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OMG, that is beautiful Tony!!!! Can't wait for the reveal

Thanks Beth. I get very impatient at this stage.

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The rosette...I rubbed it out by hand and I need to hit it with the RO buffer for the final shine, but this gets the point across anyway:


Good enough for ya Joe Beaver??

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Nice crisp lines!

Alex

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Thank you Alex, I'm all about crisp! Crisp bacon, crisp lettuce,Krispy Kreme, crisp purfling lines. That's how I roll. Mostly it's the Krispy Kreme though.

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That rosette is so pretty. Today I was well on my way to MY Sniggly guitar, and cracked the first EIR side that I got from him....UGH. Wish I was at the point you're at, Tony.

That's a real bummer Beth. How thick was the side?

Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate every one of them when people comment on my build threads.

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The side I cracked was about 2.1 or 2.2 mm thick, and after I thicknessed it to this, I flexed it quite a few times. In retrospect, I don't think it is quite floppy enough at this thickness. I'm going to run the second (now useless) side through the sander a few more times and try to get it to a point of better flexxion, then try the bend again. I also think I went too fast on the upper bout....I was getting anxious about case hardening because I had been heating for about 15 minutes by the time I got to the last part of the bend, so may have rushed it.

Chris had found this wild figure EIR set for me in his stash when I missed bidding on a beautiful EIR set he listed that went in about 2 minutes. I whined about it to him, and asked if he had anything else like it and he said he'd let me know, then came through with this set. I'm sick about wrecking the side, but will still use the back, which is outstanding.

dang. I hate messing up nice wood! I feel your pain!

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That is looking great Tony. Thanks for posting this. My next in line is a mostly Sniggly guitar. I have had a stash of Sniggly wood for a couple of years and the time has come.

Can you tell us more about polishing with the RO buffer when you get there? Is this a car polisher or something you are doing with a RO Sander?

Thanks and great job.

John

I can definitely tell you about the buffer! You are 100% correct. It is a car buffer. I buffed out the finish on my first two or three guitars by hand. When I got to the 4th, I was all out of Elbow Grease and nobody seemed to have any in stock, so I went with a power tool. I had the RO already. I bought new bonnets for it, and went at the guitar. I ended up with a great looking finish. It was this guitar:


I dont have a buffing arbor, and the RO seems to work well, so I use it. I use Wizards FInish Cut 1 Step compound followed by Wizards Shine Master polish. The compound removes sanding scratches from 1200 grit or higher paper. Despite that fact, I still sand to 1500 wet/ dry with the block that came with the micro mesh kit. It's about 4" by 3" or so. It works great. Anyway, the buffer and a generous amount of compound usually gets me where I want to be as far as shine ans since it's an RO, I have much less risk of burning the finish. I still stay away from the edges though and do them by hand. Perhaps a bit too cautious, but I would prefer not to make finish repairs this late in the game.
Did I miss anything?
Let me know and I will fill in the blanks.

Tony

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Thanks Tony.

I happen to have one of those. That will simplify my life quite a bit in the next couple of weeks.

Woo hoo.

John

The RO buffer makes a big difference in the quality of my finish. I can buff by hand, but eventually, I get tired and lazy and the quality suffers so I end up doing more buffing the next night, and the next....
The RO takes the work out of it and allows me to buff away with no loss of energy or enthusiasm! Makes those little scratches I can not get by hand disappear too!

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Yo Tony...... That is outstanding

I use to do wood rosettes but lately I have been doing mostly pearl. After seeing yours I might just do my next one in wood, with maybe just a little pearl.

Way to go

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Arbors are good but I do like the RO. Theu work well. Tony did a good job, nice deep shine.. Not enough DDD;s in purddddie

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
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You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks. I really have been into the wood rosettes lately. I bought a truck load of blanks. A small truck. More like a toy truck really but it was full.

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You have inspired me to take a unfinished body off the shelve and get it done. It has a pretty nice rosette along the lines of yours.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Nice rosette Joe! Did you see my two videos on brushing lacquer? Spraying rattle cans is easier and there is less sanding to do once you get the lacquer on but brushing is fun too! Go for it and finish that puppy!!

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Tony...tell me about those finishing videos. And tell me what you do with the rattle cans of laquer. I'm about to finish the top of an OM that I brushed waterborne laquer on, but didn't want to brush on the top. I have a couple of rattle cans of laquer from SM hanging around...maybe I'll try that?

OK Beth. I will! Here is a link:
http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10117&t=36174

Not what I would call comprehensive, but I was asked to show how I brushed by a few friends, so I made the videos. I am sure you noticed that when you brush, the finish is pretty uneven and takes a lot of sanding to level. When you spray with cans, you get that orange peel texture to the finish which is much easier to sand out. I sprayed the All Sniggly Guitar with cans. At the same time, I brushed another guitar. The sprayed guitar had a much smoother finish than the brushed one, but in the end, I can get them to look just as flat and glossy, the brushed one just takes a lot more sanding to get there.
It is very tempting to sand with a lower grit to begin with, say 400 wet/ dry or so, but I have never had luck getting all of the scratches out with subsequent grits and they only show up when you begin to buff out the finish. Then you hav to go back to the lower grits in those spots. I have had great success using 1000 wet/ dry grit to sand out from the very beginning until it is flat and level then switching to 1500 wet/dry. The compound I use will remove the scratches left by 1200 grit wet/dry paper, so I am good to go with 1500. I do all of the sanding wet by the way.
If I were you, I would spray the sound board. I used 5 cans on the whole box with some extra coats on the back and sides. I finish my necks with danish oil followed by MinWax Wipe on Poly.
Is the lacquer in the cans compatible with the water based stuff you used? They will be touching at the edges so it is a concern. If you need more info, PM me, or reply in the brushing tutorial above so as to not crowd up this thread with good info on lacquer that nobody will find in the future! Best to keep it in the tutorial thread I think.

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Thanks for the offer of the nitro finishing info but I'm a tried and true water based guy. I did my first guitar that way and never looked back... except to add an epoxy pore fill that is...

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Whatever works for you. I prefer the toxicity and light headedness I get from real nitro!

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Glued the bridge:


We are coming down to the wire!!!

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What kind of wood did you say the top is?

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Lutz from Mario DaCosta. I love this top!

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