some down on top of where things are at. TO is mostly quite forgiving with each subsequent coat provided ones underneath are OK.

With the wet sanding, starting with 1500, make sure you have lots of water, no more than 3 back and forth light passes, wipe off the milky liquid, and then feel with fingers for smoothness. Repeat until it feels smooth with no lumpy bits then move on to the next level of grit which should most likely be 2000, then onto the micro mesh pads but only after being left for a very long time to cure.

On my last couple of builds, wet sanded up to 2000 then applied just 2 or 3 more very thin coats to bring on the glassy finish so that the micro mesh pads had something to work with rather than cutting down through the layers after the 2000 sanding. Hopes this makes sense?

Hi everyone it's been awhile so I thought I would post a couple of pics. Cheers wazkelly for the last tip.
I felt there wasn't enough TO on it so I got up to about 34 coats and it has been drying in the garage for a bit over a month now.
The weather here has been fairly cold and I think it's dry now. There doesn't seem to be strong TO odor now but it is slightly noticeable. Its definately dry to the touch anyway.
I think I'm ready to try 1500 and 2000 wet sanding now as wazkelly suggested.
Then do another 2 or 3 coats of TO, wait another month to dry and then start with the micro mesh?
Anyway, here's some pics:







Cheers,
Alkay.

[wokkaboy]

Hi Alkay, that's looking sweet. 34 coats of TO wow think there will be enough layers to cut it back with micro mesh pads now. See how it looks, might just need the micro mesh pads and a cut and polish

[Alkay]

Hi Alkay, that's looking sweet. 34 coats of TO wow think there will be enough layers to cut it back with micro mesh pads now. See how it looks, might just need the micro mesh pads and a cut and polish

Thanks wokkaboy,

I think there's plenty of TO on now.

So are you saying skip doing the 1500 and 2000 wet sanding all together and just do the micromesh pads?

Cheers,

Alkay.

[wokkaboy]

Hi Alkay, if the TO is fairly flat then skip the wet sanding. If it needs a bit of levelling then I would give it a light 2000 grit wet sand before the micro mesh pads

[Alkay]

Hi Alkay, if the TO is fairly flat then skip the wet sanding. If it needs a bit of levelling then I would give it a light 2000 grit wet sand before the micro mesh pads

Thanks wokkaboy,

There's definitely some unsightly bumps on the body and the neck. Hopefully the 2000 wet sand will level those bumps out.

Cheers,
Alkay.

[wokkaboy]

no worries Alkay, if the 2000 grit doesn't smooth out the bumps then go to 1500 grit.

[Alkay]

no worries Alkay, if the 2000 grit doesn't smooth out the bumps then go to 1500 grit.

Thanks wokkaboy and wazkelly,

Do I need to apply light pressure in a circular motion when wet sanding or go with the grain?

I've seen two video's where the blokes go circular so I'm guessing its correct as long as you keep cleaning the paper and wiping as you go regularly. Seems like this is going to take a long time to do haha.

Cheers,
Alkay.

[wazkelly]

Good advice Woks.

Wow, 34 coats? I lost count after about 12-15 on most of mine. From the photos it is looking nice and shiny and a bit of wet 2000 should be a good place to start with knocking over any lumpy bits.