fdesalvo
Hero Member
- Messages
- 3,609
What’s up! Found a great deal on a body that was previously finished with a dye, oil, and wax finish. There were flaws everywhere, but I was able to take the body back to bare wood. I was not able to remove some of the stain and evidence of drips that the wood really soaked in, but they finished out well enough.
I decided to go with a satin UV-cure resin grain fill and finish, using Solarez products (grain filler and “I can’t believe it’s not lacquer”). Testing in scrap wood revealed a beautiful and iron clad finish that resisted indentation and fingernail and pick assaults.
It took me 45 min to fill the grain lol. The Solarez is incredible, curing within 3 minutes in sunlight. I left just a touch of grain for natural feelies. The top coat laid down thick and self levels really well, but I had issues with fish-eyes, that level sanded out fine. Learning curve stuff. I can’t wait to learn more about applying the topcoat. The gloss is very deep and there were zero adhesion issues with any layers. Gotta say it - this is much more rugged than tru oil and much easier to apply. I still love tru oil, but this is my go-to now.
Pics attached. The image with bridge installed is right after sanding the old finish off. Photos with ferrules installed depict the finished body. Neck being crafted out of black korina And macassar ebony. A month or two out, so next updates will be of the body replete with pickups n hardware. Oh, body is at my luthier’s getting a single coil slot routed in the neck position.
After first clear coat lol. 100% solids, so builds fast.
Flattened finish to satin sheen
After final polishing
Love how this finished up
I decided to go with a satin UV-cure resin grain fill and finish, using Solarez products (grain filler and “I can’t believe it’s not lacquer”). Testing in scrap wood revealed a beautiful and iron clad finish that resisted indentation and fingernail and pick assaults.
It took me 45 min to fill the grain lol. The Solarez is incredible, curing within 3 minutes in sunlight. I left just a touch of grain for natural feelies. The top coat laid down thick and self levels really well, but I had issues with fish-eyes, that level sanded out fine. Learning curve stuff. I can’t wait to learn more about applying the topcoat. The gloss is very deep and there were zero adhesion issues with any layers. Gotta say it - this is much more rugged than tru oil and much easier to apply. I still love tru oil, but this is my go-to now.
Pics attached. The image with bridge installed is right after sanding the old finish off. Photos with ferrules installed depict the finished body. Neck being crafted out of black korina And macassar ebony. A month or two out, so next updates will be of the body replete with pickups n hardware. Oh, body is at my luthier’s getting a single coil slot routed in the neck position.

After first clear coat lol. 100% solids, so builds fast.

Flattened finish to satin sheen


After final polishing

Love how this finished up
