avengers63

I have to brush just about everything, so there are a number of things I can tell you from experience. 1) Thin the finish by +/- 50%. At normal thickness, it builds too quickly and can dry more uneven than thinned down. 2) You can make a vertical wall of painters tape on the hard edges to prevent drips & runs. The MAJOR drawback is that it will pool there pretty thick. This will require either a lot of sanding ot literally carving it away with an X-Acto. 3) If you can't or don't make a tape dam, you'll need to wipe away the drips & runs on the sides. Go back 15-20 minutes after application and wipe the area with a rag that has been dampened with the solvent. 4) Wet sand every 2-3 coats just to level it out. This will make things a LOT easier in the long run. These between-coat wet sandings will be very much NOT aggressive. You're only looking to level out the uneven-ness that is associated with brushing it on. You really can't prevent, but you CAN combat it effectively.

yep It feels GREAT to tune. Your hand & wrist are at a very natural angle.

I FINALLY have this one all done. It's only been 4 1/2 MONTHS since I last posted on it. I was having some really serious wiring issues. I had to blow up and start over twice, then get a completely different set of pups. When even THAT didn't fix it, I gave up and took it to a local shop. It's all sorted out now. I tried to take some pics, but these are all that came out decent. It's really overcast, so the lighting is just terrible.

If all "wood" looked like this, then I'd agree with you 100% VOID-FREE REDWOOD LACE BURL Unfortunately, some "woods" just need to be painted because they're just not worth looking at. MINERAL-STREAKED POPLAR

So what you're saying is that no system is perfect, and that every one will have it's own drawbacks.

That's the dude I bought them from. Good call. What I'm going to do is buy just the press insert, then put that into a block of wood. I don't have a press or clamp, so I hammer the frets in. I figure this will give me a better application of force across the width of the fret instead of concentrating it into one place.

It's not like you to bump an old thread like this. And yes, zebrawood smells bad when it's being worked. Like cat pee. Old litterbox cat pee. Canarywood on the other hand smells GREAT!

I'm not 100% sold on the headstock either. There's plenty there to re-shape it into a banana/explorer if I want.

Here it is in my front yard, on a beautiful 62-degree Spring day, polished up to 12,000 grit. Micromesh pads are my friend. And now I'm at a standstill until the fretting doo-hickie comes in. Which I haven't ordered yet. I fret the neck before ANY shaping of the back is done. Since I hammer them in, it's best to have a flat back. I did the pup & c/c routes yesterday, so there's really nothing left for me on this one for a little bit.

Fluorescent lighting in the shop just blows for pics. It dorks up the color every time. Then if the flash is used, it gets washed out. Here's the fretboard radiused and sanded up to 100 grit.

I don't mind the hard edges, but the voulte does look a little thick.

Here's another vote to getting a bigger one if you can afford it. It won't be long before you WILL want to resaw, then you'll be hosed. If you can't afford it, then it's not an issue. Bottom line: Yes it will be fine to cut out a body. But I guarantee that it won't be long before you'll want a bigger one.

I made the rough-cut of the mirror top yesterday. The manufacturer suggests a 12+ TPI blade, so I elected to do it on the scroll saw. With some scrap of both the mirrored acrylic and the top wood I tested gluing it on with epoxy. The mfgr only recommends ONE product to glue it on, and it ain't available locally. (At least not where I know to get it). Well, there's always more than one way to skin a cat, so I gave it a test. I'm not concerned about adhesion. I'm concerned about the solvent dissolving the mirrored backing. So.... I forgot to rotate the pic. Oh well. Like I said, I glued it on last night. It's dry and stuck on there good, but I'm gonna leave this to sit for a while until I give it the official thumbs-up. The dude I bought the inlays from said that epoxy is what HE used for the inlays, so I went for it. If these get a little mit swirly on the bottom, it won't be nearly as noticeable.

Dip it in a vat 15 times.

I like the grain on the front - knots and all. Since you're going to leave the critters, it really fits.\ With the body coming from the flea market, go for the oddball neck to match: willow with a maple f/b. You could put a mahogany pinstripe between the neck & f/b to help separate the two light woods.

I think the animals will look stupid. Hey... you asked. sweet wood score though

...looks at the pics again... huh It looks like I took more pics of the back than the front.

What's wrong with the roundovers? I'm not doing anything with the back, except maybe a belly cut, so what's the big deal?

What are you able to use as a finish without dorking up the poster? BTW: I'm a comic book junkie, so you just went REALLY high up in my rankings.

MADE YA LOOK!!!! I have the first can of clear on the back. The first can for the front is almost done. From there, I need to wetsand and level it out. I'll see then if it needs more or if I can buff it out. If I don't sand through, I think I'll be good.

I looked into the arbor press, but nobody around here sells them. For my next neck, I'm buying the inserts from Stew-Mac, putting them into a block of wood, then hammering on the whole thing. It's GOTTA be better than hammering on the frets directly.

Really guys... he has made a total of ONE post, hasn't even made his first instrument yet, and you're nagging him to make his own necks. Why don't you nag Drak to make them himself? Mike: Don't let 'em try and pressure/guilt you into more than you're ready for. Take the steps as you're ready to take them and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Some of the guys here can really come down on you if you don't fit into their little mold of what they think you should be as a builder. Ad for your question, they're right in that it'd be more work than it's worth trying to make a bolt-on into a neck-thru. It CAN be done, but it really isn't worth the effort. For your first one, a bolt on is probably the easiest way to go.

I got the loot from you today. I don't know which back plate was the original, but I like the textured one better. This also means the Dynasty will be able to be finished up soon. giggidy giggidy

Is it sad that I knew this was a superman reference without google? Not sad at all (says the self proclaimed comic book junkie)

Thank you, sir. The Fly-like headstock foes pretty nicely with it. With the rounded point on the horn, a hockey-stick/banana headstock would have done pretty well also.