Body Preparation
With the body of the guitar it is vitally important if you would like to obtain a great result that the body is prepared with due care and patience.
If you rush any stage of the preparation it will show up in your finish either as scratches in the wood because you did not sand properly or as swirls because you forgot to use steel wool at the appropriate time.
Additional things to watch out for particularly if your guitar has binding but also if your kit has a cap are glue spots.
These can be a bit of a pain to get rid of, but the job is made a lot easier if you follow our suggestions in this thread.
Also be aware that wood fibres compress and expand and sometimes, by sandpapering over a particular spot you can create area where you will have over polished spots.
These compressed wood fibre spots will refuse to take a stain finish.
The best way to discover these spots is to use a damp rag (water) and wipe the guitar body.
Not only is this a great idea to get rid of fluffy fibres with Basswood but it will highlight any glue or polished issues BEFORE you start applying the finish to your guitar.
If you discover these polished areas, a gentle scrub with a small wire brush will loosen the fibres and allow the finish to penetrate.
Solving issues with Glue and with over polishing
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=1838
Sanding your body and neck of the guitar
Pit Bull do not recommend Generic Hardware Store Sandpaper, it is generally of poor quality for sanding guitar bodies.
You can get professional grade sandpaper from Pit Bull Guitars here
http://pitbullguitars.com/?product=p...lity-sandpaper
If you have a basswood body, wet it with a damp cloth before sanding.
This raises the uneven fluffy wood fibres and while these are raised cut them down with your 180 grit sandpaper. Repeat this process with each grade of sand paper.
Other bodies, skip this damp cloth step.
Start your sanding with 180 grit and go over the body and neck thoroughly checking regularly to make sure you are getting rid of any scratches or swirls.
If you have binding or a cap (flamed maple, spalted maple, for example) be extra careful that you do not sand the cap away at the edges where the cap is thinnest.
Further, be careful with binding as it is plastic and will scratch easily and is also capable of being sanded too thin very quickly.
After the 180 grit Pit Bull Guitars highly recommend giving the body a good sand with the 220 and 240 grit making sure to check that any major scratches are removed as you proceed.
Then go over the body again with Super Fine '0000' steel wool.
This will prepare the body nicely to absorb the finish, particularly if you are using Dingotone and your finish has a stain colour coat, this needs to be applied before applying the intensifying coat.
Always make sure you follow the instructions to the letter with your application of Wudtone giving each coat plenty of curing time between coats and where required always make sure you use the steel wool to get rid of dust particles that decide to stick to your finish whilst it was wet, as well as any swirls.
The rubbing with steel wool also has the effect of keying the surface to give it teeth for the next coat of Dingotone to adhere to.
Additional comments from DB
"As for the fluffing up after damp ragging, that is normal and if you were preparing for a French Polish would be desirable, but for Dingotone not so...
I have found on the kits that I have done that 400 grit is more than enough, you need to leave a reasonable tooth for the Dingotone to grip.
I start my sanding process with 220 then 320 followed by 400.
This gives me a nice surface without any deep scratches.
As Gavin said, super fine steel wool between each coat to remove any streaks or swirls and to create a key for the next coat".
Preparing the Binding BEFORE applying Dingotone
If your guitar has binding you will spend ages removing paint from a 'keyed' binding surface if you do not prepare the binding before painting.
I learned this trick from my good mate and fellow author on this thread DB, here is his trick for keeping the binding clean..
After sanding, grab some 400 wet and dry and VERY carefully give the bindings a polish.
Then break out the 600 and repeat.(If you don't have 600 grit, you can polish the binding with steel wool) Then let the Dingotoning begin!
When you have let each coat dry, a light and VERY careful rub with the steel wool will remove any Dingotone and add to the polish on the binding.
Do this after each coat and by the time you are at the final coat stage, you wont have to worry as the binding will be as smooth and shiny as a *censored, censored*..... you get the idea!
Originally Posted by dingobass
Sand in the direction of the grain, start with 180 and work your way up to 400.
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