WezV - Offset DC Jnr build

WezV

the neck is about 3/4 carved now, mainly finalizing of the shape and transitions to go.  

SteveF

You can’t half smash through these builds Wez.  Very impressive!  

WezV

i'm a lot slower than I used to be, but simpler builds help speed things up.

PhilKing

WezV said:

i'm a lot slower than I used to be, but simpler builds help speed things up.

I've only one thing to day - doubleneck

WezV

PhilKing said:

WezV said:

i'm a lot slower than I used to be, but simpler builds help speed things up.

I've only one thing to day - doubleneck

definitely not a simple build, but yes, that took far too long!!

PhilKing

I was just joking with you.  This is looking pretty awesome. 

Just to keep you on your toes, I'm having some White Penguin thoughts and have a couple of TV Jones pickups that I was going to put into my 5120 but am quite liking the blacktop Filtertrons in it.  I'm thinking that something like your hollow body LP size would be a great basis.   I also have some old Gretsch hardware that was corroded by Hurricane Sandy that might be rescuable.  Also, I could be talked into a baritone version.

WezV

Now that sounds very interesting

WezV

Weight on this is coming down very nicely

WezV

i've made some aluminium plates



the next step is engraving, which I will show as I work through.

The basic steps are:
Paint all over with Black paint
Laser engrave through the paint.
Etch the exposed aluminum with ferric chloride to form the main engraving
Strip the paint with thinners
either polish for shiny, or lightly etch again for an aged look
Add black filler wax if needed

WezV

quickly painted black


then i use the new camera I added to the laser to get alignment spot on


then it gets a few minutes in ferric chloride before i strip the paint.

Backplate went great, letters on the board are a little light





overall, not too bad but some learnings on the laser setting for linework

WezV

if i can get it consistently like this i will be happy

paulnb57

Wow, thats impressive, that laser thing has opened up a whole raft of possibilities

nacnudnai

Yep, that looks pretty good!

WezV

I had a second go, at the main plate. 

Rather than start again, I repainted it and re-engraved the outlines, out of focus to make them a bit wider - you simply raise the laser to do this.

Aligning up with the existing engraving would have been impossible a few weeks ago, but I have since added a camera to the laser and it helps a lot.  I still missed slightly, you can see it mostly down the left edge of the sun, but i don't think the double lining visible  in some places hurts the look at all

Roland

Double lining make it look more impressive.

SteveF

Yeah that looks brilliant mate 

Andyjr1515

Stunning stuff.  Great result @WezV ;

WezV

I'm happy.   It makes the full Zemaitis style build  a real possibility.

Teyeplayer

WezV said:

I'm happy.   It makes the full Zemaitis style build  a real possibility.

Doesn’t it just. 

Loved these last two builds, but very interested to see where the ideas develop and grow now that you’ve got the laser engraving like that. 

WezV

Teyeplayer said:

WezV said:

I'm happy.   It makes the full Zemaitis style build  a real possibility.

Doesn’t it just. 

Loved these last two builds, but very interested to see where the ideas develop and grow now that you’ve got the laser engraving like that. 

I did have a go back in 2015. 


 I  was happy with the hand  engraving until I added the border. Also I messed up the binding a little around the headstock, and wasn't that happy with the overall size as its a bit bigger than it should be.  Ultimately though, I just didn't like the feel of it and stashed it away.