Members SteveiJobzz Posted August 3, 2010 Members Share Posted August 3, 2010 Alright. I recently decided to build a guitar for a summer project. I decided to do a Tele because, hey, is there an easier guitar to start with? It started with a 2 inch thick, 75lb chunk of black walnut the size of a railroad tie (with a history behind it). I cut a chunk off of that and cut THAT in half. Then planed them down and bookmatched them, glued them together... Sanded it smooth and now it looks like this. Now my questions are as follows. 1. What's the best finish for a clear coat? I know shellac is really nice looking but I hear its a pain and nitro is another option. Any others? 2. I want to to a very small burst around the edge, just to add some depth. What kind of dye should I use and how should I apply it? I'm sure there will be more questions to come, but these are nagging at me right now because I want to route out the body this weekend and then cut it out, with the next step after being the prep and finishing. Side note: I do need some Tele hardware if anyone has some laying around in their parts drawer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted August 3, 2010 Members Share Posted August 3, 2010 Wish I could help, but I just wanted to wish you luck and subscribe to this thread. Nice hunk of walnut. I assume that you are going to seal it and close up the places where the grain has opened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveiJobzz Posted August 3, 2010 Author Members Share Posted August 3, 2010 Yea. It has some small cracks from sitting in a garage (before I got my hands on it). Most of them I can avoid. The rest can be mojo I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted August 3, 2010 Members Share Posted August 3, 2010 Suscribed. I need these kind of answers for my tele as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NHLfan2010 Posted August 3, 2010 Members Share Posted August 3, 2010 I wish I had answers for you too man...sorry. But I am definitely subscribed! Rock On! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mel Cooley Posted August 3, 2010 Members Share Posted August 3, 2010 That sounds like a cool plan, but there's a reason nobody builds Teles out of solid walnut. It will produce a beautiful and devastatingly heavy guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveiJobzz Posted August 3, 2010 Author Members Share Posted August 3, 2010 I couldn't pass up the opportunity. It can't be any heavier than my Sheraton. I can always play sitting down too. I was hoping for it to be more of a studio guitar anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveiJobzz Posted August 7, 2010 Author Members Share Posted August 7, 2010 Update. I got a chance to start the routing. It's a little rough on the control cavity because my router wouldn't go deep enough, so I had to use the drill press. I'll even it out with some sanding and chiseling later. Also, the whole outline needs to get moved down about 1/8th of an inch before I cut it out because it's not lining up quite right. Tomorrow (hopefully) I can fix the outline, clean up the control cavity and cut the body out. I'm also hoping to drill the wiring channels and the jack hole too if I'm ambitious. I'm going to wait until I get the bridge before I drill the holes for the bridge and ferrules. Pics: Hopefully more tomorrow. I'm hoping to be finishing by Tuesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveiJobzz Posted August 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted August 9, 2010 Alright. The body is cut out. I took out a band saw blade on this baby. It was a real tough cut After it was cut out I sanded the outside to get rid of the residue left by the friction of the blade. I think it came out pretty good. Here it is with the neck attached. I also filled the cracks with sandable wood filler. None of them are real bad, but they did need to get filled a little. Now it needs a little bit of finish sanding to prepare for the finishing process. I'm a big fan of the grain. And it's actually starting to look like a guitar now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted August 9, 2010 Members Share Posted August 9, 2010 Looking really great so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SDshirtman Posted August 9, 2010 Members Share Posted August 9, 2010 Thats pretty dark wood. I would think you could use some black or very dark brown wood dye using the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveiJobzz Posted August 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted August 9, 2010 I got some black dye that I'm going to burst around the perimeter. I don't want to go too overboard with a wide burst because the wood itself is so beautiful, but I want something to keep it all together visually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveiJobzz Posted August 10, 2010 Author Members Share Posted August 10, 2010 Well I decided to start finishing. I went with shellac, because I can't find nitro in hardware stores and I'm not going to use poly. I mixed in some black dye with some shellac and started bursting. This is after about 2 half hour sessions. I want it a bit darker, but I may just leave it. Apologies for the really grainy pictures. Clear coat later today/tomorrow probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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