Blue Meanie LP-1SS

[DanMade]

This will be my second kit, a LP-1SS.
I'm planning on using all the stock hardware on this one. The kit arrived earlier this week and all the black hardware looks pretty sweet.

The Spalted Maple top is nicely figured and has a nice flame too. Perfect for what I have planned for this one.

[DanMade]

Since this is only my second build I'm still experimenting with finishing systems too see what I like. For this LP I'm going to stain the timber with artist dye's and Finish with tru oil.

After extensive sanding, although it took me half the time it did on my first build thanks to a newly purchased random orbital. If you plan on building more than 1 guitar a decent random orbital sander is almost an essential.

First I'm going to stain the top with black artist dye, then be sanded back. This is to highlight the lows in the figure to make the flame pop.
I mix the dye with water and rag on. I went with an initial wash coat of the black, then hit it again with a higher concentrated mix , concentrating on the outer edges as I am going a burst finish and will need the edges to be darker.

Pic 1. First wash coat.
2. Fist wash coat dried and edges highlighted.
3. After sanding back

[wokkaboy]

looks like a great effect Dan, well done, and a lovely looking top on the axe. Whats the next colour plan ?

[Gavin1393]

......not sure I am convinced about finishing the sanding with a random orbital sanding machine. You really need to be sanding WITH the grain rather than all over it......hope it works out ok......

[DanMade]

Next step is the colour coats. For this I'm using a sapphire ink and a turquoise ink.

This is the fun part. I just add coats of the two colours blending them together to achieve a nice transition to the burst. It's just about adding colour coats and letting them dry then just add more colour until you achieve the depth of colour and evenness your looking for.

The sapphire and the turquoise don't differentiate much in the photos, the contrast is much more pronounced in person.

[DanMade]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Gavin1393 on September 5, 2013, 19:39
......not sure I am convinced about finishing the sanding with a random orbital sanding machine. You really need to be sanding WITH the grain rather than all over it......hope it works out ok......

I only use it on flat surfaces on the initial rough sand (240 grit) to remove any deep scratches. It worked extremely well on the end grain of the edges. The deep machine sanding marks o the edges took me the most effort to remove by hand on my last kit. Using the orbie with care to keep the edge flat and not roll the edges, it was done in 5 mins where it took me at least 4 hours by hand.

Plus the random orbital doesn't leave scratch marks so I wasn't worried about sanding with the grain. Should I be?

[DanMade]

Some more shots of the staining process.

[DanMade]

Once I had a colour I was happy with I stained the back and sides with a brown Japan stain. Then I start with the base coats of oil.

[Tim]

Yer I wouldn't be to keen on using a Orbital either .
But in saying that your kit is coming up a treat

[stan]

looking great so far Dan