Waz's TL-1AR Spare Parts Swampy Caster

[Andy40]

Hot Classics are awesome Waz. I like your wiring loom too nice and neat.

[wazkelly]

Thanks Andy, it is the first time I have used the vintage cloth 'push back' wire and now a convert as it is so much easier to use.

[Simon Barden]

It is and I do, though for longer runs I'd still prefer to use shielded cable. So I use it for pots and local switch wiring. It's also quite stiff, being single core, so good for making up wiring harnesses for semi-hollow and hollow bodied guitars where you want the pots to stay in their relative positions for ease of feeding the shafts through holes.

[wazkelly]

Hi Simon, the stuff supplied by PBG also comes from Real Parts and was typical multi stranded not a solid core which is what I was half expecting. Nice and stiff gauge of wire so it feels like a solid core and great for bending into exactly where you want it to stay put.

[wazkelly]

About 6 weeks ago I was doing the final polish and accidently bumped the work bench and face planted the body onto garage floor. Great if I was trying to do a relic but that was not to be.

Anyways after having a carefully sanded back and applied god knows how many coats of TO (well past 30 and maybe even 40 coats) I had an RDO today and began the final wet sanding and polishing stages again for the 2nd time. Here is some evidence of today's activities...
ATTACH=CONFIG]20661[/ATTACH]

Neck has been done for ages and side edge of body has same amount of shine without any wet sanding yet.

[ozzbike]

About 6 weeks ago I was doing the final polish and accidently bumped the work bench and face planted the body onto garage floor. Great if I was trying to do a relic but that was not to be.

Anyways after having a carefully sanded back and applied god knows how many coats of TO (well past 30 and maybe even 40 coats) I had an RDO today and began the final wet sanding and polishing stages again for the 2nd time. Here is some evidence of today's activities...
ATTACH=CONFIG]20661[/ATTACH]

Neck has been done for ages and side edge of body has same amount of shine without any wet sanding yet.

I like the look of the neck and the body.....like liquid glass. Nice work.

[wazkelly]

Can I ask Waz, how much Tru oil did you need to do that many coats?

Hi Colin, seriously I have lost count of how many coats however around two thirds have been done 50% TO mixed with 50% mineral turps and rubbed in with various wet & dry grits ranging from 1200, 1500 & 2000. All up, almost 40 coats and probably one and a half small bottles of TO. Would have been less if I didn't drop the body on its face a couple of months ago.

Taking a slightly different approach on latest MMB-4 build where I did 2 coats of TO yesterday and lightly wet sanded them with 1200 earlier tonight and might put another coat on before bed time. Aim to do wet sandings every couple of coats and maybe that will reduce overall number of applications however more of them does provide a lot of depth and hence the glassy appearance.

[Kick]

Hi Colin, seriously I have lost count of how many coats however around two thirds have been done 50% TO mixed with 50% mineral turps and rubbed in with various wet & dry grits ranging from 1200, 1500 & 2000. All up, almost 40 coats and probably one and a half small bottles of TO.

I'm in the same process and I'll continue until my bottle of TO is empty. I think I have 15 coats done so far so still a lot to go.

[wazkelly]

Here are some front & back shots before starting the wet sanding...

Now with all the micro mesh pads lined up ready to go...

[wazkelly]

Some of the numbers have already been worn off the 4000 & 6000 micro mesh pads. Here are some close up shots of the fine grit particles that these micro mesh pads bring up, and this is after wet sanding to the smoothest level possible with the previous level of grit.

This is the 6000 pad...

Now the 8000 pad...

And finally the 12000 pad...

Surprising how much grit these things pick up from the finish, even up to 12000 grit