In the shop

[meandi]

Pretty common with various softwoods, and with some hardwoods, too. It can get pretty pronounced on carved plates, and it will pick up any rough spots from scraping or "bruising". Usual practice is to apply some kind of sealer first to prevent the blotchiness, then stain. Or hit it with the sealer and then stain the next couple coats of sealer / first coats of finish.

 

 

What sealer would you recomend that would be compatable with oil stains/tung oil topcoats, as I'm really ingerested if figguring this out?

It would seem that a sealer would prevent the color coat/top coats from penetrating the pores in wood.

[thick_mike]

I won't have much to report for the next week or so as I will just be putting on more coats of tung oil.

 

 

That's pretty much where I am at the moment.

 

I can see why people like the feel and look of a tung oil finish, but it takes a while to develop. I can't imagine any of the bigger manufacturers fitting it into their production process!

[MahaloVision]

Flake shellac is pretty much universal, and you can try it at various ratios of flake to alcohol. I've also used an initial seal coat of "fake" tung oil (Formby's), then a few coats of it dyed with trans-tints with a few additional coats of more oil. Here's a pic of the body:

[meandi]

Flake shellac is pretty much universal, and you can try it at various ratios of flake to alcohol. I've also used an initial seal coat of "fake" tung oil (Formby's), then a few coats of it dyed with trans-tints with a few additional coats of more oil. Here's a pic of the body:

Thanks for the info.
That turned out nice!
No streaking or splotched color or light spots.
The photo doesn't show...did the end grain areas finish darker than the top/back?
Did you top coat with raw tung oil?

[MahaloVision]

The end grain is pretty uniform as well, accounting for the density of the growth rings in the Alder and the Maple. The top was coated with more of the Formby's, plus a touch of wax.

 

The neck on this was French Polished. I've done a couple necks and fingerboards this way and wouldn't recommend it, just from how tedious it is. Polishing between the frets is not a lot of fun.

[Rocky_IV]

Well I am a bit perplexed here. I went to stain again after my trip to the grocery store. The results are better but far from good. I did get a color I liked a lot better. Here is the overall picture. There is still some blotches but nothing like yesterday. I think this has more to do with a lighter color stain. What is odd is that there are some spots that absolutely refuse to take any stain. Here is a prime example and by far the worse spot. I have heard that sometimes wood can do this in places with not taking stain but have never experienced it myself. I have done plenty of wood stains so I am not thinking it is how I am applying it. In all honesty it could be my prep work. Comments/suggestions/ideas? Any and all are appreciated.

Nice looking body messed up by white glue IMO, pretty common to see that in the furniture finishing industry. Usually you just need to sand it out and it'll take the stain.

[meandi]

Never thought of that.
Makes sense, though.

[Doctor49]

Nice looking body messed up by white glue IMO, pretty common to see that in the furniture finishing industry. Usually you just need to sand it out and it'll take the stain.

 

 

absolutely this.

have to be really careful where that stuff gets to.

 

Unfortunately you never remember until its too late.!

[ZombieCat]

Nice looking body messed up by white glue IMO, pretty common to see that in the furniture finishing industry. Usually you just need to sand it out and it'll take the stain.

Good to know for next time, thanks for the info.

[ZombieCat]

Here you go meandi, I don't want to keep you waiting too much. Just put on the 4th coat of tung oil. It is building up a nice light sheen just what I was going for. From reading, lots of variation on how many coats to use but it is already looking great and has a nice smooth feel just after 3 coats. I might just leave it at 4 depending on how it looks and feels come tomorrow.

[ZombieCat]

And today brings my project to a close. After checking the 4th coat of tung oil I was very happy with the results so decided to move forward and assembly the beast.

First I carefully cleared out all the pickguard wholes and inserted the ferrules. Without access to a drill press, I decided against counter sinking them. It would have been better this way but I did not want to try doing that with a hand drill. Sorry no pics of that but hey they are just string ferrules.

Next up was shielding the pickup and control cavities. Wow. That was a lot more of a pain than I thought and a less than stellar looking job. The next one will be better.



With that done, I waited hours for a friend to show up. He want to see the finally assembly so I grabbed some lunch and watched a movie. When he finally showed up I got busy. I did not take any pics of that but I did of the finally result. I wish I had better lightning (and camera) in the house but here she is.



Overall, I am very happy with my result even if this was my first true "build". There are some small imperfections that are only visible on close examination but I am okay with that. The overall look is great, IMO. I am kind of sad now that she is done, I want another one to do.

Here is the run down of what is in her:

Warmoth two-piece swamp ash hard tail strat body
2009 American Standard Strat neck with locking tuners
Hardtail bridge with Callaham vintage style saddles
Vintage Vibe SP-90 pickups with RW middle. Neck has AlNico II magnets, bridge and middle AlNico III. I was going to use all AlNico IIIs but I am missing a set.

I fired up Logic and did a quick take of what she sounds like

http://music.zombie-cat.com/track/just-another-day?permalink

It was a great and fun project.

[sylvesterlowery]

And today brings my project to a close. After checking the 4th coat of tung oil I was very happy with the results so decided to move forward and assembly the beast. First I carefully cleared out all the pickguard wholes and inserted the ferrules. Without access to a drill press, I decided against counter sinking them. It would have been better this way but I did not want to try doing that with a hand drill. Sorry no pics of that but hey they are just string ferrules. Next up was shielding the pickup and control cavities. Wow. That was a lot more of a pain than I thought and a less than stellar looking job. The next one will be better. With that done, I waited hours for a friend to show up. He want to see the finally assembly so I grabbed some lunch and watched a movie. When he finally showed up I got busy. I did not take any pics of that but I did of the finally result. I wish I had better lightning (and camera) in the house but here she is. Overall, I am very happy with my result even if this was my first true "build". There are some small imperfections that are only visible on close examination but I am okay with that. The overall look is great, IMO. I am kind of sad now that she is done, I want another one to do. Here is the run down of what is in her: Warmoth two-piece swamp ash hard tail strat body 2009 American Standard Strat neck with locking tuners Hardtail bridge with Callaham vintage style saddles Vintage Vibe SP-90 pickups with RW middle. Neck has AlNico II magnets, bridge and middle AlNico III. I was going to use all AlNico IIIs but I am missing a set. I fired up Logic and did a quick take of what she sounds like http://music.zombie-cat.com/track/just-another-day?permalink It was a great and fun project.

Very nice, good job there!
Hardtail Strats are {censored}ing awesome!

[reachjkh]

I love locking tuners on a hardtail strat. They make a very stable guitar. Nice choice of pickguard for your natural finish.

[Elias Graves]

Any advice here?
Working on Guitar Heel's PRS SE, the goldtop.
The original plan was to leave the back and sides cherry and shoot a fresh clearcoat over them. Well, I discovered how thin the color coat is on a PRS SE.



Anybody think I can dye some lacquer close enough and do a brush-on repair for these spots? Anybody know what colors of tints to use?

EG

[meandi]

Any advice here? Working on Guitar Heel's PRS SE, the goldtop. The original plan was to leave the back and sides cherry and shoot a fresh clearcoat over them. Well, I discovered how thin the color coat is on a PRS SE. Anybody think I can dye some lacquer close enough and do a brush-on repair for these spots? Anybody know what colors of tints to use? EG

Is the guitar currently finished in nitro?
In my experience, lacquers are not chemically compatable with urethanes & poly finishes...a thing called crazing...Which would necessate stripping the current finish before re-coloring.
Water based materials might be a way around this...but don't know for sure.
Most of my experience is in the Auto refinish industry & I've never used water based materials.

"Guitar rinishing, step by step" is a book that I got from stew mac that contains a couple hundred color chips with formulas for mixing.
Tints are available from them that are added to clear nitro for the color.
Don't know if it's applicable to brush application or not.

Interesting situation, please keep us up to date on how it works out.
Always something more to know, you know.

[meandi]

And today brings my project to a close. After checking the 4th coat of tung oil I was very happy with the results so decided to move forward and assembly the beast. First I carefully cleared out all the pickguard wholes and inserted the ferrules. Without access to a drill press, I decided against counter sinking them. It would have been better this way but I did not want to try doing that with a hand drill. Sorry no pics of that but hey they are just string ferrules. Next up was shielding the pickup and control cavities. Wow. That was a lot more of a pain than I thought and a less than stellar looking job. The next one will be better. With that done, I waited hours for a friend to show up. He want to see the finally assembly so I grabbed some lunch and watched a movie. When he finally showed up I got busy. I did not take any pics of that but I did of the finally result. I wish I had better lightning (and camera) in the house but here she is. Overall, I am very happy with my result even if this was my first true "build". There are some small imperfections that are only visible on close examination but I am okay with that. The overall look is great, IMO. I am kind of sad now that she is done, I want another one to do. Here is the run down of what is in her: Warmoth two-piece swamp ash hard tail strat body 2009 American Standard Strat neck with locking tuners Hardtail bridge with Callaham vintage style saddles Vintage Vibe SP-90 pickups with RW middle. Neck has AlNico II magnets, bridge and middle AlNico III. I was going to use all AlNico IIIs but I am missing a set. I fired up Logic and did a quick take of what she sounds like http://music.zombie-cat.com/track/just-another-day?permalink It was a great and fun project.

That's a great looking guitar...like the pick guard choice...classy!!
I noticed that you've got good string lay along the edges of the neck.
Indicates that you paid close attention in your assembly work.
Play it in good health, sir!

[meandi]

I love locking tuners on a hardtail strat. They make a very stable guitar. Nice choice of pickguard for your natural finish.

[Elias Graves]

Is the guitar currently finished in nitro? In my experience, lacquers are not chemically compatable with urethanes & poly finishes...a thing called crazing...Which would necessate stripping the current finish before re-coloring. Water based materials might be a way around this...but don't know for sure. Most of my experience is in the Auto refinish industry & I've never used water based materials. "Guitar rinishing, step by step" is a book that I got from stew mac that contains a couple hundred color chips with formulas for mixing. Tints are available from them that are added to clear nitro for the color. Don't know if it's applicable to brush application or not. Interesting situation, please keep us up to date on how it works out. Always something more to know, you know.

The guitar is finished in catalyzed polyester. Where I have applied lacquer over the top of it, I've had no issues with compatablility. The stuff is like epoxy and seems pretty inert. Once you rough up the surface to give the lacquer something to bite, it stays on fine.
Right now, it seems my options are to try to do a repair or shoot black over the whole thing to cover the screwup. I'd rather not do that if I can avoid it. The cherry is nice. I really don't want to sand the whole thing down to shoot a new coat of red either.
On my way to a local paint shop to see if they have some wisdom.

EG

[meandi]

The guitar is finished in catalyzed polyester. Where I have applied lacquer over the top of it, I've had no issues with compatablility. The stuff is like epoxy and seems pretty inert. Once you rough up the surface to give the lacquer something to bite, it stays on fine. Right now, it seems my options are to try to do a repair or shoot black over the whole thing to cover the screwup. I'd rather not do that if I can avoid it. The cherry is nice. I really don't want to sand the whole thing down to shoot a new coat of red either. On my way to a local paint shop to see if they have some wisdom. EG

That's good to know!
Rots o ruck.

[ZombieCat]

That's a great looking guitar...like the pick guard choice...classy!! I noticed that you've got good string lay along the edges of the neck. Indicates that you paid close attention in your assembly work. Play it in good health, sir!

Thanks everyone.

Oh it will get played a lot.

[meandi]

Thanks everyone. Oh it will get played a lot.

[thick_mike]

And today brings my project to a close. After checking the 4th coat of tung oil I was very happy with the results so decided to move forward and assembly the beast.

Looks great Zombie. What type of tung oil are you using? I'm struggling with mine and can't seem to get a good finish on mine. Does yours contain lacquer as well as the oil?

How did you apply it?

Sorry for so many questions, but I'm in need of help!

[ZombieCat]

Looks great Zombie. What type of tung oil are you using? I'm struggling with mine and can't seem to get a good finish on mine. Does yours contain lacquer as well as the oil? How did you apply it? Sorry for so many questions, but I'm in need of help!

I used Formby's Tung Oil which is definitely not pure tung oil but it is what they had at Lowe's. I simply wiped it on with an old t-shirt I cut up into rags using a new piece for each coat.

[meandi]

Looks great Zombie. What type of tung oil are you using? I'm struggling with mine and can't seem to get a good finish on mine. Does yours contain lacquer as well as the oil? How did you apply it? Sorry for so many questions, but I'm in need of help!

I just went back & read the last couple of pages in your build thread.
The main issue I picked up on there, is the lack of gloss.
Are there other problems with the procedure as well?
With tung oil, I don't think you're going to end up with a high gloss finish as with polished lacquer or well flowed urethane.
What I'm getting on my work is more of a warm soft sheen type finish, that's smooth & slick to the feel.
Could you post a pic of the current state of the project?

[thick_mike]

I just went back & read the last couple of pages in your build thread. The main issue I picked up on there, is the lack of gloss. Are there other problems with the procedure as well? With tung oil, I don't think you're going to end up with a high gloss finish as with polished lacquer or well flowed urethane. What I'm getting on my work is more of a warm soft sheen type finish, that's smooth & slick to the feel. Could you post a pic of the current state of the project?

Here are some shots I've just taken:









To be honest, the gloss is less of a problem than the feeling that the finish isn't protecting the guitar. I did some fretwork on the guitar yesterday and I left a couple of black fingerprints on the back of the neck. They wouldn't just wipe off, I had to practically sand them off.

As I've been finishing the guitar, I've realised that I prefer the look of it when I've just applied a fresh coat of oil (when it's glossy). I'm going to look at applying a clear lacquer over it. I'll try a couple of different lacquers on test pieces first just to make sure there aren't any issues with overcoating.