Ben's RCA-4 Build

[wazkelly]

That is what I would do on any of these fake rosewood fret boards, irrespective as to whether Ric shape or not as most build diaries so far indicate a rather poor quality surface that may not look too good over time.

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[blinddrew]

It's what I did on mine, sadly after taping it up and pulling chunks out of it.

[BJMtz]

Awesome, thanks guys.

I taped my fingerboard too but luckily it didn't pull off any big chunks. Only small little splinter like things.

[wazkelly]

Awesome, thanks guys.

I taped my fingerboard too but luckily it didn't pull off any big chunks. Only small little splinter like things.

That probably helped clean it up a bit. A light sand before applying poly or tru oil might be a good idea.

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[BJMtz]

First coat of TO on. DO I need to wait until it's completely dry before I can do the next coat?


I used my fingers to do this first coat but I think I'll change it because I didn't like how sticky it made my hands.

[wazkelly]

Presume it is Summertime in your part of the world? Usually best to let TO dry before reapplying.
Wouldn't recommend finger application method as it goes on uneven and will need a lot of sanding to get right.
Suggest giving this a light 800 to 1200 sand to knock back any lumpy bits and then start using a 2" square piece of cotton, an old t shirt cut up, and fold that over, dip it in some TO, wring that out and then lightly wipe that over surface, repeat until all covered.
Ignore the suggestion to use paper towel scrunched up inside the rag as that wastes far too much finish.

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[blinddrew]

I used Waz's suggestion of an old t-shirt (well, 2 1/2 t-shirts in my case) to apply the TO and it seems to allow you to apply a decent thickness in each coat without it going overboard. You do have to keep an eye out for any runs though.

[BJMtz]

Been a while since an update. I have been adding a coat or two of tru oil every day for about the last week or so. I think I'm up to about 7 coats and will be sanding for the first time soon. I really like how the TO darkened up the color. I was worried that the stain was pretty yellow but I'm very happy with the color now. The only thing I'm not super happy with is the TO also darkened the binding so it doesn't quite match the pickguard or truss rod cover. It's a minor thing that I'll get over quickly.

[king casey]

The only thing I'm not super happy with is the TO also darkened the binding

You can just scrape it off.

Looks impressive BTW.

cheers, Mark.

[wazkelly]

As the King said, you can either gently scrape finish off the binding with a sharp blade or it tends to come off when doing all the layers of final sanding and polishing, particularly on the 90 degree edges.