My Kit arrived last week and so far i've done a mock build, everything seems to fit fine and the neck seems to sit nicely. I've measured the scale length and checked that the strings sit where they're meant to. There's a few scuffs and one chip on the back by the neck recess but nothing that will stop play,
I was planning on staining but after seeing how tight the grain is I think i'm going to paint it instead (I avoided a nicer grain wood as i didn't want it too heavy). I'll need to do some research on how to go about that as all of my prep plans centred on staining.
Today the plan is to drill some extra control holes and route out some space to fit the extra pots for the new pickups, then if i gain enough momentum i'll start some sanding.
Unless you've got a heated garage (or similar) that you can use as a spray area, spraying is pretty much out of the equation until around May, when the temperature picks up. You really don't want to spray indoors.
Thanks for the response. I assume that's for the paint to cure? I've got a heated workshop that i can use, it'll take a while to de-dust it but it can be done. Any suggestions on what grit to sand to before/during painting? and do you know if i'd need to use a grain filler first. I've spray painted in the past but mostly metal parts for cars.
Mainly to stop moisture getting trapped in the paint finish, though too cold and the paint doesn't dry as well. If you use cans or a spray gun, the gas expansion cools the paint and solvent evaporation cools it more. Moisture in the air condenses out and you end up with a milky finish. Sometimes this will clear, and sometimes it won't. So you really want 18°-22°C ambient for optimum results. Also helps with spray cans to warm them in warm water first to get the paint moving freely.
Grain filling depends on the wood. Closed-pore woods (like your basswood body) don't need grain filling, but open pored woods (like ash or mahogany do). No need to go too mad on fine grits before painting. You basically want to remove any tooling marks and get the surfaces of the body and edges as flat as possible. Don't be afraid to start off with a coarse paper, say P60, then move to P120 and P180. Flat sanding pads are vital here. You could go to P240, but not too smooth in order to help the paint stick to the wood.
Going with a solid colour? Then a primer/filler on first is a good idea. Only dry sand the primer as it's not normally that waterproof.
You've got the option of painting the neck and body separately (physically easier) or glueing the neck on and spraying it as one. Pre-glueing allows you to fill in gaps around the neck join area before priming. You then end up with a nice smooth neck/body transition. If you glue the neck on after finishing, you've then got to fill the gaps (if you feel the need) and re-do all the finish in that area.
@Freak_Hybrid, I used a little (plastic) greenhouse in a workshop to keep dusts out, found that way more efficient than cleaning a hole workshop, heating wise too. However, you gotta love a clean workshop.
The only thing is, when you convine yourself to spraying in such a small boot, H&S becomes a pretty serious thing, think full mask.
Yesterday i found a bit of traction and decided to cut the holes for the new pots, I know it's very messy but it's the first time i've worked with wood in about 15 years so i'm very pleased w/ it so far. Today i'm going to clean up the pocket a little and see if i can cut a back plate out of some ply i've got (I thought wood would look nicer than plastic). I thought i'd need to cut an extra slot for the battery but it all fits inside, i'm going to just velcro the battery in place to stop it moving around.
I've created a bit more work with regards to sanding as without realising i've dinged it up all over the place and rubbed rust patches off of the drill but i'll clean that up today too.
I've got next week off work so i'm hoping i can start getting some paint on the thing, I'm trying not to rush it but i do like the idea of getting it finished before Christmas. I've got some tools on the way to level the frets, i haven't looked at it yet but i assume there will be some high spots.
@simon Barden I think i'm going with a solid colour (Haven't decided on what yet but i'm leaning towards white w/ a decal). I haven't decided if i'm going to spray them separately or as one to get a smooth transition between the neck and body. I'm leaning towards together and smoothing it off. Thanks for the grit recommendations, i bought the sand paper but had no idea on where to start.
@RocknRolf That sounds like a good idea, i think i can find/build a little tent and add some fans to it. I was planning on borrowing my gas mask from work (Chemist on a chemical plant) to avoid the fumes.
Nice progress so far, all I will say is be patient. From seeing lots of builds here on the forum and my own experiences, most of the issues with finishes not turning out as well as expected are due to rushing things and not letting paint/stains cure properly, especially in sub optimal areas. Having said that it looks as if you are on the right track, love the shape of those ESP-1.
I've tidied up the routing and made the back plate, progress was slow as i broke the first two attempts in power tool related incidents. The neck and body have been sanded to 340 grit ready for painting but i decided to glue the neck on to make the joint more seamless so there is likely to be a lot more sanding before i can start painting (I can't work on it until the weekend now so i'm just going to leave it clamped until then).
Here's the design i'm going with, I've played a bit with test wood and pretty sure i can get this effect with spray cans, news paper and stencils. I'm going to paint the back of the neck too rather than leave it bare/glossed.
The painting plan is several coats with light 400 grit sanding in between. I still need to look into how to get the gloss/polished look with the lacquer, i think it's something to do with polish and an electric buffer.
I'll likely do the fret levelling once the paint is on as i'm still waiting on some tools to arrive.
Really looking forward to stringing this thing up =D
You'll need to get a decent background white finish, get that finish as flat as you can by sanding back (and I mean really flat). Then add the other colours. After that you'll need to protect that with quite a few layers of clear lacquer - enough so you can sand that back flat and then go finer grits up to about P2000 and then you can polish it. But you need to put quite a few layers on as the pattern will leave the first finish a bit uneven, and you can't sand that flat as you'll remove the artwork. So to get a nice smooth finish, you need to build up enough lacquer thickness to both allow the surface to be sanded flat, and to still have enough thickness to protect the artwork.
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