1st Build IC-1

[grahamjohnston80]

I am still waiting patiently for the Dingotone intensifying coats to dry on the body. I think I am going to skip the Dingotone finishing coats and finish it with Tru-oil.
It was a nice day today so I hung it outside for a few hours to help things along. Had to take it back inside when the kids jumped in the pool though! Selfish brats!!

[wazkelly]

Looking great.
A few more TO coats on front of headstock will help to flatten and hide decal edges. As for applying over binding just beware that initially it will have an off white appearance that will go creamy yellow quite quickly, in say 12 to 24 months if not sooner.
If unsure of using DT clear top coats I would recommend using TO even though it will add a bit more depth to the red and maybe go a bit darker as it naturally ages.
Cheers Waz

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[grahamjohnston80]

Thanks Waz.
I'm going to go with the tru-oil - maybe the yellowing will give it a vintage look?

[grahamjohnston80]

Yesterday I peeled off the tape that was covering the binding. In some places it did its job really well, less so in other spots.




Gave it another few hours in the warm sun:



I then went on to scrape the binding which wasn't as easy as it looked in the YouTube videos - but I suppose the guy at the PRS factory does have 12 years of experience!
This has been the most nerve-racking part of the build so far. It came out okay but there are some bits I wasn't 100% happy with. There was 1 area (on the horn) where the stain had soaked deeply into the binding, I had to stop scraping or I worried that there would be no binding left. So it will remain with the stain attached.
I do plan to build other guitars (if this one works out okay) but I'll definitely avoid binding if I can.

Anyway, here's how it turned out:



I do need to go over it again to touch up some little bits. I stopped yesterday as I was starting to lose patience.
Then, give the body a few more days to dry before starting the tru-oil process.

[Rodc]

Tru Oil is definitely the way to go. I did the same with my first build. Actually I skipped the intensifying cost as well.

[wazkelly]

Hi Graham, the surface looks like it could do with a light sand and I would urge you not to as that could risk damaging the coats already laid down.

The best part of using TO is that it eventually will flatten out the surface the more coats you apply, almost like those epoxy resin videos you see on You Tube but not as fast as it takes many, many more thin coats to get there whereas epoxy is just one thick very fast curing nasty toxic mix.

I share your pain with the binding and avoid it wherever possible. So much prep required to try and minimise stain bleed which seems to happen most of the time.

[grahamjohnston80]

Thank you, That was actually going to be my next question. I was wondering whether to give a gentle run over with a high grit or (dare I say it) 0000 steel wool. Now I will leave it and let the TO do the work.

[wazkelly]

Never, ever, ever use 0000 steel wool for anything other than the back of a neck, if you must, but make sure you have a strong magnet on standby to sweep over and pick up all the miniscule fragments.

It was through using said product that caused me so much grief on my 2 DT builds. Evil stuff and they should re-write the DT finish instructions to remove any reference to 0000 steel wool as it seems to stick into the underlying coats only to be discovered after applying the next coat or 2. Pretty daunting for a Newbie who had just used up most of the expensive DT with not much left on hand to repair damage caused by dreaded steel wool.

The slightly rough surface takes me down another rabbit hole where I strongly discourage sanding much past 180 grit as that still allows the timber to absorb stain, where 240 has nearly gone too close to polishing and thus repelling stain. This is where the TO layers flatten things out through multiple coats and wet sanding sessions, and once you get to that glassy stage it can almost take on a 3D appearance too.

[wazkelly]

Hi Graham,
Maybe this is what your guitar might look like in a few years.
You can see the TO ageing effect more on the maple fretboard but overall this one didn't darken up too much over past 4 years or so.
Cheers Waz

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[wazkelly]

Should mention both shots taken same day......just shows how much difference direct sunlight can affect a shot.

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