What to Do Next

[NedRyerson]

I finished up one project to a "good enough for now" point. Another one is almost there, just need to replace the nut then do the setup. So now what?

Fall/winter is coming, so painting/finishing season is going to be wrapped up before I know it. I have one guitar body that I was planning to list for sale, but it needs the final color touches which I may or may not get to before the cold. I have another that needs the full run of primer - color - prep - clear coating which I know I won't finish before winter.

So that leads to be the question of "now what?"

I acquired a B-stock LP body with a beautiful spalted top that I was thinking of putting together as a 12-string (finding a single 24.75" scale 12-string neck is way more difficult than I expected). I was just going to go the Tru-Oil route on this one.

I have a par-built acoustic kit (the type where the body itself is already assembled) that I was going to build for my sister (she doesn't know it yet), but that'll still require some finishing work. I think I talked about this on another topic here somewhere. It has a crack in the side that I was going to fill with gold leaf to accentuate it as a deliberate flaw.

I was going to convert one of my 5-string basses into an 8-string. I can get the bridge on The Bay. Then plug the existing holes in the headstock and redrill new ones for the 8 tuning machines. The neck also needs some serious adjustment. Profile is too thick for comfort, and I'd need to replace the nut anyway so I might as well reshape the profile while I'm at it. Then respray it in the spring. But I can do the bulk of the conversion work during the winter.

My Mockingbird needs a total refinish. That was the first guitar I ever built, and I can tell It'll be sanded down to as much bare wood as I can get it, but it won't be completely natural since I used dye. I'll hand-apply new coats of color and probably a brush-on coat of polyurethane. I had some success with that on my Chevelle Telecaster. Oooooh, or, now that I'm thinking about it while I'm typing, I could mask off some areas of the existing color then apply a new top coat of something so that it cleans up the edges that I sanded through too aggressively while retaining the appearance of the original finish in some spots.....

Aaand I have to check and recheck setup on a number of other instruments. I may have a grounding issue on at least two of them.

OK, so maybe I won't be that bored this winter!

 

[NedRyerson]

Geez, another idea. I could get the planer that I wanted for a while now and start practicing making necks out of 2x4s so that I'm not ruining the good wood.

 

[Spud]

Geez, another idea. I could get the planer that I wanted for a while now and start practicing making necks out of 2x4s so that I'm not ruining the good wood.

A planer is something I have always wanted.

 

[bagman67]

A planer is something I have always wanted.

I've been building out a workshop in the garage, and I just got a (very lightly) used Porter Cable 12.5" planer on OfferUp from a guy who used it for one job at his vacation home, and then retired it. I doubt whether it's had even 1000 linear feet of wood through it. The deals are out there if you're willing to shop. There are also folks out there who rebuild power tools, often to specs that meet or improve on off-the-shelf tolerances, if you are into that kind of searching.

In related news, I am building a solid mahogany Dutch door between my patio and garage this weekend (and, let's be realistic, next weekend as well, and possibly the one after). This being coastal San Diego County, the patio is like a second living room for us, and the garage is my workshop/wife's art studio/son's videogaming lair, so the half-door will really be a welcome addition for light, ventilation, and communication between the spaces. It will replace the disintegrating Masonite hollow interior door the previous owner installed. I could have just gotten a prehung factory-built exterior door and swapped it in, but for the same money I got some gorgeous lumber and rationalized the purchase of some power tools I have wanted for a long time. And my sister, who actually owns the place, gets a gorgeous Dutch door instead of a generic factory steel or fiberglass job, for the price of materials only. A custom Dutch door (and they are ALL custom) would have cost easily $1500-$2000 USD installed.

Anyway, about the planer:
Behold! Mine looks exactly like the factory photo, except that most of the blue anti-mar plastic wrap is still on the table. I paid $200USD, which is a solid discount from the going retail rate of $325-375.

 

[Spud]

I've been building out a workshop in the garage, and I just got a (very lightly) used Porter Cable 12.5" planer on OfferUp from a guy who used it for one job at his vacation home, and then retired it. I doubt whether it's had even 1000 linear feet of wood through it. The deals are out there if you're willing to shop. There are also folks out there who rebuild power tools, often to specs that meet or improve on off-the-shelf tolerances, if you are into that kind of searching.

In related news, I am building a solid mahogany Dutch door between my patio and garage this weekend (and, let's be realistic, next weekend as well, and possibly the one after). This being coastal San Diego County, the patio is like a second living room for us, and the garage is my workshop/wife's art studio/son's videogaming lair, so the half-door will really be a welcome addition for light, ventilation, and communication between the spaces. It will replace the disintegrating Masonite hollow interior door the previous owner installed. I could have just gotten a prehung factory-built exterior door and swapped it in, but for the same money I got some gorgeous lumber and rationalized the purchase of some power tools I have wanted for a long time. And my sister, who actually owns the place, gets a gorgeous Dutch door instead of a generic factory steel or fiberglass job, for the price of materials only. A custom Dutch door (and they are ALL custom) would have cost easily $1500-$2000 USD installed.

Anyway, about the planer:
Behold! Mine looks exactly like the factory photo, except that most of the blue anti-mar plastic wrap is still on the table. I paid $200USD, which is a solid discount from the going retail rate of $325-375.

Wowzers! Very cool planer and project! As you go try to remember how much you love and enjoy each of your digits!!

 

[bagman67]

I've never had a finger I didn't want to keep.

 

[mayfly]

hey - I think you should build the acoustic, then finish it at the same time as finishing the mockingbird.

 

[Spud]

I finished up one project to a "good enough for now" point. Another one is almost there, just need to replace the nut then do the setup. So now what?

Fall/winter is coming, so painting/finishing season is going to be wrapped up before I know it. I have one guitar body that I was planning to list for sale, but it needs the final color touches which I may or may not get to before the cold. I have another that needs the full run of primer - color - prep - clear coating which I know I won't finish before winter.

So that leads to be the question of "now what?"

I acquired a B-stock LP body with a beautiful spalted top that I was thinking of putting together as a 12-string (finding a single 24.75" scale 12-string neck is way more difficult than I expected). I was just going to go the Tru-Oil route on this one.

I have a par-built acoustic kit (the type where the body itself is already assembled) that I was going to build for my sister (she doesn't know it yet), but that'll still require some finishing work. I think I talked about this on another topic here somewhere. It has a crack in the side that I was going to fill with gold leaf to accentuate it as a deliberate flaw.

I was going to convert one of my 5-string basses into an 8-string. I can get the bridge on The Bay. Then plug the existing holes in the headstock and redrill new ones for the 8 tuning machines. The neck also needs some serious adjustment. Profile is too thick for comfort, and I'd need to replace the nut anyway so I might as well reshape the profile while I'm at it. Then respray it in the spring. But I can do the bulk of the conversion work during the winter.

My Mockingbird needs a total refinish. That was the first guitar I ever built, and I can tell It'll be sanded down to as much bare wood as I can get it, but it won't be completely natural since I used dye. I'll hand-apply new coats of color and probably a brush-on coat of polyurethane. I had some success with that on my Chevelle Telecaster. Oooooh, or, now that I'm thinking about it while I'm typing, I could mask off some areas of the existing color then apply a new top coat of something so that it cleans up the edges that I sanded through too aggressively while retaining the appearance of the original finish in some spots.....

Aaand I have to check and recheck setup on a number of other instruments. I may have a grounding issue on at least two of them.

OK, so maybe I won't be that bored this winter!

Also, maybe practice playing some scales?