Engelmann/Honduran Mahogany Dread - Page 5

naccoachbob · #61 09-09-2013, 08:49 PM

Finallly some progress. For some reason, I was skittish about using Zpoxy on a guitar. I watched Todd Stock's videos on it. I know people who use it and swear by it, but I was finding it hard to pull the trigger.

But I finally got started. Here are some pics of how it stands after one coat of the Zpoxy. I am really liking how this looks. Tomorrow I need to get some bolt inserts so I can clamp the guitar down. That will make the 2nd coat much faster to complete. This stuff really does make the wood stand out so well.

I'm skittish about spraying this as well, but unless it rains or the humidity whacks out this weekend I'll start doing that.
Bob

Neil K Walk · #62 09-10-2013, 01:54 PM

Looking good, Bob. The cocobolo contrasts nicely with the mahogany and the colors have come to life under the z poxy.

Mary · #63 09-11-2013, 06:20 AM

Aw, beautiful!

naccoachbob · #64 09-13-2013, 07:20 PM

Thanks folks. I was very surprised even after the first coat of Zpoxy. So excited about the rest of the finish process. Tonight I'm going to lightly sand it back to level - finally got pore filling tamed fairly well. Still some learning to do, but it's getting better.

Last night, I took the cover off of the top. I had poster board taped on the top for several days so that no Zpoxy would get into the top. Realizing that having tape on it for a couple of days might cause problems in tear out, I used the least adhesive tape I had, and I took a hair dryer to the tape as I was very slowly pulling it off. The pictures below show the only place on the top where it tore. As soon as I saw it, I stopped, realizing that I was going against the grain. So I came back to it from the lower bout. But still some fibers have lifted, and there's some that came out.

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm hesitant to sand as deep as that thing is, the top is about as thin as I want to go until I do my final sanding. I did not pull the fibers off, but I honestly don't think there is much to do to save them. Would putting LMI glue or any other glue on the location and pressing the fibers back in their original place be an option? It's frustrating after taking such good care of the top on this guitar. That was my goal anyway.

Thanks for any thoughts on this.
Bob

ps. Sorry for that black cat hair that somehow sat on the top!! Sheesh.

Jim.S · #65 09-13-2013, 08:05 PM

Hey Bob, I would glue them back in. I would most likely use hot hide glue but I can't see why LMI glue would not work either.

Jim

naccoachbob · #66 09-13-2013, 08:17 PM

Thanks, Jim. I only have either LMI or Titebond. I do have Elmer's, but don't think that would be a good choice.
So, just dab some down, lay the curls in place? Then very, very, very lightly tape it?

Steve Kinnaird · #67 09-13-2013, 09:54 PM

Yeah, I think Jim is right. Glue them back down. try some LMI white, as it grabs fast and dries clear. You'll be ok. I've seen...and done...worse.

Steve

naccoachbob · #68 09-13-2013, 10:10 PM

Thanks, Steve.
I'll get 'er done in the morning.
Bob

Jim.S · #69 09-14-2013, 12:16 AM

Maybe you could get yourself a scrap of the top, pull a few fibres out with tape and do a trial Bob. I am with Steve, I would chose the LMI first cause it might show just a tad less than the Titebond.

Jim

Mary · #70 09-14-2013, 07:33 AM

Hey Bob. You got my smile out of one picture.

The cat hair is a reminder of one of our earlier sells.

Quick story: Tim use to wear a mustache. He had trimmed it on a "spray day." Never noticed it until six months later when the customer came back and said he didn't know what this little spot was. It just popped up on the guitar after he knows he had gone over it with a fine tooth comb. Tim pulled out a humongous spy detective glass and his face turned a little red. Yep, you guessed it. It was a little teeny tiny mustache hair trimming. Tim felt so bad, but I told the customer there are two ways to look at this. It can be torn apart and resprayed, but that delays getting the guitar back until who knows when. He opted out of that right one away because of a concert he had to preform and this was the guitar he was using for most songs. Or he could consider it a labor of love and accept the luthier's free DNA. I also showed him where Tim had already dropped blood and sweat before sanding it.

AS a good will offer I asked if he would accept a gift of some strings we would donate to his church instead. He gladly accepted the strings.

Your picture is proof that you have a heart to have the cat's DNA in the picture. At least it didn't get in the guitar's DNA.

I am glad to see this. Thank you for bringing back a pleasant memory.

naccoachbob · #71 09-14-2013, 05:17 PM

As soon as you said "Tim used to wear a mustache", I spit out my Pepsi on the keyboard. And I'm still laughing. I've got DNA on ALL of the guitars I've made so far and don't think it'll ever stop. Ya'll did tell him there was no charge, right?

Oh, and thanks all for the assist on the tear out. It turned out to be way less of a problem than I thought. I scraped with a razor blade and all of it disappeared until I gave one final scrape and produced another one. A little drop of LMI glue and it seated. Later, the glue topping was scraped away as well. Last night, however, it looked huge!

I'm still laughing.

Mary · #72 09-15-2013, 05:53 AM

When the keyboard sticks due to a maximum Pepsi bath invite the cat to clean it. Make her earn her keep!

Jim.S · #73 09-15-2013, 07:48 PM

My cat has not returned home in the last three days, have searched the roads, no body. He never roamed very far anyway. I doubt he has been "adopted" as he is a most unfriendly cat (was never handled until he was 6 months old) so our best guess is that he met a brown snake. Funny how I keep hoping and searching, I doubt I'll ever see him again.

Sadly
Jim

Mary · #74 09-17-2013, 06:09 AM

Not every family member is the most pleasant, but we still love them and want them safe. I hope your cat comes home. You will miss snarling at him. If he stay gone to long he will "tom cat" in all the back alleys and you can take care of his babies when they come home and introduce themselves to you.

naccoachbob · #75 09-22-2013, 02:19 PM

Made some progress this week. I'd gotten the wrong shellac, then ordered and got the right shellac, then read more and more where there were problems with the shellac and Emtech 6000. Of course, I didn't read the right stuff until I'd put some on. But one coat of the shellac, and I started sanding it back. It felt waxy to me, even though it was de-waxed Zinsser sealcoat. I had emailed the guy at Target, and after his response, I decided to forego the shellac coat. So I used denatured alcohol as he said to do, and then started spraying. Of course, mother nature got in the way and I had to stop for over a day. But, now I'm spraying. I got 3 coats on Thu, 5 coats yesterday and will do 5 today. I leveled after the first 3 because of the gap in time. Then wiped with some DNA and did the 5 yesterday.

Here's how it looked after sanding back yesterday's coats.

Then after the 2nd coat today.

It did take a good while to sand back to level on the top and back. Surprisingly for me the sides went pretty easily. The troji came in handy for that part.

I'll probably do the 5 coats today, then sand tomorrow, and 3 final coats on Tue nite.

Can't wait for it all to cure.