Official Luthiers Forum!

For masking the bridge position during finishing, which type of frisket do you use and where do you get it. Also, what is the advantage over the blue masking tape?
Thanks, Wendy

Frisket 1 thou, matt, extra tack, after recommendation here.
I got mine from ebay in UK, not familiar with US suppliers though.
Advantage - well, being so thin, the finish seems to just flow over it after spraying a few coats, no ridges, so leveling and buffing is easy.
But it's still easily visible due to it being matt.

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Thanks Colin. So is Frisket clear? Your reply makes me think that it would be difficult to find if you were doing a matt finish. Also, is there a problem with it pulling fibers out of the soundboard on removal when you use extra tack?

Here's what I used but I got it from a local art supply store.

I don't recall it pulling wood fibers out. It's much thinner than masking tape so you don't get as large of a bump at the edge.

Kevin Looker

http://www.amazon.com/Grafix-Extra-Fris ... isket+film

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Yes, frisket is clear and very thin. No reason to look for high tack. Gloss or matt also doesn't make much difference -- depending on finish and top wood, both can be tricky to see under the finish. I cut mine a tad smaller than footprint, and cut a rabbet around perimeter of bridge to clear the narrow strip of finish left. If you use this method, you can run a pencil around the edge of the frisket to make it easier to see the edge. Great stuff and a roll will do a lot of guitars.

Hobby Lobby has the frisket Kevin linked to, that is what I use also.

Fred

_________________
Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

You can write (or mark) the matt with a pencil - would make it easier to see if using a matt finish.
Never had a problem removing the film and pulling fibres from the wood - it's repositionable sticky stuff, bit like a post-it.

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

We used to use frisket to add a typed bill of materials to a mylar drawing. It saved a lot of lettering in the drafting office, back in the good old days.

Bob

It definitely doesn't have enough tack to warrant worrying about pulling up fibers. At least not in my (limited) experience using it. The amount of tack actually seems perfect. Just enough to stay in place and pull up with little effort when the time comes.

I have a template of my bride that I use to cut it. The template is a hair smaller than my actual bridge. Don Williams designed and made it for me. I locate the bridge and lightly trace the template onto the top. Then I plop it down on the film, trace with an exacto, and roll the film on inside the outline.

Wendy, decades ago, I used frisket for all kinds of commercial art jobs. While being cut, it feels different than almost any other material. You don't need much pressure at all. I recommend you practice cutting on some scraps until you develop just the right touch to cut the frisket cleanly without scoring the wood fiber too deeply. The other thing to consider is the tack. The stuff I formerly used was low tack, true, but we often burnished it down to make it stay in place. Then it can have a pretty strong tack. Ergo, practice applying and rubbing it down, too, then cutting and peeling until you have a real good feel for it. Good luck!