No worries. Just passing on what's been passed on to me...Originally Posted by mrpearson
No worries. Just passing on what's been passed on to me...
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
Great work. On the home stretch now
Morning all. Question around best practice to bury decals and hide the outline. So far I have layered around 15 coats of truoil over the decal smoothing each layer with tex pad (1200 grit). When feeling the surface it feels smooth but In the light I can see where the decal outline is by the way the light reflects.
From what I hear I reckon I will need another 15 coats of oil to hide the refraction of light. Should I be wet sanding as well to level ???
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I've never tried burying a decal with Tru Oil (plenty of others here have though so hopefully one of them will reply) but I wouldn't be sanding after each coat. Even if it as fine as 1200.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
"From what I hear I reckon I will need another 15 coats of oil to hide the refraction of light. Should I be wet sanding as well to level ???"
I would not think so. If the surface is flat (i.e. cannot feel an edge to the decal) then it is buried. More coats may be needed to visibly hide the decal outline. In reality I'm not sure you ever really completely hide the reflection off the decal surface - in some light mine are always visible!
More coats should help hide the decal edges though.
Last edited by Trevor Davies; 24-01-2022 at 04:27 PM.
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^^this.
You need enough coats so that the area around the decal is built up enough so that it's higher than the basic decal, so that it can all be sanded flat with no hump where the decal is, and the decal still has several layers of TruOil on it. The whole headstock will need to be wet sanded and polished (to whatever level between satin and gloss you want), but wait until the TO is really hard before you do that.
Some decals won't be perfectly hidden. I use model kit decal setting and softening solutions on my decals before applying finish as I feel it helps the edges to blend in, but even some big manufacturer's headstock decals are quite obvious.
Thanks all. I will layer on a few more coats for good measure and then start to prep for my gloss coats on body back and sides.
[mention]Simon Barden [/mention] how many days should I be waiting for the truoil to really harden?
After 2x gloss coats (50/50 turps) I was planning on using micro mesh pads to polish. I have 4x grades, 4000 grade to 12000. Then finishing with Meguires car polish.
Should I do a 2000 wet and dry light sand before switching to micro mesh?
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A minimum of two weeks, but I'd wait a month if I could as it should then be really hard.
To get a good gloss finish, the surface needs to be flat (not just feeling smooth), with no small dimples in the surface. I'd start off with P600 and work up to P2000 before switching to 4000 Micromesh. 4000 Micromesh has 5 micron particles, P2000 has 10 micron. The smaller the steps between grits, the better the end result as each smaller grit should remove the scratches made by the previous grit. To big a jump and the bigger scratches are still left. Ideal you'd go to 3600 Micromesh after P2000.
It really is good to get a full range of wet and dry papers P240-P2500, and the Micromesh range from 1500 up to 12000.
The micromesh grit numbers don't correspond to the P grit range, so you need to look at a conversion chart such as this one to see how they compare e.g. Micromesh 1500 fits in between P600 and P800 whereas the number alone makes you think it's a lot finer.
https://www.thesandpaperman.com.au/a...ion-chart.html
Some people stop around P2000 before switching to polishing, but I prefer to go finer, and for a small area like a headstock, it doesn't take much effort to do so.
Once the surface has been levelled, you don't need to push hard at all, just run the paper/micromesh over the surface lightly and let the grits do the work. Pushing hard is likely to leave small scratches that will take the edge off the shine.
Thanks Simon. I had not realised the micro mesh pads were different to sand paper p grades.
I had feared you recommending a 2 week wait to finish it up. I might install the electrics whilst waiting
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The waiting for finish to harden phase normally allows you to start on the next kit....
If you still have to polish the body, the I'd get the wiring harness ready but I wouldn't install it until the body's finished. It's a lot harder to final sand and polish with pots and switches on. You get quite distinctive circular marks around them.
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