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Well we've had the worst snow fall in England for about 20 years. The school I teach at has been closed for the last two days so I've had two extra days in the workshop. The result - a finished Drednought!! Bargain

This is quite an old body. It's flawed in the sense that the cutaway bend has a crease in it. Not bad but you wouldn't buy it if it was hanging in the shop. Anyway I decided to go ahead and finish the guitar and I used an old Martin 'B' grade top I bought some time ago.

I also used this guitar to practice a new finish. The back & sides are finished with Tru-Oil but the top is a new finish for me called 'Rustins Plastic Coating'. I learnt about this from the Luthier A.J.Lucas. There are some flaws with this finish but for a first go I'm pleased with it and it's a pretty thin but hard coating which is what I was wanting.

Mahog back & sides, Spruce top, Brazilian bindings and headplate.

I strung her up today but I have some minor adjustments to make. There is a slight rise at the 14th - just need to file the last frets, nothing too bad. The action is high on the top E but there's loads of saddle to come off and I haven't shaped it properly yet. Haven't plugged her in yet but she booms acoustically anyway.

Needless to say, THANKS for all your help. I've just learnt so much from this forum. Cheers guys

Nice work Matthew,

The Tru-oil brings out the grain beautifully.

I'm particularly interested in the application of the Rustins.
Any chance you could elaborate on the application?

Cheers

Steve

Mat,

That looks good - and would look even better photographed against a snowy landscape

I'd like to hear more about Adrian's finishing technique with the Rustins.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Nice! Got any sound clips? i like 'hog dreds.

Im loving the weather too however my day off college was far less productive - too cold to venture into the garage.

atleast other people are having better luck

Thanks for sharing

Jonny

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"Anything that happens, happens. Anything that in happening causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that in happening happens again, happens again. Though not necessarily in that order." Douglas Adams

Looking good...

you cannot even see the flaw in the cutaway...

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com

Fine looking guitar, Matthew. Congrats!
We have friends that live in West Norwood (So. London) who sent us this shot:




Dig out soon,

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Great job on the guitar Matt,

Hey Steve I was born and raised in Norwood! Went to school in Dulwich just a couple of miles away. I too 'worked from home' on Monday, which mainly consisted of taking the sledge up the Downs (the hills above our village) and behaving like a ten year old. But then that is my mental age.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Johnny - no sound clips yet (if ever) - I still need to complete the set up and learn to play it

Dave - I was desperate to take some photo's of it in the snow but after my recent humidity problems I have become completely paranoid about temp changes

Steve/Dave - I can elaborate on the Rustins application but I have not really got to grips with it yet. I haven't contacted Adrian yet, I have to say a big thank you to him for all of his help but I also have a lot more questions for him. Anyway.....

Rustins Plastic Coating - I used it because it is a Brush on application (although it can be sprayed). I found the mixture to be quite thick and 'gloopy'. I realised quickly that the coating would not brush on thinly so I actually layered it on quite thick. It didn't flow off the brush well (hence layering it thickly) but it did flow out well after I applied it.

You need to put as many coats on as you can in 12 hrs at about 1 1/2 to 2 hr intervals. If you leave it longer than this the coats will not adhere. I put on 7 coats in one day, left it 4 days and then applied another 5 coats. After the first day you MUST leave it to harden completely before adding extra coats.

Adrian told me he levelled between every 2 coats with 800 wet& Dry. I found my brush coats to be too uneven for this and needed at least 400. This is where I need some more advice myself. When I completed the finish I had to level with 320 which is not right but was the only way i could get it level. I think it actually helped me get a decent thin coating which is no bad thing though.

Finally I finished off going through all the grades of Micro Mesh. I then tried using the 'burnishing cream' that Rustins recommend but i couldn't get on with it at all. Instead I used Meguiars Swirl remover and lastly their #7 polish. I really like this finish but need to fine tune the application.

Hope this helps

Mat

Nice work Matthew - I've been enjoying to 'snow days' but got much less work done, I blame my unheated garage...

The Rustins makes a very good, tough guitar finish, though I've only used in electrics so far, asa sprayed finish. It's pretty forgiving to apply, and takes a lovely gloss. You can tint it with LMIIs powdered alcohol dyes.

Here's a sunburst in Rustins PC using LMII dyes:



A word of caution - beware using Rustins, even brushed, without breathing protection. Stuart Ketchin, a UK builder whose day job is medicine, has reported that Rustins is a sensitiser, and he had to abandon use of it following a series of headaches/nausea, caused by fumes from brushing it on.

Very nice guitar Matthew! Great job!!!

Sure beats school, eh? Nice looking guitar. Congrats Matthew!

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com