Neck through Flying V style build - Finished

TTony

Ahhhhh!  Thanks

JGTay

TTony said:

Ahhhhh!  Thanks

No worries. They polish up surprisingly well. The test piece in the fretboard offcut came out so well it made my mind up that it would be a good option. If the client hadn't liked the test piece then I would probably have gone with more traditional markers. 

JGTay

Have sanded the cover flush and finished bevelling the bottom edges. Also ordered the magnets for the cover. I can get started on sanding up through the grades and then the staining can begin. Also need to get some clear nitro ordered from @SteveRobinson ;

JGTay

All bottom edges are now rounded over and have started working through the grades on the back.

The cover is flush, grain isn't too far from matching and should look okay when it has been stained.

Time to stop clamping it down, don't want any impressions leaving behind and need to access all areas during the sanding process.

JGTay

First coat of stain went on this morning.

Small area to the right of the pickups where the glue was that hasn't taken the stain.

Similar story on the back, small area bottom right of the middle that didn't take where there was glue

Sanded with the 240 grit again taking the majority off and then second coat of stain. Still a thin line, so will sand it back again in the morning, will probably drop down to 180 or 150 grit to see if it removes that line.

The back looks a lot better now, but didn't take another photo, will do it tomorrow. Once the stain had fully dried had a quick look at how the silver hardware looks against the stain. Only done the body so far as I wanted to check for any defects, everything else is looking good, so once the glue line is removed I can sand up through the grades and get a nice smooth finish on it ready for the nitro.

JGTay

I was busy working through the grades today, got up to 400 grit and then had a phone call from my mum, reminding me it was fathers day, so downed tools, got cleaned up and the wife and I went out to visit our parents...

Happy Fathers day to all the dads out there!  

JGTay

Sanded to 1000 grit and final coat of stain done. Even coverage all over, though the light reflections don't help the photos.

Will mask off the neck in the morning and then the first coat of nitro can be done on the body and headstock. Once the first coat is dry enough I will get the logo in place... need to get it printed tonight so it has a good amount of time to dry before the clear coats.

Have ordered the control knobs, last item other than strings, but need to know which gauge is required. 

MattNovak

It looks like a bats wing - which is a compliment - nice to see something out of the ordinary, and great skills. 

JGTay

MattNovak said:

It looks like a bats wing - which is a compliment - nice to see something out of the ordinary, and great skills. 

Thanks Matt. It's funny you should say that, showed my parents the pics yesterday and my mum said it makes her think of Batman 

JGTay

After a wipe down with a micro fibre cloth and a light cleaning with white spirit the plan was to pore fill... But seeing it with the shine from the cleaning and the pores showing through it had a really nice look to it, so I am going to go ahead with the nitro.  

LastMantra

Wow! Really interesting build and looking great. 

TTony

JGTay said:

Brilliant - love the originality of the design and the quality of the build.

JGTay

Thanks guys.

Got a couple of coats of nitro on today, no pics yet. Need to do a quick wetsand around the area for the logo tomorrow. Just having a few issues with the printing of the logo at the moment, have tried the recommended settings for the waterslide decals but the image comes out with a cracked eggshell look. Have tried a few different things, the only thing left is the ink... Will try on a different printer tomorrow to see if I get a better result and if not will have to buy some new ink for mine. 

JGTay

Managed to get a good quality decal print done. Must be an issue with the inks in my printer, so as I had some work to do at my parents house I used their printer

After a couple of hours sprayed them with clear, 3 coats spaced out and then cut to size and applied to the headstock...

And the main logo on the body.

Will leave them to dry fully over night and then the clear coats can be sprayed.

PeteC

Very cool

JGTay

Thanks Pete, much appreciated.

The big logo was a bit of a pain to position correctly, but got there in the end. Seems to be drying out well and no issues with the edges lifting, hopefully by morning it is ready for spraying. 

JGTay

The control knobs have arrived and I am very happy with the look. They will really help finish it off.

Managed to get a few good coats of clear on yesterday, went lightly at first and slowly built it up. The decal edges were still visible, but knew it would require a small amount of sanding to get it right.

And so spent some this morning carefully wet sanding the decals level, took it easy and kept drying off the areas to see the progress. The headstock was first and it didn't take too long to get them level. The main logo took a while longer and I was extremely careful to make sure I didn't sand through, last thing I want is to have to redo that one...

Once it was level and I was happy with the result, I cleaned it all off, dried it and wiped with a micro fibre cloth to ensure there was no sanding dust and a final wipe down with white spirit and left it to dry.

Then I hit it again with a couple more coats of clear, which was looking really good, but then as it dried a small disaster...

Have got a few white spots in the finish, just to the left of the pickups and a couple around the main logo. They are only small and I am hoping when I do the final sand they will go, but have never had them before so unsure if they will go. I think I may not have allowed enough time for the white spirit to fully dry off and some must have been trapped in the pores.

Has anyone had this before that can offer advice?

JGTay

A couple of close ups of the white spots...

TJT1979

To me it looks like dust from sanding previous coats in small holes, and the subsequent clear coats have locked it in. Leaving a small pocket of dust. Looking at it closely in person, does that look about right?

If that’s the case then sanding back, giving it a good clean (a blast with a compressor helps), and redoing the clear coats is probably the best way forward. 

JGTay

TJT1979 said:

To me it looks like dust from sanding previous coats in small holes, and the subsequent clear coats have locked it in. Leaving a small pocket of dust. Looking at it closely in person, does that look about right?

If that’s the case then sanding back, giving it a good clean (a blast with a compressor helps), and redoing the clear coats is probably the best way forward. 

I gave it a really good clean off before doing the next coat, but I guess it must be that. I am leaving it for a few days to cure before sanding, definitely don't want any sand through with the decals.