I ordered wood filler in a variety of colors and will do some experimenting to see if I can get a good match. I also ordered a dental pick and Goo-gone to try to carefully remove the glue. In the meantime I tried using what I have on hand to fix things. I don't think it looks half bad. I attached before and after photos. I tried to make it look like it's just a part of the wood that took a lot of grain filler. I did my best to give it an irregular shape and different shades of black. What do you think?
Yeah I like that. Those glue spots can be pretty unpleasing, but I see you got your fix!
Are you going to add some of that character on other places around the sides?
Thanks, Rolf. The thought of adding some other dark spots has crossed my mind and I haven't made a final decision yet. I definitely want to try to correct that other glue line the professional way - by matching the wood color with wood filler if only to get an idea how difficult it is to do.
Grain filling and glue removal is done. Now it's into this big plastic box with cups full of Windex for an ammonia stain. I'm very curious to see the effects.
The parts spent 5 days in the ammonia fume box. I then applied 2 coats of natural (no pigment) gel stain. One coat would've been enough but I have a pint of the stuff and no other use for it. It's super easy to apply. I highly recommend it.
I'm not sure if the ammonia did anything. Maybe it needs more time. Regardless I'm very happy with how it's looking. Next step will be Tru Oil and steel wool.
I applied 4 very thin coats of Tru-Oil. Then I used Tru Oil to wet sand with 400 grit. It definitely feels a lot smoother after this but still not perfect.
I'm learning a lot from this project. One thing I learned is how difficult it is to make a guitar without any blemishes. I've got 4 or 5 so far. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself since this is my first attempt. I have a LOT more respect for luthiers now.
I stopped counting how many coats of Tru Oil I applied and how many times I sanded down. I can only say that it was a lot and I'm glad it's finally at a point where I'm satisfied. It's still not perfect. Maybe if if had sand paper finer than 2000 I could get out the smaller scratches and other imperfections. I'm hoping that a thick coat of wax will hide some of this. Overall it's quite smooth to the touch. The neck is extremely smooth.
Speaking of wax, I couldn't see myself spending so much for a commercially available product when it's easy enough to make it in my kitchen. Only 2 ingredients are needed. I followed this recipe: https://homesteadhow-to.com/how-to-m...niture-polish/
I've read that the Tru Oil needs time to fully harden but the recommendations for how long are all over the place. Anyway, while it's hardening I'll get started on shielding the cavity and drilling holes for tuners, strap buttons etc.
I'd switch to some Micromesh for finer polishing, though if you have obvious scratches, you may need to go back to 1000 grit as finer grits won't get rid of scratches unless you keep at it for ages, so coarser grits are better here.
I tried going back to 1000 grit and still wasn't happy with the results. So I tried 600. That was a little better. So I tried 400. Now I finally removed those imperfections that were bothering me. Not only does it look good from a few feet away but up close as well.
In the photos it's sanded to 2,000 grit. This week I'll be getting 2,500; 3,000; 5,000 and 7,000. I don't know if the higher grits will do much but it's worth a try.
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