Refinishing a damaged Koa / Mahogany Soloist with Tru-Oil (by a beginner)
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stratamania
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That is really getting there now. Time well spent... :icon_thumright:
Dazkeirle
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The front for the most part is done, the back has a few (hundred) to do, a bit harder picking out the hog.
This front is without any sanding or treatment.
Plan will be to give it a sand down once it's mostly out, see what I'm dealing with. May use some warm damp rags to try and plump up the pores a little and reduce some of the damage and then sand flat then start with my actual sanding finishing routine.
If anybody else feels like doing this, picking filler out of the pours of their guitar I say go for it, it's easy..... not. It's a nightmare and the more you look the more you see.
There are still very tiny dots that I'm gonna let pass, the damage of removing them isn't worth it (I don't have tools more smaller than a pin head).
I'm hoping that a tru-oil swarf by working tru-oil with 400 grit sand paper will help me fill some of the grain and pores creates doing this (but at least they're not bright white anymore eh)
PhilHill
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Dr Excess said:
The front for the most part is done, the back has a few (hundred) to do, a bit harder picking out the hog.
This front is without any sanding or treatment.
Plan will be to give it a sand down once it's mostly out, see what I'm dealing with. May use some warm damp rags to try and plump up the pores a little and reduce some of the damage and then sand flat then start with my actual sanding finishing routine.
If anybody else feels like doing this, picking filler out of the pours of their guitar I say go for it, it's easy..... not. It's a nightmare and the more you look the more you see.
There are still very tiny dots that I'm gonna let pass, the damage of removing them isn't worth it (I don't have tools more smaller than a pin head).
I'm hoping that a tru-oil swarf by working tru-oil with 400 grit sand paper will help me fill some of the grain and pores creates doing this (but at least they're not bright white anymore eh)
Fantastic job Sir. You have the patience of a first grade teacher. You are proving what my Dad used to tell me, "If you want big results, it takes big effort."
A salute to your efforts.
ccasion14:
Dazkeirle
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OK, let me repeat again should anyone want to do this, this is hard work. Do not start picking out filler unless you're ready to put yourself through some kind of existence defining punishment.
It is endless, it requires insane hand eye coordination. It requires taking yourself to a place where your arched back and dry eyes are not a problem, you are somewhere else...
After literally hours of picking we're at a better place. I would imagine several thousand little specs removed but here's the body after giving it some 180 grit / acetone treatment.
I will spend the next few days just randomly peering and removing the odd speck I may have missed. It's very much 99.9% now though.
I plan to use tru-oil 400 grit grain fill slurry to try and fill as much of the grain / pock marks I've created. They will still look better than white specks.
As an aside my veneer came. Good news is the grain is actually pretty close to what the back of my guitar is doing, bad news is it's a slightly different colour.
Now, when tru-oil is applied they may be very similar. So problem solved and I'll test this. However if they aren't I have another plan. I'll still use them, all matched up for grain but will stain the wood black first. This way I'll still have the full wood look but I'll have a black theme like so many control covers, and to match the theme of the front. I have 5 sheets of almost identical.
This will look less janky than "almost" matching colour.
It is endless, it requires insane hand eye coordination. It requires taking yourself to a place where your arched back and dry eyes are not a problem, you are somewhere else...
After literally hours of picking we're at a better place. I would imagine several thousand little specs removed but here's the body after giving it some 180 grit / acetone treatment.
I will spend the next few days just randomly peering and removing the odd speck I may have missed. It's very much 99.9% now though.
I plan to use tru-oil 400 grit grain fill slurry to try and fill as much of the grain / pock marks I've created. They will still look better than white specks.
As an aside my veneer came. Good news is the grain is actually pretty close to what the back of my guitar is doing, bad news is it's a slightly different colour.
Now, when tru-oil is applied they may be very similar. So problem solved and I'll test this. However if they aren't I have another plan. I'll still use them, all matched up for grain but will stain the wood black first. This way I'll still have the full wood look but I'll have a black theme like so many control covers, and to match the theme of the front. I have 5 sheets of almost identical.
This will look less janky than "almost" matching colour.
ByteFrenzy
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CynicalMe would remark that you've gone from having little white specks to having little black specks. But RestOfMe looks forward to seeing it with that TruOil on it - it's going to look great.
stratamania
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Koa blimey guvnor would you Adam and Eve it, what an Uncle Bob...
Dazkeirle
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ByteFrenzy said:
Yeah there is always that risk, but I figured that there was white because they filled the black pores so that's how it was anyway.
This is the just the first stage. My plan is to use the tru oil slurry method to pore / grain fill. If that doesn't work I'll fill with a more neutral grain filler.
Tbh they've reduced quite a bit just through the finishing I've been doing.
rgand
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Maybe this will help. Maybe not. :icon_biggrin:Logrinn said:
‘Blimey’ is used as a way of expressing surprise at something, often used when seeing or looking at something surprising or impressive instead of shocking or upsetting.
Guvnor: Boss, person in charge, person being spoken to
Adam and Eve – Cockney rhyming slang for believe. “Can you Adam and Eve it!”
Bob’s your uncle – The saying originally meant you could get anything or do anything if you had the right connections because it came about after the 20th British Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, famously appointed a nephew into an important political post for which he didn’t have the relevant experience. Today it is more commonly used to say everything is OK. To "Uncle Bob it" may refer to being able to accomplish a daunting task.
stratamania
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Rgand said:
In this case although a reasonable guess it is not referring to Bobs your Uncle but rather Uncle Bob, is a job.
