DIY Guitar Messing About (4 Viewers)

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That looks great Mooseman. Very comfy
 
That looks amazing..is it a mahogany neck? Or is that dye?
 
ACFBFB48-5CFD-47B9-9B7A-9C9458F54F47.jpeg That looks amazing..is it a mahogany neck? Or is that dye?

its a water based wood dye-stain on maple. a long story...

I had used the danish oil finish approach with a few guitars over dye. works pretty decent.

however I didn't realize that this particular product (general finishes - got it on sale for a fiver) was more stain than dye - so the danish oil didnt penetrate properly

also it raises grain like nothing else I've ever used, which caused a lot of problems getting a decent finish. (even after 2nd coat and sand was still raising grain like a motherfucker)

it was ok on the back of the body (although there's a small rough patch where top layer came away see the pic) but on the neck with hand contact was a sticky mess, and as this guitar is otherwise the best playing and sounding I've built I stripped back reapplied dye stain, and finised in shellac/french polish

Its silky, but not as glass smooth as you might get if you wet sanded another finish. (the grain raise didn't help here). feels nice, but you know youre holding a piece of wood (in a good way)

Long and the short of it - if the shellac is anyway durable I’ll be using it again!
 
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where do you get your shellac?
i use a couple of different finishes for woodturning, but mostly danish oil, or BLO, or wax friction finishes.
 
Aww yeah. .I wouldnt fuck with water based shit on a wood finish! Maybe acrylic, but I just wouldnt bother really. Although I'm not an expert obviously but I've done plenty of domestic wood
 
I'm considering buying a router and making the guitar body myself and just buying a neck and hardware. I'm not sure where to get suitable wood for it though
i know a chap with (among other things) a length of tropical hardwood about 14 inches across (i think), 3 thick, and about 12 foot long, cluttering up his shed. he's a total magpie for collecting wood he never gets around to using.
 
where do you get your shellac?
i use a couple of different finishes for woodturning, but mostly danish oil, or BLO, or wax friction finishes.

think its earlier in the thread - but I just got a bottle of this as a trial:

I applied with a 'rubber' (ball of cloth with cotton wool on the inside into which you pour the polish)

3 coats - with 3 passes on 1st and 2nd coat, and 2 passes on the last
drop of BLO on the rubber for coats 2 and 3 for lubrication
3rd coat is thinned with about 1 quarter meths
sand between coats with 220 and 400, leave the sanding on the coat.
30mins-1hrs drying time between coats, let cure overnight before sanding/waxing

final sand up to 1200 (I could have gone higher), wax with 00000 wire wool.

the tricky piece is the final coat - the solvent dissolves into the existing coats, so you can get swipe marks. You can sand these out more or less, or just sand back and start again (I did the above process in a single evening.

were I to do it again I might get the flakes - carpentry.ie sells them (aint cheap, but you'd be able to get enough to coat a dresser) - supposed to be more durable. Would be interested to try button polish as well which is the unbleached stuff.
 
i think lenehans on capel street also sells the flakes. i know a chap who's a trained french polisher too, must ask him has he any spare.
 
Aww yeah. .I wouldnt fuck with water based shit on a wood finish! Maybe acrylic, but I just wouldnt bother really. Although I'm not an expert obviously but I've done plenty of domestic wood

water based varnishes are ok - first coat raises grain but seals, so you can sand back.

drying time and lack of smell are advantages... but you can't get the lovely deep glass finish you can get with an oil based varnish
 
i think lenehans on capel street also sells the flakes. i know a chap who's a trained french polisher too, must ask him has he any spare.

yeah - I saw them there before but its not on their website any more.

I think its from coat 3 that the actual skill of french polishing as opposed to horsing the stuff on comes in!
 
i know a chap with (among other things) a length of tropical hardwood about 14 inches across (i think), 3 thick, and about 12 foot long, cluttering up his shed. he's a total magpie for collecting wood he never gets around to using.
actually, what are the standard dimensions of a guitar body blank? i must ask francis what he has in the shed, he's probably got oodles.

also, is oak ever used in guitar bodies? i don't recall seeing oak guitars before. i like staining it with rusty vinegar.
 
actually, what are the standard dimensions of a guitar body blank? i must ask francis what he has in the shed, he's probably got oodles.

also, is oak ever used in guitar bodies? i don't recall seeing oak guitars before. i like staining it with rusty vinegar.


not usually - I think from a weight perspective as much as anything.
Brian May's homemade guitar had an oak neck.

just googled this - would seem about right
22" x 14" x 1-3/4". (560mm x 355mm x 45mm). 3 piece body blank center block is 5" to 6" in width.
 
i know a chap with (among other things) a length of tropical hardwood about 14 inches across (i think), 3 thick, and about 12 foot long, cluttering up his shed. he's a total magpie for collecting wood he never gets around to using.
said chap is going to be around here in a few days - if anyone wants me to ask if he has any suitable wood for a guitar blank, i can. he'll probably ask a very reasonable price for it.
 
Thanks for that..I won't. I'm gonna start small with basically something I pull out of a skip
 
actually, i know someone who got a load of london plane from a tree felled in merrion square. she may have cut it all into circular blanks for turning by now though. nice grain in london plane.
 
looks like these characters are having a sale.. can't remember exactly how much they were before but looks to be 15% or so off


I'd be tempted by the ash strat kit - for finishing practicing purposes.
Pulled the trigger on this…
Shall report back on progress of my shellac adventures
 

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