The Black Korina Christmas Strat

[mayfly]

Fresh from the screamin' deals, may I present the Black Korina Christmas Strat!


The plan is an oil finish, but I was not certain if I should do a stain first. I did a test patch using Old Bastards Provincial



Center is the stain with oil, and the sides are just oil. Decided to leave the stain out.



and I'm glad that I did!


So far, so good:




More to come...

 

[rjd]

nice!

 

[mayfly]

Day two! Let's talk about the neck. I decided to give the neck the same oil finish treatment as the body, cause it's a hippie back to nature guitar don'tchaknow. Regarding that oil treatment, I'm burnishing in the oil. That is, I put the oil on, then rub down the body with sand paper, starting with 220 on the first day. Then repeat each day with finer grid sandpaper. The idea is that the oil / sanding dust fills the pores of the wood and makes it smoother. Today was 330 grit - I hope to end up at 600 grit a couple of days from now. Just in time for christmas!

Here's the neck. The birdseye is starting to pop even after the first coat. I did not burnish between the frets, but I might with a sanding stick at the higher grits. We'll play that one as it comes. The neck seems to be taking the oil, even though it has sanding sealer on it.

Note that Warmoth does not consider this to be a hard finish. I knew this going in. My warranty is highly void at this point but that's ok. If it all goes pear shaped, it will be All My Fault (tm)

 

[Ozopart]

Looks really nice. I am thinking of picking up another Black Korina strat body and finishing myself. I can't tell from your post the exact Walrus product you are using. Can you let me know? Also, what are your thoughts on whether not doing the sanding would result in an undesireable finish? I don't mind not being as smooth, but want it to look nice. And, how did you apply the oil? Rags, ....? Also, how many coats? I did over twenty when I did a Tru-Oil finish, but that definitely was a chore.

 

[mayfly]

Thanks man! I'm using the Walrus furniture butter, but I suspect that the straight oil would work the same.
If you don't want to do the sanding, I would say use the thinner products. The butter requires the sanding to work it in. YMMV and all that.
Yea I used a cut -up old t-shirt to apply the oil. I'm planning on about 5-6 coats, but may stop early depending on how it is.

 

[Ozopart]

Thanks man! I'm using the Walrus furniture butter, but I suspect that the straight oil would work the same.
If you don't want to do the sanding, I would say use the thinner products. The butter requires the sanding to work it in. YMMV and all that.
Yea I used a cut -up old t-shirt to apply the oil. I'm planning on about 5-6 coats, but may stop early depending on how it is.

Thanks! The body I am looking at isn't as pretty as yours (sigh), but it is only $160. Also, I really wanted an HSS, but ...

 

[mayfly]

Day three! This is how the body looks after a coat of butter and sanding to 320. This time I used a sanding block on the flat parts and by hand on the curved edges:


Same treatment for the neck. The birdseye is really starting to show!

 

[bonesofwrath]

Somehow I ended up with all my Warmoth necks being ebony fingerboards. And I'm actually kind of a die hard maple fingerboard guy.

Very nice.

 

[rockandroller]

"that's effing beautiful"

 

[mayfly]

Thank you! The plan is to take it to 400 tomorrow.

"400... and beyond !!"

 

[mayfly]

Day four: 400 grit!

 

[VanHeGen]

You’ve been busy this Christmas, and the guitar is looking great!

 

[mayfly]

Thanks man! I had a look this morning. The parts are looking good. The neck is super smooth with a nice colour. I did burnish between the frets (in line with the wood grain, using a 1/4" square cut-off) and it turned out really well. I was careful around the frets and I'm happy to report that they are unscratched (confirmed with a magnifying glass).

The body is also nice, although the wood grain is not quite as filled in. Funny that... it's almost like it's a different species of wood!

In any case, I think that I will stop here and not go to 600. Now the plan is to forget that I have them for a week or two while the oils dry...

More to come in a week or two...

 

[mayfly]

Day Six! I cleaned up the fret ends on the neck. Both neck and body are drying nicely and are very very smooth to the touch. Might do another coat on the neck after I roll the fretboard edges (now that the frets are filed, the fingerboard seems a tad sharp).

So far very impressed with this furniture butter stuff.

 

[syscokid]

… after I roll the fretboard edges (now that the frets are filed, the fingerboard seems a tad sharp).

What’s your method for rolling the fretboard edges?

 

[bagman67]

What’s your method for rolling the fretboard edges?

Yeah, @mayfly how are you doing that? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Rick]

Me too!

 

[mayfly]

I'm going to use 400 grit sandpaper soaked in the oil and wrapped around a 1/4" square stick.

 

[syscokid]

I'm going to use 400 grit sandpaper soaked in the oil and wrapped around a 1/4" square stick.

Hmmmm, interesting! I definitely would like to see the fine details of your results when available. Carry on…

 

[Rick]

I never heard of walrus butter.