Greg's First Build - LP-1MQ #151

[gavinturner]

Dude! Love that headstock shape. Your body colour and finish is looking the business too. A great build in the making!

cheers,
Gav.

[GregLane]

Thanks for the comments. Always need a little confidence boost.

The HS was designed by an artistic wife based on a G in a logo I have been playing with. The initial rough cut was done with the fret-saw, then the final shape cut with a $20 Carbitool drum sanding kit in the drill press. Final sanding by hand was not arduous as there was no additional shaping involved. I copied the idea after someone mentioned it on this forum and it worked a treat and also using a piece of 1" dowel for final sanding.

Gav - you did not make any comments on my plans with the Colortone so I guess you did not see any forthcoming problems. Have you used Colortone with metho and if so did you have any issues with quicker drying and tide marks the Simon mentioned above.

The above photo was a bit exaggerated

[gavinturner]

Sorry Greg, I missed the CT discussion. I usually just look at the pictures :P.

Personally I would still use water rather than metho. Just don't slosh it around! It *is* up to you though and I understand your concerns. Metho will work ok, but you'll have to work fast. The discussion about tide lines could definitely be an issue with metho.

Usually I do a quick pass with clean water over the whole top first off to avoid tide lines altogether. Also, when you do your "wipe-off" you can wet your rag so that it re-hydrates the colour and draws it out more effectively. I have never tried this step with metho so who knows. It might even work better than water - only one way to find out.

If you are interested in how your top might look, check out my ES2V build which was dome in almost an identical manner. I used a drop or two of blue in the cherry to darken it rather than RM.

cheers,
Gav.

[WeirdBits]

I always use metho with Colortone, I prefer it instead of water. Do some tests first to get used t it, but I tend towards more dilute and build up the colour in repeated coats rather than lots of colour and little metho in the mix.

You'll find there's a balance between how wet you can apply the stain, how often you can go back over an area, how quickly a spot becomes saturated, and too dilute a mix tending to 'wash' an already wet area rather than stain it further. Wood and grain type also have a big impact on how much colour you can get on before needing to allow it to dry. If you see the colour staying in your cloth but the metho is going onto the surface then you're at saturation, let it dry and come back with another coat.

[GregLane]

Thanks again for the great info.

WeirdBits - I have done some testing with the mix recommended by ColorTone which is close enough to 30 to 1. I have found that to be not too rich and I needed 4 applications to get the colour I liked. I felt that gave me a bit of leeway to slowly add coats. Are you talking about a more diluted mix than that?
Also have you tried the wipe on wipe off method with metho.

I think it's time for a full dress rehearsal test. Not on the guitar of course.

Watch this space. But I have to go away for a week.

[WeirdBits]

That mix sounds about right. I haven't tried the wipe on/off with metho, but I've been thinking about trying a technique of a soaking coat of straight metho to load up the surface and then quickly following with a strong stain coat to highlight the grain. Not sure if it will work as intended, but will give it a try when I get a chance.

Good luck with the test run.

[GregLane]

Well here is the next chapter of "Learner's Corner"

First off, the testing of the wipe on/wipe off method of metho based ColourTone.

Result was it worked as expected. The metho was able to do a successful wipe off even after 24 hours. I found 15 minutes was fine and left plenty of colour in the quilt.

Next was mix my required colour. Formula was 30cc of 30:1 CT Mahogany Red and then added Cherry red 30drops +10 +10 +10.

Next a full dress rehearsal on a piece of light coloured 3-ply that had quite a bit of grain that I hoped would emulate the quilt. It did and test was successful. However I was worried that the had left the overlay of my red a bit muddy. Well sleep on it.

Next today was the big day.
First - chickened out on trying to pop the grain with MR. Test showed that it would probably pop enough with my mix.

Well after much trepidation here is the result of the first coat.

[GregLane]

"Learner's Corner" continued. (Computer decided it had more priority that I did and did an update #$%

Well the last photo looks OK but as appears to be an issue with the quilted veneers, glue spots that I missed particularly a big one between the pup routes where the veneer joins showed up. So out with the GoofOff and sandpaper.
The resulting patches meant that I needed a second application off the red which I was expecting anyway. The quilt had popped nicely and this time went a bit darker. Next photo.


But bugger me two more glue spots appeared so out with the GoofOff and sandpaper. And hence another coat of Red to smooth it all out.

BUT THE QUILT WENT ALMOST BLACK AND THE WHOLE CAP DARKED UP MUCH MORE THAT I HAD ANTICIPATED OR WANTED.
AND GUESS WHAT THE BLOODY VENEER LIFTED IN THE SAME SPOTS AGAIN.

So I have ironed it back and it has gone flat again so I put on the first coat of TRUOIL. And hope for the best.

Well I am initially a little disappointed with the blackness of the finish but we will see what happens as I add more TO.

Basically I am very disappointed with the quilted veneer particularly the delaminating bubbles. The quilt itself is very nice but the thinness of the veneer and bubbling has restricted my the preparation i.e. sanding that was required to properly remove the excessive glue and fine sanding marks (although I did not see finer sanding marks until after applying the first stain coat. But I would have been frighted to sand them too much any way).

The colour looks much darker/muddier (like the top of the photo) than in this photo but I hope the shinny TO finish will lift it a bit.



Well off to do the next TO coat.
I

[FrankenWashie]

mmmm..like ruffled red silk...NOICE!

[wokkaboy]

nice save Greg, that quilted top is looking very nice !