I was more looking to fill the grain and have the surface smooth. But if that's something people live with because wenge is too oily or just doesn't look right with a filler, than I can learn to live with it.
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The Hossenfeffer III Build
- Thread starter Gilmourisgod
- Start date
Where is the wenge on your build? If it's the fretboard then no need to grain fill or finish. A little linseed oil or lemon oil and it feels great (IMHO). I put a wenge veneer on this project:
2 neck lams in the neck-thru and the fingerboard. The lams in the neck are already sealed from previous finish. The new wenge for the board is pretty porous.
Are you gonna gloss the back of the neck? If so I'd probably grain fill the wenge stringers. Masking a gloss body and doing the neck satin, or oil, is not uncommon. If you were to do that I wouldn't worry about it. No need to fill the fretboard.
I was picturing getting the entire bass together, final shape and sand, fingerboard attached and slotted, then use the 2 thin coats of solarez and finish with carnauba wax on the entire thing, then fret.
But now I'm not sure about the board.
I'll post in my thread so I'm not clogging this one up with all my side tracked indecision.
That’s one concern I have about the Solarez, some reports that it doesn’t cure right in end grain because it sinks in to a depth where UV doesn’t reach it. Like all internet reviews, a mix of “It’s Great”! Followed by “It sucks”!
I'm thinkin of doing it the way the guy in the vid did it.
lather it on just the top and sides, scrape/wipe off excess, only let it sit for 10 min to let it settle in the pores, then cure it, then do the back, repeat for a second coat.
If it was something with very open pores, slightly softer wood and I was lathering on a thick coat, leaving it thick and letting it sit for a while before curing, I'd be more concerned about it soaking in too far and not curing.
lather it on just the top and sides, scrape/wipe off excess, only let it sit for 10 min to let it settle in the pores, then cure it, then do the back, repeat for a second coat.
If it was something with very open pores, slightly softer wood and I was lathering on a thick coat, leaving it thick and letting it sit for a while before curing, I'd be more concerned about it soaking in too far and not curing.
Has not been my experience, but I researched , and adjusted. No wait time, coat to cure interval is short, and cure time exposure lengthened for the first , very light film on thirsty wood.
Once the seal coat is set, absorbtion is no longer an issue.
Holes and wire channels where light can't get to should be blocked though.
Uncured product cleans up with acetone if your seal isn't perfect.
I did a redwood clock for my mom as a present. 10 minutes would have been too long, it was soaking it up while being applied! I did it in small sections, and did a partial cure ,( 2 min) to forestall the absorption before doing the next section. Worked beautifully . Just like any process there's a learning curve.
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No it works as intended if this is anything that one would actually want. Wenge works okay with a light oil maybe, but it soaks up Solarez like a sponge and I'm not sure the UV light can get inside readily. I tried it on some scrap and it didn't work well. Also pretty much any finish you put on wenge is like to remove most of the desirable properties of wenge including the lovely grain striping. Personally I just don't recommend it.
This is totally a way you could do this, but honesttly I think the absorption is just too fast with wenge. Maybe I could have tried some more experimenting to see if it would work and sit up on the surface, but as you pointed out, why would you? I firmly believe that wenge is best unfinished.
OR a quick pre-emptive "Seal" coat with some other chemical/evaporative cure. This is how Fender and other major MFG's do it. A Sealer, then grain fill as needed.
EX: Dewaxed Shellac , Epoxy, Acrylic lacquer ETC.
That actually make some sense, last time I did Tru Oil, I sealed the wood with dewaxed shellac first, not even sure why, but it seemed like the right thing to do. I thing it's worth a test a shot anyway. if that will keep it over-penetrating on the end grain, maybe that's the best technique.
That's my next shot. Shellac the undercoat of choice for so long, and for good reason, for woodworkers of all kinds.
OH- and as to the tru-oil after the shellac possibly assisted and sped up the polymerization of the oil film, rather than just absorbing into the wood and taking longer to flash off, the oil bonded into the existing shellac resin, liquifying it a bit. Which, in turn allowed the shellac to "sink in" to the wood a bit more, in-turn SLOWING it's curing process. Allowing the resin to form longer and stronger chains.
OH- and as to the tru-oil after the shellac possibly assisted and sped up the polymerization of the oil film, rather than just absorbing into the wood and taking longer to flash off, the oil bonded into the existing shellac resin, liquifying it a bit. Which, in turn allowed the shellac to "sink in" to the wood a bit more, in-turn SLOWING it's curing process. Allowing the resin to form longer and stronger chains.
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That would explain why in the vid I watched, the guy used epoxy first, then grain filled with the solarez. He didn't explain, but I'll bet the epoxy was to seal the wood.
I still intend to do the solarez/carnauba wax method. Now I just have figure out a sealer.
I still intend to do the solarez/carnauba wax method. Now I just have figure out a sealer.
His techniques are good, demonstrations good, but his narritive is like a stream of consciousness .
I wish he was a bit more focused.
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So @Gilmourisgod : Check this out 
Built a buffer all in at 300.00
4 x 10" buffs motor 1/3 hp @1725 RPM. Wheel speed is @1100 3step pulley in the arbor. Cast iron adjustable sheave at the motor. Motor on a hinged plate, gravity for belt tension.
Will stall and loosen the belt automatically if drag is too much on the buff, or if an edge gets caught.
The wheels stall rather than throw the workpiece to the ground.
Built a buffer all in at 300.00
4 x 10" buffs motor 1/3 hp @1725 RPM. Wheel speed is @1100 3step pulley in the arbor. Cast iron adjustable sheave at the motor. Motor on a hinged plate, gravity for belt tension.
Will stall and loosen the belt automatically if drag is too much on the buff, or if an edge gets caught.
The wheels stall rather than throw the workpiece to the ground.
Thats pretty sweet, im still buffing stuff with foam drill pads and elbow grease, which works, but takes forever.
