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  #31  
Old 04-06-2014, 08:32 AM
charles Tauber charles Tauber is offline
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Rule 1 of finishing: do trials on test pieces, not the actual article to be finished.

Take a piece of similar mahogany, apply CA glue as you did on the neck to replicate the situation. Apply stain to that piece to see how the stain takes with the darkened CA-glued area and how you like the appearance. (Stains don't generally take well to glue residue.) If the stain doesn't take well/evenly, another alternative is to apply a coloured top-coat.

The applications of top-coats often change the appearance of the stained article as well. Hence do a full finish test, including stain, filler and top-coat to evaluate the finished finish. Doing so also gives you good insight into the compatibility of the individual finish components.

The alternative is to roll the dice, apply your untested chosen stain, filler and top coat(s) and see if you like it or not. If not, live with it or toss it, 'cause once applied, the stain ain't comin' off.

Last edited by charles Tauber; 04-06-2014 at 08:37 AM.
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  #32  
Old 07-30-2014, 06:56 AM
Neil K Walk Neil K Walk is offline
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Zombie bump:

I've decided to try and pick this up. Last week I began work on the braces.

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  #33  
Old 07-30-2014, 11:32 PM
Murray Hunt Murray Hunt is offline
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Are you using Carpathian for the braces as well? Where does one get a free carpathian top anyhow? I wouldn't mind acquiring one of those myself.
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  #34  
Old 07-31-2014, 05:21 AM
Neil K Walk Neil K Walk is offline
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Braces are From Sitka billets that I bought from LMI last year. As for the top, I'm blessed with some very good friends. I've found that the Luthery community is a wonderfully supportive group of people from all walks and I owe them a lot and need to either pay it back or pay it forward. Many people I know IRL could stand to go to church and learn that lesson or blow the dust off their fancy degrees and remember the Golden Rule.
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  #35  
Old 07-31-2014, 07:57 PM
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Kitchen Guitars Kitchen Guitars is offline
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A great place to get brace wood is Aircraft Supply. A box of great straight spruce for $50ish has lasted me and others for years.
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  #36  
Old 08-06-2014, 06:58 AM
phavriluk phavriluk is offline
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I think the reference was to 'Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co.', a go-to vendor for a whole lot of the bits and pieces that go into flying machines.

I've used aircraft grade spruce from AS&S to repair aircraft wings, and the wood is unbelievably gorgeous. The grain spacing and runout of wood used for certified aircraft is clearly defined in FAA-prepared 'adivsory circulars' and the best of the best is sold for repair/construction materials.
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  #37  
Old 08-06-2014, 06:52 PM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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Good to see you back at this! Nice shavings there..
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  #38  
Old 08-19-2014, 08:01 PM
Neil K Walk Neil K Walk is offline
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Hold on a second. I think I may be changing directions on this one. I've been inspired by GraceGuitar's Olson SJ EIR/WRC build over in the custom section. I also really don't care for dreadnoughts anymore so I think I'm going to switch gears and make another OLF MJ using this set of EIR and Carpathian spruce. The caveat: ebony binding. A lighter material would look funny but the dark with BWB looked so good on that Olson SJ that I have to borrow the idea.
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  #39  
Old 08-19-2014, 10:01 PM
Ned Milburn Ned Milburn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kwakatak View Post
Hold on a second. I think I may be changing directions on this one. I've been inspired by GraceGuitar's Olson SJ EIR/WRC build over in the custom section. I also really don't care for dreadnoughts anymore so I think I'm going to switch gears and make another OLF MJ using this set of EIR and Carpathian spruce. The caveat: ebony binding. A lighter material would look funny but the dark with BWB looked so good on that Olson SJ that I have to borrow the idea.
Ebony is lots of fun to bend!
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  #40  
Old 08-20-2014, 06:30 AM
Neil K Walk Neil K Walk is offline
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I'm sensing sarcasm here, Ned! ;-)

FWIW I'd be willing to stain EIR and rely on purfling for visual effect. From my limited past experience bending EIR was very easy. In fact, I didn't even have to heat a couple of the binding strips last time. Fate was smiling upon me that time.
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  #41  
Old 08-20-2014, 08:21 AM
Ned Milburn Ned Milburn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kwakatak View Post
I'm sensing sarcasm here, Ned! ;-)

FWIW I'd be willing to stain EIR and rely on purfling for visual effect. From my limited past experience bending EIR was very easy. In fact, I didn't even have to heat a couple of the binding strips last time. Fate was smiling upon me that time.
Or perhaps an oxymoron...?? ;-)

Yes, I expect one of the many reasons EIR has become a standard is in its ease of workability. Ebony binding is certainly do-able, but it is really stiff and doesn't bend "creamy" like rosewood does. You'll want to keep the binding on the thin side to help the bending process. Bend slowly with enough heat and water.
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  #42  
Old 08-20-2014, 08:34 AM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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I`used ebony bindings on two previous guitars and didn`t find them much harder to bend than the padauk and figured mahogany I used for the sides. I believe my binding thickness was around .075-.080". I use a smaller diameter pipe than most so maybe that helps.keep the heat more concentrated. I also use a dampened rag to wet the wood when necesaary. Following David Wren`s builds, I tape the bindings together edge to edge before bending.

The one thing that helpa is to use flatsawn wood to make your binding glue-up, this way when you rip them down to size your binding will be quartered which makes bending easier. I`ve bent flatsawn ebony but more care is needed to prevent a crack in tight bends. Also it can be very difficult to determine grain orientation in Gabon ebony, a bit easier with Macassar.
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  #43  
Old 08-20-2014, 08:39 AM
Andy Howell Andy Howell is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kwakatak View Post
Now that my #1 is built I'm hoping to pick back up on this build. I like the feel of the OLF medium jumbo body so much though that I'm considering on doing it again with this set of wood - but still go with the forward-shifted X bracing. I've been looking over the specs of the Martin J-40 and it seems to be generally similar in body size. I still haven't decided what to do for binding and now am reconsidering on using the short scale neck that I have because making the laminated/bolt on neck on my first was so much fun as well.
I'm not a builder but I have owned a J40 for about 25 years. A nice guitar but the body is too deep for comfort! I believe the M series was the same top shape but shallower? My J40 would have benefited from a Manzer wedge!
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  #44  
Old 08-20-2014, 08:30 PM
Neil K Walk Neil K Walk is offline
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Yeah, my MJ is about that deep. I don't mind it so much though I admit that my Larrivee OM is a bit more comfortable.

Thanks for the breakdown on bending ebony, Ned and Louie. I was looking at ordering ebony strips from LMI but admit that I have no idea what I'd get as far as grain orientation.
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  #45  
Old 08-21-2014, 04:37 AM
WhistlingFish WhistlingFish is offline
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To make the task of bending the ebony bindings a little easier, you could spray them with a veneer softener such as SuperSoft 2. It's commonly used with woods that are difficult to bend.

http://www.veneersupplies.com/produc...nditioner.html
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