First Warmoth Build

[JF]

This is a x-post from the "unboxing" forum.

At this point, I've:
-  Applied 1 coat of Transtint Orange at (straight water dilution),
-  Sanded back to 220, and
-  Applied a second coat of dye (50/50 water alcohol to keep grain from coming up too much)
-  Rubbed the whole body down with a towel to remove dust/residual surface dye
-  Applied one coat of clear Bullseye shellac via spray can. 

I plan to do about 5 coats of the shellac, then level out with 600+ grit, apply 4-5 coats of tru-oil, then polish with Mother Mag.

Thoughts?  Once the clear went on, I was really happy with the color and pop.  Its looking like a really deep amber.

Thanks to all that have provided feedback to this point!

 

[Death by Uberschall]

:hello2:

 

[Scotty2Hotty]

Are you going to spray on the other coats of shellac or french polish? I only ask because when I sprayed shellac on my build it had a really matte finish, which was expected. But if you want a glossy finish, I'm just not sure whether tru-oil and polish over matte shellac is going to come up shiny - I dont know, Im just assuming. Anyone feel free to chime in here if I'm wrong.

My only piece of advice is make sure your shellac is fully cured before you put on the oil, at least 7 days would do it. Same with the oil, but I'm fairly sure that takes a lot longer? It's gonna be a great looking guitar  :icon_thumright:

 

[JF]

Right now I'm on shellac coat 4.  Each coat has been applied pretty lightly and each has cured anywhere from 8-12 hours.  My house is very dry, and the coats are appearing to set up nice and hard.  As you can see, there's a nice glossy appearance.

I'm picking up some 600 and 1000 grit paper tonight, and after 1-2 more coats and a couple days to rest, I will even everything out - at which point it will go matte.

The tru oil is going to go on slow.  First 3-4 coats will be rubbed in, last 2-3 will be sprayed.  After a week of curing, I'll polish it up.

So far, so good...  arty07:

 

[bagman67]

Are you going to spray on the other coats of shellac or french polish? I only ask because when I sprayed shellac on my build it had a really matte finish, which was expected. But if you want a glossy finish, I'm just not sure whether tru-oil and polish over matte shellac is going to come up shiny - I dont know, Im just assuming. Anyone feel free to chime in here if I'm wrong.

My only piece of advice is make sure your shellac is fully cured before you put on the oil, at least 7 days would do it. Same with the oil, but I'm fairly sure that takes a lot longer? It's gonna be a great looking guitar  :icon_thumright:

Wiser minds than mine can weigh in on this, but a whole week for shellac to cure?  I kinda thought one of shellac's many virtues was how quick the alcohol vehicle boils off.


ANyone?  Bueller?

 

[JF]

I was able to apply multiple light coats in a day.  I got one of the final coats a little too thick, and I just let it dry overnight to be safe.  Smoothed everything out the next day with no problems at all.

I've now got the body leveled out using 400, 600, and artificial steel wool.

I've now applied 3 coats of tru oil spray, and I've got to say I'm suprised how good it looks and it has hasnt even ben polished yet. 

The color has darkened a bit, but I would describe it as a "good dark".  The body has gone more from a light orange to a dark amber which I like.  In the light, it really pops.  I'll try to take some photos today.

 

[dmraco]

looking good

 

[JF]

Coming together slow but sure...

SNAFU's up till yesterday:

When drilling the hole for the 3-way, my crappy bit made a nice mess of the hole.  A little plastic wood fixed the relatively minor scar (fortunately all covered by the washer), but I'm working on evening out the finish in the area.

Other than that, this is about 7 coats of tru oil over shellac, with only 600 grit and 000 artificial steel wool rubbing.  Looks good in person.  I have a couple other areas I'l evening out, but its essentially done and just needs to harden up before I wax/buff.

Neck/bridge are coming next Friday...

 

[Cagey]

That's looking good!

For future reference, when you want to drill clean holes, even through finished wood, you want to use Forstner bits.

For guitar work, you really only need three - 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2". But, often it's roughly the same money to buy a small set that'll take you up to an inch.

 

[Scotty2Hotty]

Are you going to spray on the other coats of shellac or french polish? I only ask because when I sprayed shellac on my build it had a really matte finish, which was expected. But if you want a glossy finish, I'm just not sure whether tru-oil and polish over matte shellac is going to come up shiny - I dont know, Im just assuming. Anyone feel free to chime in here if I'm wrong.

My only piece of advice is make sure your shellac is fully cured before you put on the oil, at least 7 days would do it. Same with the oil, but I'm fairly sure that takes a lot longer? It's gonna be a great looking guitar  :icon_thumright:

Wiser minds than mine can weigh in on this, but a whole week for shellac to cure?  I kinda thought one of shellac's many virtues was how quick the alcohol vehicle boils off.

To be honest, I think 4 or 5 days would do, I just say 7 to make absolutely sure. And in regards to the alcohol evaporating off, it does evaporate quickly, but the shellac itself is still very soft. Soft enough to leave any fingerprints before it has hardened enough. The other thing I've noticed is that people will do about 20 coats of shellac at once, with about 1 minute drying time between each coat. There's nothing wrong with that - but the more coats you put on, the less time the previous coats have to dry. So, if one was doing it that way, I would suggest 7 days curing time, but JF is leaving each application to dry for several hours, so I imagine there wouldn't be any problem.
Keep up the great work.

 

[JF]

That's looking good!

For future reference, when you want to drill clean holes, even through finished wood, you want to use Forstner bits.

For guitar work, you really only need three - 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2". But, often it's roughly the same money to buy a small set that'll take you up to an inch.

Thanks for the tip!  I'm sure this won't be my last project, so these will be worth getting.  I got really lucky that I didn't severly mess this up... :doh:

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, twist drills can really tear up a piece of wood. Then if it's finished, they'll chip the hell out of that as well. The Forstner bits slice around the outside of the hole before they start to bite into the center area, so even on hard high-gloss finishes you get a perfect hole. For example, these were done with a Forstner bit...

Just be sure to drill from the finish side, not the back side. The exit side of the hole won't look as good as the entry side.

Another feature of that style bit is they drill flat-bottomed holes. You don't always need that, but sometimes it's a Good Thing.

 

[croquet hoop]

Just be sure to drill from the finish side, not the back side. The exit side of the hole won't look as good as the entry side.

You can put a piece of scrap wood pressed under the one you're drilling, to avoid tearing on the exit side (you can actually do that on both sides, although this is not necessary with a forstner bit). In french this piece of wood is called a "martyr", I don't know what is the proper term in english.

 

[Cagey]

Sometimes it's called a "sacrificial piece", but more often it's just called "a piece of scrap wood" <grin>

 

[JF]

Complete!  Just needs strings.  I'll probably have to go back at some point and address minor issues with the finish that I can now pick up in daylight, but overall I'm pleased with the result!

 

[Cagey]

She's a very pretty girl!