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I started a telecaster during my holidays, got a little board following plans and through a curve ball out so now I have a pretty original guitar on my hands. However I have some need for assistance in choosing a finish for my body. I am after glossy natural wood finish.
I have used rimu, a new zealand native timber, it is really soft (easy to work with) and the grain is a little hidden. I haven't finished the work on it so it is only sanded to roughly 120 grit but it will need something to pull out the color of the wood.

It will need a grain filler, followed by an oil then a thick glossy clear coat.the clear coat I was thiking of rattle cans, oil maybe linseed. But I have no idea about where to get a grain filler from. Are there any guides on grain fillers and applications for instruments. I looked around and there is info there but not really relating to instruments and I want it to loom right.

Cheers

I get most of what you want, except for the "thick glossy clear coat" part. If you grain fill, you have to make sure that everything else that goes on afterwards is compatible, and you really want to end up with a thin final finish. A thick finish will do more to hide the wood than highlight it, and may be more prone to cracking and delaminating.
There are many excellent finishers here, both amateur and professional, who can give you good advice on how to do a bang up job!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Finishes come in a wide variety of types, each having its own set of installation procedures, equipment and environmental requirements, and compatible products such as sealers and pore fillers, that work with it.

There are really only three ways of getting the finish on the guitar, padding (wiping), spraying, or brushing. I would look at finished custom guitars here and elsewhere and find the ones you like the look of. Then discover how they were pore filled and finished. Pick the one's you like. Go for the one you think you can pull off.

People here will be glad to help you with how to do each kind of finish you are considering.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Yeah thanks, to clarify, the clear coat is only to provide strength as this is a soft wood. The poor filling is something I have no experience with and that is my real issue.
A few questions for that, is there a black die that can be used that also highlights grain, then you sand it back to timber leaving only the highlights.

Tim

Finish will not harden or toughen a soft wood. Only way to do that is through some type of vacuum impregnation.

If you want to highlight the grain black and not dye the wood itself you will need a good sealer under your black filler. Something completely "closed" so it cannot wick in any dye from your filler.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

I wouldn't mix and match finishes unless it's recommended by the finish manufacturer. That's a good way to have your finish either refuse to cure or peel right back off.

So for example... I would not do an epoxy pore fill, oil finish over that, then some sort of clear coat over top of that.

If you want a good oil finish - then use a high quality short oil vanish over the appropriate traditional water based pore fill. If you want a modern finish - then go all the way on that with a system that's already sorted out and proven.

First, I qualify as an amateur finisher - I have done 20 instruments in lacquer and am starting to feel pretty good about what I can accomplish at home. I've also done one in a gun stock oil called TruOil. Lacquer can be buffed to a very high gloss where the TruOil gives more of an organic semi gloss finish.

Second, there are dozens of different finishes used on guitars - part of the problem is figuring out what can be done at home with materials available. For example, many manufactured guitars today use catalyzed finishes that are simply beyond the home builder. For most of us at home, to get a really high gloss our options are either solvent based lacquer (nitrocellulose) which can be applied from rattle cans, or so called water born cross linking lacquer (KTM, Target, several others) which can be sprayed or brushed. Oil finishes are fine but they will appear more like furniture than a PRS.

Third, I have experimented with several different pore fillers and depending on the type of wood I feel that some are better than others. I took a piece of highly figured koa and masked off three sections, one I filled with paste filler (a StewMac product), one with CA glue (use breathing protection) and one with an epoxy (Zpoxy from LMII). My feeling is that for "normal" wood like mahogany or rosewood the paste filler works just fine, for highly figured wood the Zpoxy really does pop the grain. Here is a koa guitar with Zpoxy and water born lacquer (KTM-9) over the top



Next you mention trying to highlight the grain with some sort of black stain. Not knowing anything about your wood I can't say what might work but it is pretty common with figured wood like flamed maple to apply a stain that soaks into on part of the wood more than another. This mandolin had a dark brown stain applied to the wood and then sanded back leaving it in the lines of the flame



Warning, applying stain is pretty irreversable.

What ever you do, make sure your materials are all compatible. Always practice on scrap.

New Zealand is my old stomping ground and I'm quite familiar with rimu. Can you just confirm that you're located yourself in NZ? If so, I can probably help with a little local knowledge. You should also familiarize yourself with ANZLF.com where you'll find several builders.

For 'grain filling', I can't imagine real rimu needs anything beyond a sealer. Real rimu also isn't that soft. All this makes me wonder if you've misidentified your wood. Is it recycled?


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Thanks Coco Bola, it is recycled rimu from old house framing. Yes New Zealand is where i am. Very easy to mark and very easy to sand, I've already sanded a few parts taking to much material and having to adjust the shape, slightly.

Before I even look at the finish I need to complete my prep. I have a few points on the body where the end grain has chipped out, I need to fill that. What's my best option here, the depth of the chip out is maybe 2 mm. Do I buy a ready made rimu filler or make some out of titebond and sawdust.

If I go down to our local building suppliers I can get builders putty (rimu) directly of the shelf. Is this the fillet I should be using, I am guessing the colour will not be exactly the same, is that just a problem of using fillers?

Cheers
(Edit - location added)

I still suspect your wood may not be rimu. Depending on part of NZ, recycled framing timber could also be kauri, which is softer than rimu. In any event, you're not going to be able to "harden" it.


Fillers from Bunnings, Mitre10 or glue+sawdust will never look like rimu (or kauri, etc.) -- they're really meant for nail holes. For end-grain blowout, the only satisfactory way to fill is with a fitted wood patch/plug. But part of the charm of recycled NZ timber is the nail holes, knots and other imperfections. You might consider leaving it as it is. Another approach is to fill with clear West Systems 105/207 epoxy -- think "bar slab finish" (build a dam around the hole, pour in epoxy, shape to profile once set -- it will stay clear and you can lacquer over top). Virtually all ship chandlers in NZ carry West System products.

For lacquer, the use of Mirotone PC3220 precatalysed polyester is almost universal among kiwi builders -- they have their outlet in Seaview, outside Wellington. Tru oil is much easier and requires no special equipment -- you can find it at Gunworks in Christchurch http://www.gunworks.co.nz/shop/item/tru-oil-gun-stock-finish

Wow, thanks for that info, you might be right about the rimu not being rimu, I brought it from demolition traders as 6 x 2 off cuts.
Those were my exact concerns about fillers but I was finding it difficult to find info on it. I think I will be going for the epoxy to fill the imperfections, I guess I could dye it black as there are other colored imperfections on the wood anyway that I am keeping there, I will check the options when I go shopping. Then I will probably go for the tru-oil, just for ease of application.

Bugga, now there is no good reason for putting off the sanding!

I am going to jump on the Tru-Oil band wagon. I finished a custom Tele with it and loved the results. Living in California, I got some just before all the crazy regulations hit. No more Tru-Oil, MEK, Naptha or even good old fashion paint thinner, etc. (Sorry for the rant.)


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I was at Lee Valley yesterday, and noticed they've started selling it.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

What's wrong with tru oil, why the bans?