Have spent the last few days slowly building up the spots where the poly was damaged.
Also, while I was at it, I sanded down the complete face again and added a few more coats of poly. I hoped to get rid of the deep scratches, which actually worked, but I have still about a million fine scratches that won't budge.
Not sure which step I am doing wrong. But I currently suspect it's the polishing phase.
It's true that I'm using an attachment for my drill, as I just haven't been able to get any decent results by hand polishing. It's either because I'm a weakling or because my technique is poor. Or probably both. But I have been researching a bit and I'm giving it another try.
I have bravely used the "Autosol" metal polish on the guitar as it's the strongest stuff I have, and still the guitar has millions of fine scratches. So as the Autosol is very abrasive (made for restoring old metal), and it barely polishes the guitar, I'm using either the wrong pads, or doing it otherwise wrong. Will need to make a few tests maybe.
The headstock is now finished. I... don't know.... It's an E for effort, I guess. It looks better from a few feet away, but it's too rough to be pretty. Not sure yet how I can get better results next time. The shell is very brittle and not a pleasure to cut. Also, it's way too hard for my vinyl cutter which I first hoped to use. The knife just barely scratches the surface even at max pressure. So maybe only use edgy and geometrical shapes from now on
I changed my mind about the tuners and used some Grover(?) ones that can be screwed in, as the other ones I had need to be hammered in and the insets were too small for 10mm holes. My husband thinks they look dumb but I like these more than the kit tuners. Haven't drilled any holes yet but I think these also go well with the MOP "design".
On a side note, the milky areas were neither delamination nor blushing. I had blushing on the headstock poly when the weather suddenly changed from hot and dry to cold and wet. However, it completely cleared by itself (I lightly sanded the top layer to help evaporation).
The milky areas didn't change, neither on the front nor on the back. So I sanded them and added new poly. This *seems* to have fixed it, but I let's wait a few days if it comes back.
Drying outside aka waiting for some bird poop.
Reply With Quote