This is bobsessed fault!

[Tonar8352]

Actually not totally.  :icon_thumright: I have been contemplating refinishing my blond Tele to a 2-tone sunburst and really waffling back and forth on refinishing a perfectly good guitar. Especially one that looks so close to a vintage finish. When bobsessed asked about bursting swamp ash and I dug out that picture of the 2-tone Tele for his thread I stopped waffling and got busy pulling apart a perfectly good guitar.

This is a great example of how much lacquer yellows and why those old guitars look like they do.

I little high speed DA sanding.......

And 10 minutes later we have no finish left on the top.

By the way this is my all time favorite Warmoth neck. I have ordered others to the same spec and none of them feels like this one.

 

[Axkoa]

Moooooreeee!!!!  :turtle:

 

[nullref]

Can't wait to see the outcome on this one.  :icon_thumright:

 

[rgand]

That's some beautiful grain in that one. It'll take a splendid burst finish.

 

[bobsessed]

Glad I could help!  :toothy10:

 

[bobsessed]

Where will you be spraying this? I want to spray mine now, but of course I can't do it outside in freezing, damp weather. Inside, it's warm and dry, but dying from paint inhalation would suck. Do I have to wait till spring? :sad1: :sad1: :sad1:

 

[Tonar8352]

For all the newer members on the board this is how I fill and finish swamp ash. To answer bobsessed question I spray in the garage and then hang the bodies in a heated room. I will shoot in cold wet weather but I add lacquer retarder to keep the finish from flashing off too fast and having moisture get trapped in the film.
So here we go.
First I put on some good guitar music. I chose Danny Gatton's 88 Elmira Street just so the guitar hears what a really great Tele sounds like.  :laughing7:
I use oil based past filler and apply it with the grain first and then brush it cross grain to drive it in to the open grain.

I use Q-tips and toothicks to clean unwanted filler out of holes and off edges of routes and the neck pocket.

I use burlap to wipe the excess filler off across the grain once it has flashed off.

After it hangs for a few days I'll start spraying finish to get the surface completely level and then I can do the color coats.

 

[rgand]

Thumbs up to your choice of music. :glasses10:

 

[bobsessed]

Lovin' this thread!  Tell me how to get my string ferrules flush with the body. The ferrules I bought were "correct" for vintage Tele, (Kluson), but have a top shoulder that is slightly bigger than the drilled holes from Warmoth.

 

[Cagey]

Once a hole is drilled, it gets a little trickier to step-sink it. Nothing to center on. You'll need a drill press and some patience, and the appropriate diameter brad point or Forstner bit. Neither bit is actually correct, but will serve to cut a clean entry you can follow with a twist drill with less worry about tearout. Getting a Forstner in the right diameter might be challenging, but brad points come in more sizes.

It might be easier to get some lipless ferrules like these. Check your hole dimensions.

 

[Logrinn]

... Check your hole dimensions.

Especially the depth, since a too deep hole would (might) end up with the ferrule under the edge of the body.

 

[mayfly]

Tell me how to get my string ferrules flush with the body. The ferrules I bought were "correct" for vintage Tele, (Kluson), but have a top shoulder that is slightly bigger than the drilled holes from Warmoth.

I managed this with a pencil, double sided tape, and sandpaper.  This was a musicraft body mind you.

 

[Tonar8352]

I did it the easy way. I had my guitar tech install them. I lacquer em him perfects em!

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I managed this with a pencil, double sided tape, and sandpaper...

That's essentially how I got the shoulders on the TOM bridge post bushings on my Mustang build to sit flush as well. Slow and careful work, but ultimately effective.

 

[bobsessed]

Once a hole is drilled, it gets a little trickier to step-sink it. Nothing to center on. You'll need a drill press and some patience, and the appropriate diameter brad point or Forstner bit. Neither bit is actually correct, but will serve to cut a clean entry you can follow with a twist drill with less worry about tearout. Getting a Forstner in the right diameter might be challenging, but brad points come in more sizes.

It might be easier to get some lipless ferrules like these. Check your hole dimensions.

    Dang.....I was afraid you'd say that. I've got the drill press, forstner bits, brad points.....but gettin' the courage to countersink those things is the problem. You get just one chance to get that right. The lipless ferrules seem to be the best way to go, but there's nothing to keep them from being pulled down into the body when the string pulls on them.....so maybe glue them in :dontknow:.

 

[BigSteve22]

The only way I've ever seen to correctly counter bore an existing hole, using a drill press, is with an index. A large board, with hold downs that allow you to re-position the work, is attached to the drill press table. Place a bit of the same diameter as the existing hole in the chuck and use it to index the existing hole with the center line of the quill. Secure the work in position with the hold downs. Replace the bit with one of the proper size for the required counter bore, and slowly lower the bit into your work. This will ensure that the existing hole and the new counter bore are aligned. Do this for each hole.

It ain't real hard, but it certainly requires careful execution.

:icon_thumright:

 

[Cagey]

Check the ID of the holes in the body, then look up the OD of the ferrules. They're likely to be a press fit. Also, check the depth of the larger opening of the holes in the body vs. the height of the ferrules. The holes willl only go so far before quickly necking down to a smaller hole just for the string, and it's possible you won't be in danger of pressing the ferrules in too far. Might even have to increase their depth.

If it turns out the lipless ferrules will be a press fit and the holes are or can be made a proper depth, then if your drill press has at least a 12" swing you can use it as a sort of an arbor press to press the ferrules into the body (adjust the chuck to where the fingers are the same diameter as the ferrule). Just don't press too far if that would be possible. They should be tight enough that the strings won't pull them in any farther as the tightest string is only gonna pull about 15 pounds, so they won't move. If you're worried about it, you could fill the bottom of the hole a small amount with some spackling or glue in some dowel something, drill to correct the depth once it dries, press in the ferrules, then drill the centers out for string clearance.

 

[Cagey]

The only way I've ever seen to correctly counter bore an existing hole, using a drill press, is with an index.

That'll work. I've had to drill string-through holes a number of times, so I do it a slightly different way with a simple indexing jig. Get a board larger than the body, clamp it to the stage and drill a single blind hole in it the same diameter as the string holes at the face side of the body. Then you break off a cheap or dull bit of the same diameter to make an indexing peg. Put the peg in the hole so it sticks up 1/4" or so. Then you can place the body face down so the peg fits into a string hole and your quill will automatically be aligned with the center of the hole. Drill the counterbore, then lift the body off the pin, move it to the next hole and go again. Keep doing that until you run out of holes.

I originally did it that way for drilling holes all the way through the body, as it's risky to drill all the way through from one side if it's important that the holes be perpendicular. Chances of the bit wandering off-center on its way through are high with smaller diameter bits. So, you drill partway through on one side, then use the indexing jig to drill from the other side to meet the hole. The same jig is then used to do the counterbore for the ferrules.

 

[BigSteve22]

Kevin- I've only used that method for counter boring or enlarging blind holes. I like your way for through holes, and I'll definitely be giving it a try. As I've said before, I always learn something new here!

:yourock:

 

[Cagey]

Most recent use of that technique was for the repair on Vikingred's Soloist, where he had somebody else do a Hannes bridge installation who made a mess of it. All the string-thru and mounting holes on that one were off because the guy tried drilling through the body in one pass and the bit wandered.