Wow! Mick that is truly a work of art. Can we get a pic of how the headstock is being supported?
Also, how do you flip it?
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Wow! Mick that is truly a work of art. Can we get a pic of how the headstock is being supported?
Also, how do you flip it?
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The headstock is just sitting on a 1/2" dowel that I tapered. If you expand and look at the first pic, you can see the tapered dowel clearly.
So, it's not fixed at all, just gravity.
re: flipping it, I do one side at a time. I allow each side to cure long enough to be handled [touch dry is what I mean] then turn it over. Rinse & repeat until I get the number of coats I need.
Since last year I've been doing my necks with airbrush. The coats are light, so it requires multiple applications, but the finish comes up nice and smooth.
[Edited as per my post #26]
Last edited by McCreed; 05-04-2020 at 06:36 AM.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
The neck in the previous pics was a "stand-in". I finished that one months ago and just used it as a prop to demonstrate how the jig works.
Here's the jig with one of my current builds that I finished spraying today. Satin poly over stained mahogany. You can see my airbrush on the upper right being cradled in a re-purposed guitar stand.
It doesn't show in the photo, the headstock is actually black (the rest is stained with walnut). This was my first go at tinting polyurethane. Pretty happy how it worked and will be doing more tinted poly in the future.
When I finish the build and take proper photos, it will stand out more.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
I just do the front and back of the neck in turns.
I would like to be able to do the whole neck at once and not wait. It's a sort of a time thing in that the finish does best if it goes on in two hour intervals.
I like the McCreed jig, so I decided to copy it, but I wanted to be able to flip the neck with one side still wet.
So I added a flipper. After several failed attempts I came up with this flimsy looking thing. A chopstick, two conical washers and a medium spring paper clip.
Believe it or not the paperclip holds the washer in place well enough for me to be able to flip the neck holding the other end with just the pressure of my index finger against the truss rod screw (which is in the heel of this neck).
A bit Mickey Mouse, but seems to work.
BTW don't tell anyone about this. My wife thinks I am cleaning out the garage...which I am...I just got distracted.
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Necessity certainly is the mother of invention!
I realised I should have used the phrase "touch dry" in my earlier post regarding the flipping question. (I think I'll go back and edit it when I'm done here)
I also should have mentioned the when I do flip it, I use a short piece of 5mm dowel through a tuner hole to minimise touching the headstock (similar to your idea but not attached).
I'm able to handle the heel end well enough and avoid any significant marking on the finish.
If I'm using lacquer, it flashes off really quickly, so time between coats is really short. With poly it's longer, but because I'm spraying lots of very light coats, it's only about 1/2 an hour.
Glad you found a system that will work for you though!
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
Found a threaded rod with screw threads at one end, and bolt threads at the other, and decided to make a better flipper.
It sounds like the finish is am using is s bit in between. Not sure it's the best finish ever, but it finishes hard, doesn't change the color much and I know basically how to use it without major mishap or accidental poisoning. Plus I own some...
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Good crafting chaps. Mine was way more caveman...
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Last edited by Bakersdozen; 05-04-2020 at 08:18 PM.
Linky no worky BD.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
Last edited by Bakersdozen; 05-04-2020 at 08:27 PM.