I have a question about sanding if anyone could help me out:
The Pit Bull instruction manual PDF on the website says not to sand beyond 220 grit, I have sanded to a very smooth 400 grit, it feels really nice but now im worried the stain won't take evenly.
Also there still seems to be some machine marks on the edge of the body, what's the best way I can get rid of these?
Sand some more. And then when you're done, sand some more...
You might need to go back down to 120, then back up the grains to work through the scratching.
Regarding the staining, 400 is generally considered too fine for the stain to take evenly. It's probably ok for the veneer, but for the body I'd go back down the grit.
I'd use a sharp forstner bit in an electric drill and drill in slowly from the top. Don't use too slow a speed or a manual drill, as unless the drill bit is razor sharp, the higher speed of an electric drill compensates for slightly dull blades.
You can also mark the hole diameter first, by partially using the forstner bit to drill the centre of the hole and then just score the hole outline, then score around that with a sharp blade (preferably a scalpel as it's got a thin pointy blade that will follow the outline well) until you are through the veneer layer. You can always put tape over the area as well, which helps keep the surface together (nothing too sticky or the tape could pull fibres from the end of the hole away with it).
The knurled mounting nut will cover up the very edges of the hole, so small imperfections will be hidden.
Having looked at a couple of videos on the subject, you can do, provided its in an electric drill at a high speed. I’d test it out on some soft scrap wood first to see what you think.
This video shows the pitfalls of modern bit types, now designed for use in electric drills, in hand tools.
Ok so after a bit of a hiatus, I have now drilled out the hole where my selector switch will go, just below the volume knob.
I also started staining...with mixed results...
I didn't realise that my stain was pre-mixed by the seller so my initial attempts dried really really light. Luckily I only mixed up a small amount to start with (phew!) but this caused me to waste about 15-20ml of my 50ml bottle of vintage amber
Once I realised this I finished up the whole body with the rest of the stain, and it came out exactly what I was going for (despite the missed glue spot on the body).
I'm kinda digging the entire body being one colour now that I look at it, but I may change my mind again
We are about to head into a 3-day lockdown in WA so only had time to rush out to Bunnings to buy a finishing oil and all they had in stock was raw linseed oil.
I have heard mixed results on using this for guitars - can anyone attest to this? I may end up returning the unopened bottle after weekend...
Raw linseed oil takes ages (months and months) to dry fully. Boiled linseed oil is a main constituent of things like TruOil and polymerises to a hard finish fairly quickly. So avoid raw linseed oil. It has its place, but on a guitar as a protective finish is not one of them.
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