My Current guitar project.

Why the wait before polishing? Does the finish have to cure a certain amount before you can polish it?

Bruceter
 
Bruceter said:
Why the wait before polishing? Does the finish have to cure a certain amount before you can polish it?

Bruceter
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The lacquer continues to cure forever, but after 3 or 4 weeks it's not going to change noticeably. As it cures, it shrinks. If I were to sand it smooth now, the pores would be really obvious 3 weeks from now. Even sitting overnight, the pores on the neck (which I did not fill with shellac) are a lot more obvious.

Also, the harder the lacquer is, the easier it is to sand. Soft finishes clog up the paper quickly.
 
Some more pics of the re-build:

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Phillip Patton said:
The lacquer continues to cure forever, but after 3 or 4 weeks it's not going to change noticeably. As it cures, it shrinks. If I were to sand it smooth now, the pores would be really obvious 3 weeks from now. Even sitting overnight, the pores on the neck (which I did not fill with shellac) are a lot more obvious.

Also, the harder the lacquer is, the easier it is to sand. Soft finishes clog up the paper quickly.
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Thanks for the info, that's what I was thinking the wait was for. I have a friend who is building his first guitar, I sent him a link to this thread. I'm sure it will help him out.


Bruceter
 
Some more pics of the re-build project. I got the top glued on and the binding and purfling installed:

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Now it's time to do the back. Initially, I was going to simply take this back off and re-brace it, but I decided it was too thin anyway so I'm making a new back. First, have to rout off the old one:

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Filling in the kerfing:

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While the back is off, I have to do some things I didn't do before, like cap the X, make the bridge and FB extension cauls.

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Also did some more work on the neck:

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I recently bought a Dynabrade random orbital sander. I think this will shave a lot of time and elbow grease off of the finishing parts of building. :thumbup: Some pics:


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Well, I just sprayed the first coat of lacquer on the guitar I'm rebuilding. The other one still has 3 weeks to go.

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I really dig the osage, man! I'm getting a little nervous starting my first build. Met with a local luthier the other night (Peter Tsiorba) and I'm just waiting on my backs/sides to show up to get started... Wish me luck (cuz holy crap am I gonna need it!).
 
amcardon said:
I really dig the osage, man! I'm getting a little nervous starting my first build. Met with a local luthier the other night (Peter Tsiorba) and I'm just waiting on my backs/sides to show up to get started... Wish me luck (cuz holy crap am I gonna need it!).
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Hi Aaron,

Sorry I haven't answered your email yet, but I'm excited for you. Have fun!

What woods are you using for your first?
 
Sitka top for sure (Peter Tsiorba hooked me up there) but haven't decided which back/side sets to use quite yet... None of them have shown up yet but there will be sets of bubinga, black limba and goncalo alves. Actually ended up getting 9 sets of backs/sides (couldn't argue with the price) because I want to build a few while the rest of the wood is acclimating to OR weather/humidity. My wife is going to make one of them with me and my little brother will be using at least one set as well...
 
Today I'm spraying the last coats of lacquer on the rebuild. First I sand it level.

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Hey Phillip, quick question, I was wondering why you decided to build off of a solara instead of a mold? I'm trying to decide which way to roll...
 
amcardon said:
Hey Phillip, quick question, I was wondering why you decided to build off of a solara instead of a mold? I'm trying to decide which way to roll...
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I started with the solera because that's what my first guitar building text suggested. I'm going to build a go bar deck and some molds before I start my next guitar, and that would be my advice to you. :)
 
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