TTony’s Q1’20 challenge ... *ALL 3* done

Andyjr1515

Sounds like a plan to me   @TTony ;

If you do end up going back to natural, you will find that hand sanding is pretty straightforward.  Home-applied finishes are significantly easier to remove that many commercial ones and the stain actually doesn't penetrate very much depth-wise - particularly with maple.  

An hour's sanding with plenty of refreshing of the paper (the finish will quickly clog it) should pretty much do it.

normula1

Good stuff there Tony. I love the way you seem totally comfortable with sanding of the colour and redoing it. I'd be gutted

TTony

Cheers @normula1 ;

The first time I had to do a refinish, I was gutted.  The second time, slightly less so.  The third time ..... 

As Andy says, it’s not a major effort, and it’s all part of the learning opportunity!

guitargeek62

Loving that Jr Tony, can I have dibs please?!

TTony

guitargeek62 said:

Loving that Jr Tony, can I have dibs please?!

Of course Si @guitargeek62 ;

Unless you'd rather have this one ...


Remember that??

guitargeek62

I'd be happy either way! I'm a sucker for korina though!

*edit* You did wonders with that, really happy at how it worked out

PeteC

TTony - on the subject of Korina ......Still no joy sourcing rough sawn Limba locally to me in Leeds. Last place said they meant to remove it from their website.  Been recommended to try Duffield Timber in Ripon next. 

TTony

Andyjr1515 said:

To be honest, nowadays I rarely show folks the stages between the stain first applied and the finish going on - because dry stain is the 'wrong' colour, hides the figuring and exaggerates the flaws.  And everybody - and I used to until I understood below - goes a (disappointed) 'Oh....'  

And just to prove (as if proof were needed) the wisdom of @AndyJr1515 ...

A couple of days ago, it looked like this;


Today it looks like this;


So far it's had 4-5 coats of oil. 

I'm putting the oil on really thinly, waiting about 30secs, and then wiping a clean cloth over the body to remove any excess oil.  No rubbing down between coats but it's still feeling pretty smooth.

I'm aiming to build up a glossy finish with the oil (which is one of Crimson's) which they say can take up to 9 coats.  I'll then putta coat of wax on and buff that to a shinier shine.

Andyjr1515

guitargeek62

PeteC said:

TTony - on the subject of Korina ......Still no joy sourcing rough sawn Limba locally to me in Leeds. Last place said they meant to remove it from their website.  Been recommended to try Duffield Timber in Ripon next. 

Keep an eye out for a timber called "Idigbo", it's very very very similar to Limba, but typically seems to be a little drier to work with. That said, it's much more readily available, looks and works relatively identically, and is a fair bit cheaper. I think @WezV has plenty of experience with it if I remember rightly?

TTony

There is progress, in that more coats of oil are going on without dramas.

But, learning from the last time I tried finishing this guitar, I am doing *nothing* else in the workshop whilst waiting for each coat of oil to dry, to minimise the risk of bits of sawdust landing on it.  And because the miserable weather means that I’m lucky to get 2 coats on and dried in a day, all other work has come to a stop until this one completes the oiling stage.

Frustrating!

I might try bringing it indoors tomorrow, and hiding it in an unused room ... which’ll be OK as long as Mrs TT doesn’t spot it!

normula1

Or indeed smell the oil

TTony

TTony said:

I might try bringing it indoors tomorrow, and hiding it in an unused room ... which’ll be OK as long as Mrs TT doesn’t spot it!

Ah-hah - I think I've got away with this.


Perfectly normal downstairs loo-cum-wetroom.  Nothing to see here.




No need to look round the corner ...



Nothing to see there at all 
 


Now progress should accelerate with this one as the oil is going to dry a bit more quickly (handy rad on the wall just there), plus I can do other stuff in the workshop again.


(The very oily bit of rag that I use to wipe the oil on is in the airtight plastic pot to avoid the risk of it bursting into flames.   Never sure whether that's a *real* risk or not, but being careful ... don't want smoke coming out of the room to give the game away  )

PeteC

Just brilliant !  But sure the missus will spot it....

TTony

Whilst the red ones continues to get oiled (and I'm getting away with it so far), I can now make some more progress with the others in the workshop.

Back to this one;


Next job is cutting the neck angle.

I've sort of bodged this job in the past with some crude packing of bits of hardboard/mdf/whatever under the body, to create the angle, and then cut the angle into the  neck pocket.

But, inspired by the far more professional approach of Mr @PeteC, I'm now jiggy



Rough marked the neck angles on the board so I know where to move the little wedge to - roughly - to cut that degree of angle into the heel.

As I was making the jig, I thought to add the little blocking piece at the front that the heel fits into.  Makes the position of the neck in the jig a little more secure.

Now I just need to measure, measure and measure again to make sure that I use the jig to remove the correct amount of heel, and at the right angle, to fit in the pocket correctly!  That's a job for after-lunch.

WezV

guitargeek62 said:

PeteC said:

TTony - on the subject of Korina ......Still no joy sourcing rough sawn Limba locally to me in Leeds. Last place said they meant to remove it from their website.  Been recommended to try Duffield Timber in Ripon next. 

Keep an eye out for a timber called "Idigbo", it's very very very similar to Limba, but typically seems to be a little drier to work with. That said, it's much more readily available, looks and works relatively identically, and is a fair bit cheaper. I think @WezV has plenty of experience with it if I remember rightly?

Yeah, there are two trees producing similar woods.

Terminilia superba and Terminilia ivorensis IIRC 


Black limba/korina always comes from the first one.  You don't get those dark streaks or orange bug holes in the second tree.  Although white limba can come from either tree, but given the price difference it's worth being aware of it.
Idigbo comes from the second one and a good bit can be identical to the first one.   Some of it can be a bit coaster to work, more interlocked grain and often has some small knots.  

The DC above looks to be a nice bit of idigbo  to my eyes.

I have used both.   Prefer the first one when the wood is visible as I just don't find most bits of idigbo to be as pretty. 

guitargeek62

Sounds about right - the idigbo that I used seemed to have the odd greenish streak/tint to it too, but that may have been the minority!

TTony

@WezV @guitargeek62 ;

I'm pretty sure that I bought the original body blank as Korina - but that might be my memory playing tricks, and it may equally have been "Idigbo, similar to Korina"!

I should have an 8' plank of Idigbo arriving next week direct from the timber yard.  If it's good, then I've got a couple of body blanks for £not-much.  If it's no good, then worst-case I've got next year's supply of kindling!

TTony

Not that I was apprehensive about cutting the neck heel, but I left this alone yesterday afternoon.

But, no longer ...



I forgot that I had these handy little clamp things - probably the first time that I've used them!



And after a couple of careful passes, time for a test fit;


The piece of hardboard under the bridge is there to simulate the little rings that you get on the bridge posts, that sit proud of the body.  With that in place - ie the bridge at the height that it'll actually be at - I've got about 2mm clearance.  Which I think is just about perfect.

I've also got a nice little pot of rosewood shavings to add to my growing collection.


Tony's top tip for the occasional builder - if you can save clean shavings/cuttings in a pot, then do so.    Comes in really handy for filling gaps/cracks/etc.


So this one is looking good now.


Next jobs;

• Shape the headstock

• Clamp the neck in place and triple check alignment, height, and scale length marks
• Drill the bridge post holes
• Bit of body sanding.
• Bit more body sanding.
• And then some more body sanding.
• I think I'll recut the edge roundover so that there's a clear  ledge all round the body - only 0.5mm or so, but a clear mark.
• Decide what finishing to apply and apply it
• Put it together.

Andyjr1515

Not seen a strap-clamp like that before.  Looks neat!

This is coming along nicely