My Roasted Soloist Eagle

It looks awesome!
It will be a really cool guitar, can't wait to see it finished ;)
 
This is really going to be spectacular. The black is good with it. As to color, I'd tread lightly on that. If it was mine, I would just put a good clear finish on it. I tooled a riverboat scene in leather one time. It was really beautiful so I added a little color to it. All of the sudden, it had lost the original beauty.
 
Personally, I don't think this one calls for color-an oil finish gives a nice satin patina and a richness to the burn work.
The headstock can be burned also, with whatever you decide on. It's gonna be very cool!
 
Guys - I really appreciate all the feedback - very helpful and you've confirmed my thinking. Thank you!

I'm going black on the back, not sinking the trem cover, going no color on the finish, etc. DangerousR6 sorted out the heel cover (psyched!).

So now I'll be working on the heel, the heel/neck mounts, finishing the body, burnishing the neck, and putting it all together. Woot!!

(Yes, I will very likely still be flowing the questions out)  :cool01:
 
Great Ape said:
Personally, I don't think this one calls for color-an oil finish gives a nice satin patina and a richness to the burn work.
The headstock can be burned also, with whatever you decide on. It's gonna be very cool!

Thank you! I woke up seriously thinking of just burning in my words on the headstock (something about "On Eagle's Wings") because I was conflicted about having a shiny head with a satin body.

Another question... Do you ever put something clear into the burn work to smooth it out when the rest is finished? I like the feel of the carving on my hands, so I'm not thinking that would be the way to go... but the ideas keep bouncing around.

I was also figuring I would take a piece of scrap and play with all of this (won't be the same Roasted Alder wood, of course).
 
I do not do anything to the surface of the burned areas. Whatever texture is there after burning is left as is...I consider it
an integral part of the piece. Besides, whatever is done as a finish on the guitar inevitably fills in a tiny degree of the burned area, so you might consider that 'smoothing', but it's not much.
 
Great Ape said:
I do not do anything to the surface of the burned areas. Whatever texture is there after burning is left as is...I consider it
an integral part of the piece. Besides, whatever is done as a finish on the guitar inevitably fills in a tiny degree of the burned area, so you might consider that 'smoothing', but it's not much.

Having a piece of Great Ape's fine work as one of my main axes, I can attest that the shellac finish that is applied to the top of it will preserve it just fine, and the texture in my opinion is the equivalent of "natural relic'ing".    If the finish covered up this work to the extent of having a level finish over the top of this 3-D work, I think it would remove some of the organic appeal.  I like being able to feel the work underneath.
 
Especially on a piece like that where the natural response to being told the artwork is burned into the wood would be "really?", followed by a bit of fondling for tactile confirmation that it's not just some fancy paint/decal/wrap.
 
Final heel plate design - psyched! Great job DangerousR6!

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Only came across this thread and that looks awesome !
The only thing I'd mention is that active/battery-powered electronics, unless there is a dedicated ON/OFF switch elsewhere, typically rely on using a stereo jack.
The main ground and + lead wires are wired as usual, but the ground wire from the battery (or in your case battery pack) gets wired to the secondary channel of the stereo jack. That way the circuit is only powered when a mono cord is inserted, OFF otherwise.
With a mono jack the circuit would always be ON, and drain the battery very quickly (even for a Fishman battery pack like this).
 
Wow... The message standard warms me of a last post of 120 days... oophs! Well, I'm back at it now (yes for real) and am going to finish this despite my personal glioblastoma background. I sold all my other guitars and music gear, lots of other personal stuff (camper, Excursion, guns, etc.) to help finance payment. Went through 2 rounds of radiation and survived two asthma outbursts. Now I'm off from work for a bit to fix language, physical, etc (see the attached folder), so I can focus on this. Oh... and my son wants me to play with them in their concert! Woot! :band:

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First, this is my daughter Zoe - one of the world's best gymnasts! Her part was very important and I love how she did it. :)

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One of the next big part of the plan was to get this stuff all lined up and make good decisions on what was needed and what wasn't. I have all the gear and am now putting it in place. Here it is ready to go.

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Third big part... start drilling. Now, here is where I have a question to research... How do I get them in there without scratching out the surface?

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Best method is to tap the holes with a 15/16-16 bottoming tap. That's not a standard size, I got mine here: https://www.opentip.com/product.php?products_id=7754837

As for driving them in, there should be 2 notches on one of the ends. There is usually and installation tool available where you bought the inserts, if you don't have one, you can use a flat blade screwdriver. I you don't thread the holes first, be VERY careful, I stripped out several trying to do it that way. That's why I now own the tap!
 
Very cool. Glad to see you at it again. Congrats.

I use the machine thread inserts and tap them to 5/16-18. Those have an adhesive on them that helps hold them in once they're screwed in. As Steve said, you need a bottoming tap to get the threads deep enough.
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Rgand said:
I use the machine thread inserts and tap them to 5/16-18....
Just note that the 329 type inserts are really designed for metal, and have machine type external threads. If using this type insert, using a tap is essential because they don't have the sharp knife edged threads required to cut into the wood. On the other hand, the 5/16-18 tap they require is a standard size.
 
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