Keith's ST1-L

[Keith Walters]

Here's a closeup of the final product



This will now require considerable sandpapering as I can’t so easily apply the wax with 0000 steel wool as I did with the body. I’ve got some black nail polish and the plan is to do the “nails” first, then apply a pinkish wash to the “skin” between the claws because that’s what a platypus’s paw actually looks like, and then overlay it with brown to simulate its fur. This is what a real platypus foot looks like by the way:

[Keith Walters]

I couldn't agree less wood inherently expands and contracts with different air temperature inkjet ink is a water based it can bleed in to just about everything specially with reducer dye you can get just about any colour you want for $8 in powder form and when dry wont bleed but you only have 4 basic colours Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and black in inkjet ink. that's last place one should go for colour the beauty with fabric dye is you can make it as strong or weak as you like and you can use any liquid to mix it with and is great for showing the grain, wood also excepts pretty much any finish one would want use because of the grain gives just about everything a great surface to adhere to sometimes too good that’s why you use wood binders for. As for 2k and polys they dry pretty much hard as a rock which doesn’t allow the expansion of the wood and after time it will pretty much crack and falls off in time. Ever had that chest of draws which the vanish is cracked and flaking off where you put your coffee cup but I guess whatever floats your boat

As for cheapo Chinese knock-off bought in a music store I take issue with, that’s pretty much what a guitar kit is and selling a guitar with wax or oil makes its resale pretty much a no go. that’s just a plain ignorant comment as for the use of oil wax I don’t see to many manufacture’s using that as a finish guys like Warmoth who do some amazing finishes which are 2k Urethane finish and I would be stupid to say they look like cheapo knock-off.

I am old school I would use oil wax on a coffee table or my dining table not on a guitar, Gibson’s have been putting nitrocellulose lacquer on guitars since the 1902 as have fender which has been pretty much been phased out it’s a terrible finish when it comes to durability and shine replaced with Lacquer which will soon be phased out for 2k which is being phased out by water borne 2k’s. When I see wax or oil on a guitar I see that as the easy way out! lacquer requires you haft to know what you’re doing the planet is full off projects that people who have approached it thinking it’s easy and buggered it up.

Ill qualify myself am a tradesman furniture polisher and auto re-finisher for over 45 years i started my apprenticeship in a furniture manufacture till i was 22 and ended up in a crash repair till 2001 where i got into building race cars till 2014 when i had a M/C accident and now retied due to it, I have painted coffee tables to show cars used just about every type of finish you can think off and my hobby now is i do guitars which i enjoy quite a bit and keeps my clocking along and try to help guys who need it so you really cant tell me too much i don't already know

Ho-hum; 18 months on, not a single ONE of any of "problems" Mr Phrozen pulled out of his Phreckle has reared its ugly head.
Please do not talk outside your own experience, Mr Wannabe Goto Guy.

"When I see wax or oil on a guitar I see that as the easy way out!"
Well it IS the ONLY way out if you're not a working cabinet maker.
Earth to Phrozen: A lot of of the people making these kits are going to be school kids working on a kitchen table, many in small units. They're not going to be allowed to stink up the place with spray lacquer, and all they're likely to be able to afford is a couple of spray cans.
The wax alternative still gives pretty good results, and for many constructors, is going to be the only option.

[colin2121]

One of the things I like about this forum is the range of solutions offered and the support of others. There are some solutions that I would use and others that I would not but I accept all the advice and then decide on the course of action I will follow. Overall the forum is a very supportive place and I appreciate the assistance I have received from others.

A general rule of the forum is to be respectful of others. (Not what I am seeing here!)
If you cannot be respectful of others you probably need to go elsewhere.

[Sonic Mountain]

Well said Colin.

[fender3x]

I am in complete agreement with Colin. That said, and without accusing anyone of anything, I do think that this is a point well taken:

Please do not talk outside your own experience

...or if you do talk outside your experience, to make sure that is clear, and then cite your sources.

One of the things that builders, and builder's forums, often do is challenge orthodoxy. That is in a grand tradition. Many of our color choices have been influenced by Leo Fender's experimenting on wood with auto paint. He kept experimenting throughout his career. G&L, his last company, as a case in point, has never used NC finishes.

There is good reason to experiment, and particularly with finishes, me thinks. Since lots of classic instruments use NC, it's not a surprise that some of us want to use it too. That said, there are excellent reasons not to use it. It's toxic and dangerous (the earliest use of NC was as an explosive). It also yellows and crazes over time. I have a '68 Fender finished in NC lacquer that is crazed like, well, crazy. I have a '75 Fender finished with poly with lots of bumps and dents, but no crazing at all. The '75 has lived in Washington State, California and Florida--a very wide range of climates.

I personally welcome ALL experiments, and hope that people will post their results, whether they are good or bad. It is just as helpful to see how things have gone bad as to see how they have gone well--if not more so. It is also great to get people's thinking.

When someone comes up with a way to do a finish that is fast, easy, beautiful, cheap, clean, non-toxic, durable, idiot-proof and requires no special equipment, maybe I'll feel differently. Until then, though, please keep experimenting and posting your results!