ST-1 Custom experiement

[Andyxlh]

With the string through, just drill through on the outer holes and then drill from both sides so the holes are in a line.
Make sure a drill press has the reach to get to the hole location, small ones don’t.
At home, I find that a hard sanding block and sandpaper better than a sander for finishing headstocks. After cutting I use a bastard file to finalise shape and then paper to finish, from 80 grit to 400 finish. Keeping the edge perpendicular to the face is key.
Sounds like you are making progress!

[lunaticds]

With the string through, just drill through on the outer holes and then drill from both sides so the holes are in a line.
Make sure a drill press has the reach to get to the hole location, small ones don’t.
At home, I find that a hard sanding block and sandpaper better than a sander for finishing headstocks. After cutting I use a bastard file to finalise shape and then paper to finish, from 80 grit to 400 finish. Keeping the edge perpendicular to the face is key.
Sounds like you are making progress!

Looks like the press has a drill depth up to 50mm, and I need to get through 41mm, so I should be able to make it. Thanks for the tip on getting them in line. I will get on to that once I get this press set up (looks to be a lunch time job that may happen next time I need to get away from my desk for 15). I was able to click and collect a better rated one from somewhere other than Bunnings - the press I was looking at there was universally canned for being crap.

Sanding - yeah, to be honest I wound up taking to it with a file, then hit it with some 120 grit, and found I was able to start cleaning up the cut marks and get some shape into it. I figured it was worth a shot last night after I got the little fella in bed, and it seemed to come up pretty well. I'll work away and sanding it down with the higher grits until it's good.
I haven't worked out how I want to finish the neck yet. I'm thinking that I'll perhaps just go more traditional and just clearcoat it. I've got a couple of cans of polyurethane clear floating around, so I was thinking I'd just use that. The body will get the Krylon clear coat, and I should enough for the neck too, but I'm thinking that the polyurethane will add a little colour to things.

[McCreed]

Make sure a drill press has the reach to get to the hole location, small ones don’t.

Just to expound on what Andy said, a critical measurement on a drill press is called "throat depth". This is the distance from centre of chuck (ie: drill bit) to the vertical post that the table and motor are mounted to.

A lot of manufacturers label their machines with "swing" which is 2 x throat depth. For example my drill press has a 325mm swing, which equals 162.5mm throat depth, and is just deep enough to comfortably do a standard strat or tele body string-through. IIRC, a strat requires about 158mm or so.

I think I'll buy a cheap drill press when I replace the sander.

To buy a mid-range quality drill press big enough for this will likely be a minimum of $400. You can easily drop $800 on higher range ones, so "cheap" is dependent on the size of your wallet. I think my Trademaster TD1316 was $479 at the time.

[lunaticds]

Just to expound on what Andy said, a critical measurement on a drill press is called "throat depth". This is the distance from centre of chuck (ie: drill bit) to the vertical post that the table and motor are mounted to.

A lot of manufacturers label their machines with "swing" which is 2 x throat depth. For example my drill press has a 325mm swing, which equals 162.5mm throat depth, and is just deep enough to comfortably do a standard strat or tele body string-through. IIRC, a strat requires about 158mm or so.



To buy a mid-range quality drill press big enough for this will likely be a minimum of $400. You can easily drop $800 on higher range ones, so "cheap" is dependent on the size of your wallet. I think my Trademaster TD1316 was $479 at the time.

The depth of my wallet isn't .. that deep.
Doing it by hand it will be. It's not deep enough by around 50mm. I need the press for other things, so that's here nor there. I'll just need to go slow and maybe be a little more scientific that I normally would be.

[McCreed]

The depth of my wallet isn't .. that deep.
Doing it by hand it will be. It's not deep enough by around 50mm. I need the press for other things, so that's here nor there. I'll just need to go slow and maybe be a little more scientific that I normally would be.

There are cheaper alternatives, like drill guides, and even DIY drill guides. If you look on YT, you can find videos on "drilling string-thoughs without a drill press" or similar terms. Slow and methodical wins out over hasty and impatient every time! I know this all too well...

[lunaticds]

There are cheaper alternatives, like drill guides, and even DIY drill guides. If you look on YT, you can find videos on "drilling string-thoughs without a drill press" or similar terms. Slow and methodical wins out over hasty and impatient every time! I know this all too well...

Actually YT was a good tip. First one I watched the guy made himself a drill guide on his press so he could do the job neatly on the body. Sounds like a fairly workable plan.

[lunaticds]

I made a drill guide at smoko using the press, then used it to do the string-throughs. It worked reasonably well. It did dawn on me watching the video to use ferrules on the back, so I ordered a set and used the measurements from the manufacturer for them on the back.
I wouldn't say it's perfect - certainly not bang on line, but hopefully when they get installed it'll be reasonable.

So body has been drilled, a bit over an hour in with the sandpaper to clean the body up to a satisfactory finish, and a coat on with the spray paint. I had a few runs in a couple of spots where I was a little aggressive, so they've been sanded back with a quick spray over where I cut through the first coat. Still a few run marks, but I'll worry more about that tomorrow when the paint has had time to dry properly.

Neck's also sanded and the first coat of urethane applied. Decals have been added and it's sitting under the heater vent. I'll put one more coat on before bed as it was a really thin coat, then leave it overnight before I take to it with the sandpaper again.

Finally, I've also been at the pickguard. A spare decal that I'd made for the TB-4 wound up between the pickups. There's certainly no better way to see how much colour urethane adds when it's on waterslide sheets over a white guard. A few stickers have made it on as well, but now I'm in two minds about not having painted it black after all.

[Simon Barden]

It did dawn on me watching the video to use ferrules on the back, so I ordered a set and used the measurements from the manufacturer for them on the back.

You use the bridge plate and the string holes in that to line up the holes for the rear once you've drilled the two outer E holes all the way through. Guaranteed straight line then!

[lunaticds]

Body is all stickered up and pending more clear coat.
I'm 3 cans in so far and just on the edge of getting the stickers to flatten out, but I'm out of clear coat. Given I started with Krylon (the same stuff I intended to use just for the pickguard I decided not to paint), I figure I'll stick with it. Unfortunately because Bunnings don't sell it, I'm stuck waiting on having it delivered.
Given how the stuff appears to behave though - you either need to coat it less than every hour or wait a week, I probably need to wait a week now to let it cure properly before I continue.
I did at least give it a sand back at 1500 grit to get it as close to flat as I can without tearing up the stickers so it should be right to start spraying whenever that stuff arrives .
My garage is absolutely caked in the dusty residue the stuff leaves behind. That'll be a job today to get around with the vacuum and the air compressor to see if I can get some of that gone. I never realised how much mess it made until yesterday when I actually started looking for something. Everything is gray!

The neck is starting to look good. There's a few coats on it and I'm relatively happy that it's smooth enough that a quick polish and some wax will get it playable. I don't really want a super plastic feel to the neck. In hindsight, if I was better with spraying, the neck would have been satin and the headstock gloss. The headstock is likewise close. It's had a few extra... much thicker coats. I've managed to bury the decal finally, but there are some imperfections in the coat that I'll sand out and see if I can clean that up with another light coat. Possibly spraying it while it was a bit cool in the garage and standing about in there before bringing it inside caused that. Once it's close I'll leave it be for a few days to cure.

The ferrules did arrive on Thursday too, so they're ready as soon as this body is finished.

[McCreed]

Given how the stuff appears to behave though - you either need to coat it less than every hour or wait a week, I probably need to wait a week now to let it cure properly before I continue.
I did at least give it a sand back at 1500 grit to get it as close to flat as I can without tearing up the stickers so it should be right to start spraying whenever that stuff arrives.

When you do get around to applying the next coat(s) I would sand with a coarser paper than 1500. That's awfully fine for between coats IMO. I wouldn't go any finer than P320, but P240 would be better.
Whilst there will be some chemical bonding with acrylic enamel, it will mostly be a mechanical bonding, so a rougher surface will be better for adhesion.

I have not done what you are doing with burying stickers, but I would presume it will take a more than average number of coats than if you were just going over painted or stained timber. In that case I would recommend really taking your time and allowing as much time as you can between painting sessions. With the number of coats you may need to get adequate coverage over the stickers, it will otherwise likely take ages to thoroughly cure.

I would consider a regimen of something along the lines of:
- Spray several coats with mfr recommended re-coat time.
- Wait 2-3 days then light sand P240 - P320 (not levelling, just abrading to gas off)
- Wait another 3-5 days, then re-coat.
- Repeat until you have enough depth to finally level sand.

I'll reiterate that I have not tried to bury anything that deep, but I have made the mistake of going too many coats, too quickly (with acrylic lacquer) and it is not worth the frustration or heartache.