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

[Cliff Rogers]

Try to avoid sanding the veneer, I would be worried that resin filler may need a lot of sanding that is likely to go through the surrounding veneer.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

I think you guys are right. However, I feel a bit scared handling and building the raw wood. I think I will shape the headstock first and then give the neck 2 coats of oil before going on, just because I feel like any little dirt I have on my hands could stain the wood etc..

I need to do my book keeping stuff today anyway and my new sandpaper will arrive on monday, so all I can do today is copper plate the pickguard and then put it aside...

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Roughly cut and sanded the headstock. Decided to keep the sharp top instead of a rounded one, I like this better. Let's see if I come to hate it later

I smoothed the shape with 80 grid sandpaper wrapped around a metal cup to get a nice curve.





I also ordered a graph tech nut, I hope it fits...

Also in the mail: A notched straightedge and a fret rocker, as well as a fret file. I put everything together "on the dry" yesterday and it looks as if everything fits right. But I'm scared of screwing it up by drilling the holes, so I think I need to measure like to more times :-)

I also plated the pick guard with the second layer of copper leaf. I like the burnished look and will add a third layer this evening or tomorrow.



The planned copper fills in the veneer still make me a headache. I've done some research and read that for shallow holes, thin cyanacrylat (aka superglue) is better than epoxy. I made some trials with scrap wood and while the fills look nice, I am not sure how I can knock them down to level without damaging the veneer. I think I need a super tiny sanding block. Need to look around what would be suited best.

[Simon Barden]

To help with the sanding, you need a neutral colour water-based grain filler. You put it on around the area to be sanded, and build it up until it's the same height as the epoxy/CA. Then when you sand, you remove the grain filler and epoxy, and not the surface of the veneer.

When the epoxy/CA is flat (or as flat as you dare risk getting it), then use a wet cloth to remove the grain filler. This is why you need a water-based one, so that it will dissolve away again.

You are best first scraping away the highest points of the epoxy/CA with a burred blade. Same method as explained in this StewMac video.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Ah, this is brilliant! Thank you so much Simon!

That gives me confidence how to proceed, I was really puzzled what the best solution is.

I have some neutral colored water based wood filler right here, what luck! :-)

Meanwhile, I have smoothed out the headstock and sanded the neck. I went up to 1000 grid for both.

In a flush of idiocracy, I tried to sand the fingerboard lightly with 1000 grid. It's now really smooth, but also the color turned out really dull and mottled. No idea why. I tried cleaning it with a damp cloth and also an eraser, but still it's not as nice as it was before. Hmmpf!



I decided to add the first coat of tru oil, so I don't have to worry so much when assembling it.



Also, I added the third coat of copper leaf to the pickguard, so I might start to age that thing today or tomorrow.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Currently sanding down the back and sides and finally came across the famous dodgy chinese wood filler ;-)
On the bottom, there seems to be a (worm?) hole that was filled with wood filler. Not a big problem, but I was surprised.
The hole for the output jack is a different story, looks like a chunk of wood broke away while drilling and was filled with epoxy and a thin layer of wood filler. Now, after sanding the wood filler away, there sits a big chunk of epoxy
I hope the rim of the socket will cover it.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Haha, folks, you'll never believe it

I just found out why this kit was so cheap ;-)

Turns out that not only the front is covered with a veneer, but the sides and the back are also. BUT! Not the bottom
I tried to sand down the bit with the wood filler, and wiped with a damp cloth afterwards. When I returned, the bottom was considerably darker than the rest of the body. I thought, maybe it's still a bit moist? But.. why does the grain not line up?!

I don't know why the bottom is not covered with veneer, but to hide this fact, they painted the bottom with a whiteish stain that let a little grain shine through to let it look more realistic. Damn realistic to be honest! The problem is that my slightly damp rag was enough to wipe the paint away

Now I'm not quite sure what to do with the sides, I actually wanted to stain and then sand back to accentuate the grain.

Will take pics later. I bet you'll laugh

Edit: Now, thinking about it, that would also explain why the sides were so perfectly baby butt smooth and the bottom looked like a rough saw cut...

So here are the pics...

This is how the bottom now looks with the "fixed" ding and without the white stain:




Here you can see the epoxy on the jack AND also the start of the veneer:



Damn, they hid it REALLY well or I was blind when unpacking... Meh... I think I'll sleep over this.

At least the neck looks really good with the tru oil. I'm impressed by this stuff.





And the pickguard is also coming along...

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Today in pictures:







The staining looks so easy on YouTube but turns out to be a disaster... There are so many spots on the sides where the stain won't soak in. I don't think these are glue stains, but it drives me insane. I have sanded down the sides twice, now I don't care anymore. If they turn out ugly, I will use an opaque black color. At least the back is looking ok. Haven't touched the front yet. Maybe tomorrow.


Also, added a few more thin coats of tru oil. However, it has reached a state where it becomes difficult to keep it lint free. I have lightly sanded it with steel wool (0000) and also wet sanded with 2000 grid once, but the thicker the coat gets, the more I stumble over dog hairs in the finish -.-
So I will probably leave the neck like that. It's not super high gloss, but it's shiny.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

And the aging of the copper.... I used salt and vinegar so far. However, this process is very very slow, between the pictures are about 4 hours or more. I heard a few drops of ammonium are good for this, but I don't have any of it here. Have added a few drops of Windex but it looks like these were doing more cleaning than aging. Meh. Will do another round tomorrow.

Added the salt and vinegar:



4-5 hours later:

[jugglindan]

That pickguard looks fantastic. All that copper should give good shielding as well!