"Blue Heeler" Bondi Blue GR-SF1: Pt1 Aspirations, Procrastinations, and Consequences

[wazkelly]

Hi Grant, that almost took 2 cuppas and a full packet of Tim Tams to read through all of that!

I understand where you are at as my 1st & 2nd builds were done using DT and I also live in this glorious part of South East Qld with lots of the humidity that we have been experiencing lately. Therein lies one of the biggest problems to deal with when using DT - Humidity. The finish is quite soft and needs many days, sometimes a few weeks between stain or intensifier coats for it to work properly. Something you may find out more about when you get around to doing the final polish or wet sanding stages.

But if we back things up a fair bit, the initial problem was probably through oversanding the kit. From all the threads I have read on Bondi Blue they all share a common theme of lack of colour absorption and the best way to solve that is minimal sanding to allow the stain some chance of penetrating into the open wood fibres. 240 Grit should be the place to stop, in fact 180 sanded "as smooth as" is possibly almost too well done. Think medium rare steak rather than well done.

Sounds like you have used up most of the base stain and just have intensifier left? On mine I found the intensifier added a bit more 'zing' with each coat applied and did in fact add more depth to the base stain colour plus it tends to take on a different hue as the applied coat cures, something that usually takes a minimum of 7 days in perfect low humidity, stable moderate dry temperature conditions. If you really want the "Bondi Blue' look, and can be bothered, that would require a full strip and sand back with 80, 120 & 180 grit plus a fresh bottle of stain to give it the best chance of soaking up some of that precious colour.

Lack of photos makes it hard for us to provide comments or guidance on what to do next or whether the consensus is to leave as is or keep going on your plotted path.

Hope this helps in some way.

Cheers, Waz

[Honkenstein]

Hi Grant, that almost took 2 cuppas and a full packet of Tim Tams to read through all of that!

I understand where you are at as my 1st & 2nd builds were done using DT and I also live in this glorious part of South East Qld with lots of the humidity that we have been experiencing lately. Therein lies one of the biggest problems to deal with when using DT - Humidity.
...
If you really want the "Bondi Blue' look, and can be bothered, that would require a full strip and sand back with 80, 120 & 180 grit plus a fresh bottle of stain to give it the best chance of soaking up some of that precious colour.

Lack of photos makes it hard for us to provide comments or guidance on what to do next or whether the consensus is to leave as is or keep going on your plotted path.

Hope this helps in some way.

Cheers, Waz

Thanks so much, Waz, for your speedy and informative reply! Greatly appreciated. I would've tucked into a Tim Tam pack myself if they were in the house ... 8(

Working on bunging photos in right now. Yes, a long read, and with no photos either until now. Hard going.

I'd considered potential error in too fine a paper grade, but decided to "go for it". Difficult enough to get me motivated. I'd also reasoned to myself that the 400-ish grit would facilitate an enhanced inability for the less porous wood to absorb and thus (hopefully) produce the contrast that I did eventually see on the top prior to the intensifying coat.

Noting your avatar; my guitar body looks a bit "gunmetal grey" currently, and will possibly continue to improve in its resemblance with more intensifying coats.

I'm probably going to storm ahead with this build -- although taking more time between coats herein -- because it still actually looks good, I think, and will get better. A better reason is specifically to *avoid* buying more products and sanding away ... over and over.

Your advice shall be heeded! By mine own self, if wise, and by others who learn from others' experiences!

Best regards
Grant