I bought the cheapest kit I could find on eBay - let's see if this was a good idea

[Simon Barden]

You always want the flatterist of flat.

Unless it's an archtop, when you want both flat and curvy at the same time.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Ha, same here John, Wipe-On-Poly is already in my basket (and the next kit in the mail )!

Simon, the dark colour trick is a smart idea. Never thought of this. I have wet sanded the guitar with tru oil and micro mesh a few times and *thought* it was very even already. So I thought a very very light passes with the 1500 grid paper won't be a big problem. But like I wrote, I sanded down to visible grain on a very large area in no time. No idea if this area had little coverage from the beginning or where I went wrong. I used no pressure at all and a large cork sanding block.

Anyway, I'm back at adding thick coats in the suspicious areas to build up some more "flesh". But as pore filling with tru oil on the burl veneer is veeeery tedious, I have fantasies of just raking on a huge amount with my screen printing squeegee, lol.

[JohnH]

I have fantasies of just raking on a huge amount with my screen printing squeegee, lol.

Are you a screenprinter? My degree was in printmaking, and I worked for eight years as a studio manager at one of Australia's biggest print shops

[JohnH]

You always want the flatterist of flat.

Unless it's an archtop, when you want both flat and curvy at the same time.

I think I'll avoid that particular brand of madness for a while yet. Flat tops all the way lol

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Are you a screenprinter? My degree was in printmaking, and I worked for eight years as a studio manager at one of Australia's biggest print shops

Only a hobby screenprinter. I have graduated in fineart photography and graphic design, so I have taught myself the stuff I'm interested in... Have a few screens here, as well as a small letterpress and exposure unit. So I can make a few nice things. Nothing I could live off, unfortunately, so for the $$$ I work for advertising agencies as a designer and web/mobile programmer. You do what it takes I guess

[JohnH]

Ah, cool! What type of letterpress do you have? I gave away my screenprinting setup because I had access at the shop I worked at, but now that I've moved on I'm kicking myself. I used to have a huge industrial shop UV unit - it was amazing. I still have a small etching press, and I'm tempted to buy some lithography stones from a master printer who lives nearby and is selling some gear

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Just a "small" table top letterpress, Hohner Alfa II. Has an A4 chase size and weights around 180 kg.



It's in the corner of my office, as I don't have a workshop or anything. A pretty nice machine, just a little horrifying to think about moving...

[jugglindan]

Is shared pain double or half the pain? ;-)

That depends on whether it's shared in series or parallel.


Sorry, I have been soldering a circuit board for 2 hours.

[king casey]

First day of my apprenticeship involved learning how to run one of these.
Had my hair tied back, but the spinning windmill would often pluck a few strands from my forehead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0yvGCQMMgo


cheers, Mark.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Yeah, these are powerful and dangerous. One of my former neighbours was a printer and got his wedding band caught in a spinning wheel of a smaller press... He never wore his wedding band again, probably because there was no more place to put it on this hand...
I was careless once with my clampshell press while doing maintenance and the bed fell shut with my thumb in between. I was lucky, it was only a tiny bit open so it didn't smash close too hard. But I had a black thumb for a while and it took the nail a year to grow out the indention I got. No toys these clunkers :-)