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5 string buckeye burl/mahogany neck through
- Thread starter lbridenstine
- Start date
We had a 4.2 magnitude earthquake here yesterday! And by "here", I mean the earthquake originated 5 miles from my house! It was crazy, because I live in Michigan and we never get earthquakes.
After the earthquake, I worked on the bass for 9.5 hours yesterday. I was too tired to post pictures last night, but here they are now.
After cleaning up the rest of the body shaping yesterday, I did the fretwork.
I need to clean the garage after I get the bass finished. [See? I work in the garage
]
Here's how they turned out. I got Stewmac's fret end dressing file so I could use it on this and future builds and it really helped a lot.
When the frets were done, I sanded the body and headstock to 220 grit.
When I wiped it with naphtha, I did spot a couple of areas on the mahogany that need a little more sanding, so I'll do that before I grain fill.
I spread Mirror Coat epoxy over the burl and the sides of the mahogany.
Buckeye burl soaks in epoxy and finishes really fast, so I had to keep going back and touching up the dry looking spots after it soaked in. Once it was staying wet looking for a little bit, I mixed turquoise with some more epoxy and filled the voids, which ran all over because it's self leveling and the top is carved and the headstock is angled...
Invalid Link Removed
I checked it today and the turquoise has sunk in/spilled out more. I kept finding air bubbles and popping them last night, so I'm guessing some more air bubbles emerged and popped themselves and didn't have enough turquoise to fill in that space. Looks like I'll have to do more turquoise after this cures. I'm not really looking forward to sanding this mess.
You can also see the "dry" spots on the burl where the epoxy soaked in more. I knew that would happen and was already planning on doing another coat at least. I was just hoping that the turquoise part would have been filled all the way yesterday.
I also decided to try out the laser toner transfer method for the logo and serial number. I had blueprints printed for my next guitar design and in the extra space on the paper I added a bunch of logos and serial numbers. Unfortunately I forgot that they needed to be reverse images in order to transfer them. I ordered the first print from Staples, then the next day I ordered the reversed logos and serial numbers from FedEx/Kinkos because that was closer to where I was going.
The Staples print is the one rolled on the left, Kinkos is laying flat on the right. I'd say there's a pretty big difference in print quality. The Staples print is really crisp, dark black, Kinkos looks faded. Sorry the Staples print looks slightly out of focus, my camera was focusing on the Kinkos print, it looks like.
So, it looks like I'll be going to Staples if I need more prints.
Luckily, the Kinkos print did seem to transfer just fine. I used Mod Podge since it seemed to show up a little better than transferring it with a wood burning pen when I tested it (although I did like the slightly burnt look that the pen gave).
I peeled off the paper today by running water on my finger tip and just rubbing the paper off of it. It turned out like this.
My only concern is that the Mod Podge is probably going to prevent the epoxy from making the color of the burl match the burl on the headstock.
I did the serial number in the control cavity, but haven't peeled the paper off yet because the turquoise part of the epoxy is still a little sticky, so I don't want to turn the bass over yet. That's also preventing me from grain filling the mahogany today.
After the earthquake, I worked on the bass for 9.5 hours yesterday. I was too tired to post pictures last night, but here they are now.
After cleaning up the rest of the body shaping yesterday, I did the fretwork.
I need to clean the garage after I get the bass finished. [See? I work in the garage
]Here's how they turned out. I got Stewmac's fret end dressing file so I could use it on this and future builds and it really helped a lot.
When the frets were done, I sanded the body and headstock to 220 grit.
When I wiped it with naphtha, I did spot a couple of areas on the mahogany that need a little more sanding, so I'll do that before I grain fill.
I spread Mirror Coat epoxy over the burl and the sides of the mahogany.
Buckeye burl soaks in epoxy and finishes really fast, so I had to keep going back and touching up the dry looking spots after it soaked in. Once it was staying wet looking for a little bit, I mixed turquoise with some more epoxy and filled the voids, which ran all over because it's self leveling and the top is carved and the headstock is angled...
Invalid Link Removed
I checked it today and the turquoise has sunk in/spilled out more. I kept finding air bubbles and popping them last night, so I'm guessing some more air bubbles emerged and popped themselves and didn't have enough turquoise to fill in that space. Looks like I'll have to do more turquoise after this cures. I'm not really looking forward to sanding this mess.
You can also see the "dry" spots on the burl where the epoxy soaked in more. I knew that would happen and was already planning on doing another coat at least. I was just hoping that the turquoise part would have been filled all the way yesterday.
I also decided to try out the laser toner transfer method for the logo and serial number. I had blueprints printed for my next guitar design and in the extra space on the paper I added a bunch of logos and serial numbers. Unfortunately I forgot that they needed to be reverse images in order to transfer them. I ordered the first print from Staples, then the next day I ordered the reversed logos and serial numbers from FedEx/Kinkos because that was closer to where I was going.
The Staples print is the one rolled on the left, Kinkos is laying flat on the right. I'd say there's a pretty big difference in print quality. The Staples print is really crisp, dark black, Kinkos looks faded. Sorry the Staples print looks slightly out of focus, my camera was focusing on the Kinkos print, it looks like.
So, it looks like I'll be going to Staples if I need more prints.
Luckily, the Kinkos print did seem to transfer just fine. I used Mod Podge since it seemed to show up a little better than transferring it with a wood burning pen when I tested it (although I did like the slightly burnt look that the pen gave).
I peeled off the paper today by running water on my finger tip and just rubbing the paper off of it. It turned out like this.
My only concern is that the Mod Podge is probably going to prevent the epoxy from making the color of the burl match the burl on the headstock.
I did the serial number in the control cavity, but haven't peeled the paper off yet because the turquoise part of the epoxy is still a little sticky, so I don't want to turn the bass over yet. That's also preventing me from grain filling the mahogany today.
I forgot to mention, I used my Dremel with the little round head router-type bit that came with it to clean the dried epoxy out of the voids from when I epoxied the top to the body. It worked so good, it's like it was meant for that. It actually went really fast and cleanly. I also used it to clean up the epoxy and veneer line in the butt end of the body, around the bark and it cleaned up the shape of that one side of the bark that was sticking out further than its bookmatched side.
My neighbor walked in the garage and snuck up on me while I was using the Dremel on the headstock voids, but luckily I held it steady and didn't ruin anything when she startled me.
I left a little bit of router burn marks on the maple/mahogany inside of that bark cutout area because I thought it was kind of fitting. I smoothed out the bandsaw and router marks first.
My neighbor walked in the garage and snuck up on me while I was using the Dremel on the headstock voids, but luckily I held it steady and didn't ruin anything when she startled me.
I left a little bit of router burn marks on the maple/mahogany inside of that bark cutout area because I thought it was kind of fitting. I smoothed out the bandsaw and router marks first.
A couple of suggestions for the logo transfer:
1: put some epoxy on the TR-cover and sand/polish it before adding the logo. After adding the logo you can add more epoxy or some other clear coat.
2: Instead of using glue you could try using a clothes iron to melt the toner to the cover. To remove the paper you just add some water to the paper and gently rub until the paper dissolve. (Which I assume is the method you are alredy using.) If the remaining toner feels a bit "hairy" you could try using a slightly glossier paper (but NOT the plastic covered photo papers). If you manage to print on baking paper you may be able to simply peel the paper off after ironing. (There is a risk of paper curling up inside the printer, so do this at your own risk.
)
I'm not sure how well epoxy covered burl will handle heat, though. I have done this on PCB boards, but they can handle the heat.
1: put some epoxy on the TR-cover and sand/polish it before adding the logo. After adding the logo you can add more epoxy or some other clear coat.
2: Instead of using glue you could try using a clothes iron to melt the toner to the cover. To remove the paper you just add some water to the paper and gently rub until the paper dissolve. (Which I assume is the method you are alredy using.) If the remaining toner feels a bit "hairy" you could try using a slightly glossier paper (but NOT the plastic covered photo papers). If you manage to print on baking paper you may be able to simply peel the paper off after ironing. (There is a risk of paper curling up inside the printer, so do this at your own risk.
)I'm not sure how well epoxy covered burl will handle heat, though. I have done this on PCB boards, but they can handle the heat.
A couple of suggestions for the logo transfer:
1: put some epoxy on the TR-cover and sand/polish it before adding the logo. After adding the logo you can add more epoxy or some other clear coat.
2: Instead of using glue you could try using a clothes iron to melt the toner to the cover. To remove the paper you just add some water to the paper and gently rub until the paper dissolve. (Which I assume is the method you are alredy using.) If the remaining toner feels a bit "hairy" you could try using a slightly glossier paper (but NOT the plastic covered photo papers). If you manage to print on baking paper you may be able to simply peel the paper off after ironing. (There is a risk of paper curling up inside the printer, so do this at your own risk.
I'm not sure how well epoxy covered burl will handle heat, though. I have done this on PCB boards, but they can handle the heat.
I didn't realize you could do it with a clothes iron too. I saw a video where a guy did it with a wood burning pen, so I tried that and it looked like this (this was a test with the non-reversed logo).
I didn't think it'd be safe to do that over epoxy, so if I did that method I was going to do it before the epoxy. I probably should have just went that way, because then there would be nothing blocking the epoxy. I just thought that the Mod Podge test turned out a little clearer and stood out from the wood more, so that's why I went with that method. I didn't think of doing it on top of the epoxy. I was assuming the toner had to sink into the wood or something, but I wasn't really sure how it worked.
But how hot do clothes irons and wood burning pens get? I have no idea. I would assume if the pen burns the wood and paper, it's too hot. The clothes iron might work, but it would really depend on the location of the logo on whether the iron would fit.
Not according to this guy:
http://www.wwmt.com/news/features/t...0f1dbff12844000011","pt":"wall"}#.VUa85GY16PV
Should have said 170C. Using a clothes iron on max is pretty accepted practice for transferring toner to copper on printed circuit boards -- you have to worry about overheating the board and causing the copper to lift from the board. According to what I can find, the 'linen' setting on an iron is 210C and one notch down is around 180C.
There are plenty of fault lines across the US that are usually dormant but occasionally announce their presence. We had a quake here in VA a couple of years ago that caused cracks in the Washington Monument.
There are plenty of fault lines across the US that are usually dormant but occasionally announce their presence. We had a quake here in VA a couple of years ago that caused cracks in the Washington Monument.
Hey Lisa! This build is looking great. I'm curious to see how the turquoise thing works out. It's nice idea. Last year I made red coral powder to use in a similar way (not exactly the same as yours. Just along a similar way of thinking). No takers yet though... so... ciao! Maurizio
ciao! Maurizio
Lisa, really excited to see how that turquoise turns out. You're super ambitious taking on the challenge of such a complex finish - that thing is going to be so completely unique when it's all done!
Lonnybass
Lonnybass
How long do you iron? I accidentally sanded off the ink and I tried using a clothes iron with a new logo for a bit and it didn't work. :-/
Hey Lisa! This build is looking great. I'm curious to see how the turquoise thing works out. It's nice idea. Last year I made red coral powder to use in a similar way (not exactly the same as yours. Just along a similar way of thinking). No takers yet though... so...
Thanks! I'm interested to see the turquoise too, I haven't tried it yet other than on smaller test pieces. Do you have a picture of your red coral filled bass?
Thanks!
Thank you! I'm not sure if I'm ambitious or I just need to learn how to say "no" haha.
Opinions/experience with Mirror Coat epoxy?
I was going to just flip over the bass and put epoxy on the back too, but I'm kind of worried that there might end up being witness lines or weird looking dark spots where the edge of the first coat and second coat meet. I'm thinking maybe I should mask off the mahogany and continue on with the burl until it's done, then mask the burl, sand the current epoxy off of the mahogany and coat all of the mahogany at once with the epoxy. Does that sound necessary or am I just making things harder than they need to be?
I was going to just flip over the bass and put epoxy on the back too, but I'm kind of worried that there might end up being witness lines or weird looking dark spots where the edge of the first coat and second coat meet. I'm thinking maybe I should mask off the mahogany and continue on with the burl until it's done, then mask the burl, sand the current epoxy off of the mahogany and coat all of the mahogany at once with the epoxy. Does that sound necessary or am I just making things harder than they need to be?
I've gone as long as 5 minutes transferring to copper from glossy photo paper. I'd practice on a scrap of course if you're worried about scorching.
I think you're on the right track... I wouldn't create more work by using more epoxy on the back, unless you just want to grain fill.. If thats the case I'd suggest something other than epoxy.. I fill with my finish material mostly.. Id work the top and sides level, get off what epoxy is on the mahogany, then feather out where the epoxy meets the mahogany (where the buckeye meets mahogany), and then start the coating process. Within a few coats the "feather line" should disappear.
Lisa, I agree with Scotty - you're probably just going to create more sanding headaches if you try and use epoxy on the back. The bass I'm almost complete on also has a mahogany body core, and I did some wetsanding with finish to create the sanding slurry for (minor) grain fill. Fortunately, witness lines with Mirror Coat shouldn't be a problem once you apply clear coats over the top of it, they should disappear pretty quick and hopefully won't be an issue.
This is the big challenge using Mirror Coat for fretless fingerboards, because you really have to get an even coating on there all at one time, because two or more coats could result in a witness line during fingerboard leveling.
Lonnybass
I want to leave a layer of epoxy on the mahogany and burl. I didn't have any luck grain filling the mahogany (and wenge) on my last guitars with grain filler and when I tried filling with epoxy and sanding back, it ended up sanding too far back and I ended up having to fill the rest with the finish, which took way too long. With epoxy I should be able to get it done in 1-2 coats. The sides are mahogany and they look amazing under the epoxy right now and are already filled completely, but I haven't touched the back yet. I'm just wondering if since the epoxy is only down the sides and not over the roundover and onto the back if I should sand off the sides and redo the back and sides all at once to make it smoother.
z
Gotcha. Ok so in answer to your question about the epoxy where you already applied it on the sides, I'd simply suggest doing a little spot sanding along the edges of the coat where it meets the mahogany so there isn't a "lip" --- it will make it way easier to put coats on the back that appear to seamlessly blend into the sidewalls. Don't worry about witness lines where the back coat meets the side coat, as long as it is a smooth texture without dips or bumps, it should disappear after you put some clear on top. However, you may want to put some dewaxed shellac in between the epoxy and whatever clear you are going to use, so as not to run into any compatibility issues.
Lonnybass
Gotcha. Ok so in answer to your question about the epoxy where you already applied it on the sides, I'd simply suggest doing a little spot sanding along the edges of the coat where it meets the mahogany so there isn't a "lip" --- it will make it way easier to put coats on the back that appear to seamlessly blend into the sidewalls. Don't worry about witness lines where the back coat meets the side coat, as long as it is a smooth texture without dips or bumps, it should disappear after you put some clear on top. However, you may want to put some dewaxed shellac in between the epoxy and whatever clear you are going to use, so as not to run into any compatibility issues.
Lonnybass
