Sam’s Goldtop

[samr]

Thanks FrankenWashie, I haven’t worked with Pawlonia before, does this look like it?



Concur the back appears to be some form of mahogany. One piece of the pieces has a nice bit of flame.

Speaking of the back, I did a coat of less-runny timbermate and knocked it back - it’s better, but I’m still not that enthused about it. It seems to me like high contrast grain filler is a great idea for a bound or veneered top, but much more difficult to pull off with rolled edges & end grain. Once I’ve sanded back to the point the grain looks vaguely even, it doesn’t feel properly filled/smooth any more.

Gold paint candidate 1 is in - Rustoleum Metallic 'Pure Gold':



I actually quite like it, it seems a bit pale for a vintage look but has a nice amount of green in it. I’m planning on top-coating with poly which will darken it slightly. I’ll continue the search though.

I’ve also pulled the trigger on a gold mother of pearl blank for a headstock inlay, wish me luck.

[Bakersdozen]

Good luck mate!

[FrankenWashie]

Thanks FrankenWashie, I haven’t worked with Pawlonia before, does this look like it?



Concur the back appears to be some form of mahogany. One piece of the pieces has a nice bit of flame.

Speaking of the back, I did a coat of less-runny timbermate and knocked it back - it’s better, but I’m still not that enthused about it. It seems to me like high contrast grain filler is a great idea for a bound or veneered top, but much more difficult to pull off with rolled edges & end grain. Once I’ve sanded back to the point the grain looks vaguely even, it doesn’t feel properly filled/smooth any more.

Gold paint candidate 1 is in - Rustoleum Metallic 'Pure Gold':



I actually quite like it, it seems a bit pale for a vintage look but has a nice amount of green in it. I’m planning on top-coating with poly which will darken it slightly. I’ll continue the search though.

I’ve also pulled the trigger on a gold mother of pearl blank for a headstock inlay, wish me luck.

Yeah that looks to be Pawlonia. It works well but you need really sharp tooling and blades. Thankfully you probably won’t need to touch it as it’s only a filler layer.

[samr]

I attempted to mock up the bridge position on my beautifully drilled holes and they’re definitely in the wrong spot. Probably one or two mm too far north. It might not be obvious in the pic but they’re also a bit too far apart, it would likely be a tight fit with the proper studs.



Astonishingly, Bunnings has 1/2 inch Tassie Oak dowel, so this happened. I also noticed the bridge tone hole was miles out so it got plugged too.



In more upbeat news I put a coat of FW sanding sealer on the back and it looks pretty nice:



Also, my MOP blanks arrived! I need to finish my design & acquire a saw first though.

[Andy40]

Bunnings for the win!

Looking good so far.

[McCreed]

I actually quite like it, it seems a bit pale for a vintage look but has a nice amount of green in it. I’m planning on top-coating with poly which will darken it slightly. I’ll continue the search though.

You'll need to re-think your clear coat, or at least contact Rustoleum for advice (PPG Australia, I think).
Looking a the SDS, the solvents are Acetone & Ketone blend (lacquer thinner).
You'll hate yourself in the morning if you put polyurethane over lacquer.

[samr]

Thanks for the warning McCreed, what is it likely to do? I did a test coat of poly over it yesterday and it seems okay, but not sure what I should be looking for.

[samr]

The internet claims 'poor adhesion' is the likely result of poly over lacquer so I did the sticky tape test specified on the can and sure enough, some of it came off. I’ll have to come up with a better plan.

[McCreed]

There's two main issues.

Lacquer continues to gas off for long time (some say it never fully gases off). Gassing off is basically the solvents evaporating, so with those solvent gases being trapped under the poly (basically a hard plastic) you can see where a problem might occur.
Eventually it will weaken the poly and it will start to delaminate. It may look fine today, but a reaction is highly likely some time down the track.

Also lacquer tends to be more flexible than poly which means it expands and contracts at a different rate than poly. If the base coat is expanding and contracting more than the top coat, this will also lead to adhesion problems.

The general accepted rule is: Lacquer over poly OK; Poly over lacquer NOT OK.

[Bakersdozen]

May not be what you are wanting to do, but here is a goldtop conversion I just finished off. I used gold metallic vinyl wrap.