First amateur scratch guitar build, continued: cedar/mahogany medium jumbo

[Neil K Walk]

Thanks, Mary and Bob!

Mary: you're right about taking it slow. I should also qualify that there were many backward steps and I've had a lot of support - and help - from many many people, including you and Tim. I really have to give credit to John Kitchen for enabling me to do this in the first place.

Bob: FWIW it's not cheating at all to build a kit - or to take a class for that matter. When I've been in over my head I've turned to others for help or used serviced parts. While I'm proud of this little project I'm just as proud of the mistakes and am not ashamed of the blems all that much.

[Tim McKnight]

Looking good Neil. You need to learn how to FP with your left arm too so you don't end up looking like a lop sided PopEye

You can apply some walnut or provincial dark stain to the bare wood of your Honduran Rosewood bridge [before] you FP it. FP alone will not get it dark enough to match your EIRW FB.

[mustache79]

I am eagerly waiting for the finished results!!!!!!!!!

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by Tim McKnight

Looking good Neil. You need to learn how to FP with your left arm too so you don't end up looking like a lop sided PopEye

You can apply some walnut or provincial dark stain to the bare wood of your Honduran Rosewood bridge [before] you FP it. FP alone will not get it dark enough to match your EIRW FB.

Thanks, Tim. Will oil based stain do? If so what type of precautions do I need to take so that I don't stain any other part of the guitar inadvertently?

Anyway, I'm loving and hating the French polishing process. Over at the OLF they joke that FP isn't so much a "finish" as it is a "surrender" which I take to mean that you never really know when you're done. Just that at some point you're supposed to get rid of the oil and buff it to a gloss and be done with it. I seem to be taking 3 steps forward and 2 steps back with my approach.

Meanwhile, I've been working to finish up the neck. I got a bone nut blank from LMI and a sheet of clear pickguard material from LMI and beside a set of bone pins I anticipate that this will be among the last procurement I'll be making toward this guitar. Fingers crossed on that one but I have more wood acclimating in my basement for the *next* one. I'm trying to figure out a way to let my wife down gently that the *next* one won't necessarily be the *last* one.

Anyway, I worked a couple of hours sanding off the last of the rough angles to the heel and volute and made the shaft a bit more smooth with 100 grit sandpaper. Then I moved up to 600 grit and now it's all nice and smooth. More importantly though I've been working on the nut slot and I'm about 75% there. I had to make myself walk away before I screwed it up too much. That's one of the "reflections" I've written in my little notebook that I'm trying to turn into personal laws so that I don't screw up quite so much anymore.

[Neil K Walk]

French polish is progressing nicely. There are still some boo-boos that I need to work through but I love the shine:

[naccoachbob]

Yessir, that's shining like a hubcap on a '32 Hudson!

[Mary]

It does look good. I would like to compare to a Hudson but I don't have one.

[Neil K Walk]

Thanks, Bob and Mary. It sure does smudge easily though. I need to fashion a hanger for it.

[Kitchen Guitars]

Neil, THAT LOOKS GREAT. I am proud of you and your tenacity! I can't wait to hear you play her.

Named yet?

[Mary]

Yes, I agree. Give 'er a name so we can speak of her on a more personal basis.

[Neil K Walk]

Well...I don't know about naming it. As much as I 've fussed with it it's still just a hunk of wood. I'm just amazed at how all these little faltering steps are leading to fruition. Maybe when it finally makes some noise and I can connect with it as a musician then maybe one will pop into my head.

[Mary]

Just don't call it "Quits."

[Viking]

Beautiful finish on that thing. Did you find french polishing difficult to learn? I've read the LMI french polishing description and it sounds complicated but doable.

[Mary]

Neil can answer this since it is Neil's thread, but from my own experience I thought it was the easiest to repair after a player wears it thin. If pictures are a telling thing he has already mastered the areas visible by the camera.

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by Viking

Beautiful finish on that thing. Did you find french polishing difficult to learn? I've read the LMI french polishing description and it sounds complicated but doable.

Thanks, but I must admit that there are dull areas where I had to sand through some smudges and dust left by a dirty pad. I neglected to capture those details in my closeups! It certainly is a complicated process and one that I'm learning must not be rushed.

BTW, I'm not done yet either. I still need to add a couple more coats to even out the consistency of the finish and then I have to figure out how to do the final buffing so that the high gloss doesn't succumb to scratches.

PS: from your first build thread I see that you're working with cedar. Don't make the mistakes I've made. Put a good spit coat of shellac on it after finishing up the thickness sanding so that you minimize tearout and later on when you do the final sanding take extra steps to protect the top when not working on it.