So what's up with that, anyway? Epoxy plus what - colored metalflake or "pearl" from painting supplies, poured onto a non-stick baking sheet? Pigment as well, or just flakes? Various colors "marbled" or the like? Cool effect.
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Usable Triple-Double J Build?
- Thread starter MovinTarget
- Start date
So what's up with that, anyway? Epoxy plus what - colored metalflake or "pearl" from painting supplies, poured onto a non-stick baking sheet? Pigment as well, or just flakes? Various colors "marbled" or the like? Cool effect.
Stone Coat Countertops Epoxy (the normal stuff)
4 colors, all are Jaquard PearlEX brand:
Pearl white (I added fine glitter)
Carbon Black
Duo Red-Blue
Duo Blue Green
I was supposed to make enough pearl white to fill the whole pan... I miscalculated but I'd already mixed all my colors and had little epoxy left to add.
So I poured it in the middle and let it level, then added the other colors rather chaotically. Since I didn't fill the pan first, the "blob" expands with every addition so that the streaks of color I added would spread, blur and mix with each other.
I used a heat gun to pop the bubbles from mixing and this also moves things around, blending in target areas and softening lines. Another effect with the heat gun is that I will get colors bubble up in near perfect circles (probably air bubbles that were deeper in the epoxy) so that's kinda neat.
I was going to go for a more controlled veining effect but, when you just want cool colors/effects it can still work!
Epoxy is superficially cured so it isn't sticky but still crazy flexible. As you can see though I didn't fill the pan, there is more than enough:
I will let it harden (and shrink) and then cut as a single piece for both parts if the PG, then slice the control compartment so that when laid on the bass they'll be perfectly matched... hopefully...
I will let it harden (and shrink) and then cut as a single piece for both parts if the PG, then slice the control compartment so that when laid on the bass they'll be perfectly matched... hopefully...
I was all set to do a rough trace cut with a sharp blade...
But I recognized that I have to be careful here.
The routes are done on the body so I NEED the pickup holes to match to the body and then everything else follows...
<sigh> I feel another template coming on...
I am thinking to cut pickup holes first to line up to the routes and the cut the neck pocket using a bottom-bearing flush trim router. Never used it on epoxy before...
But I recognized that I have to be careful here.
The routes are done on the body so I NEED the pickup holes to match to the body and then everything else follows...
<sigh> I feel another template coming on...
I am thinking to cut pickup holes first to line up to the routes and the cut the neck pocket using a bottom-bearing flush trim router. Never used it on epoxy before...
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Nope nope, I've decided I am not going to wait for the weekend to cut another template... there has to be an easier way...
So this is what I did:
Add some padding in the pup holes so the pup covers get raised a little:
I tried just double sided tape but it wasn't sticky enough by itself so I looped some painter's tape to the faces of the covers:
Now I position the slab of epoxy over the body to ensure everying gets covered and press against the tape (remember epoxy needs to be face up!):
Now flip it all over:
And Lift the body off gently and straight up... boom! You now have the pickups perfectly aligned and spaced out!
Since this is opaque and the underside of the epoxy, I can trace the pup (sharpie will hopefully work) w/o leaving marks on the pg face.
Sanity check to ensure I have the real estate for the whole PG:
Looks like a winner!
Not looking forward to the cutting phase, but I think this will speed things up nicely.
So this is what I did:
Add some padding in the pup holes so the pup covers get raised a little:
I tried just double sided tape but it wasn't sticky enough by itself so I looped some painter's tape to the faces of the covers:
Now I position the slab of epoxy over the body to ensure everying gets covered and press against the tape (remember epoxy needs to be face up!):
Now flip it all over:
And Lift the body off gently and straight up... boom! You now have the pickups perfectly aligned and spaced out!
Since this is opaque and the underside of the epoxy, I can trace the pup (sharpie will hopefully work) w/o leaving marks on the pg face.
Sanity check to ensure I have the real estate for the whole PG:
Looks like a winner!
Not looking forward to the cutting phase, but I think this will speed things up nicely.
Fine tipped sharpie for the win!
Oh and I've discovered something... This epoxy isn't going to cut easily! I'm starting to thing I should have done this part back when it was semi-cured, though that would have shrunk...
Going to try a mini pull-saw I found on Amazon, but I'm back to waiting until the weekend... gah!
Going to try a mini pull-saw I found on Amazon, but I'm back to waiting until the weekend... gah!
- Apr 20, 2009
- 2,101
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- I'm the Squier of Fenderbirds
Just curious, as I have never worked with epoxy before, but could you use a Dremel or Rotozip for a rough cut, and fine tune it with a file?
I could, but I don't have an indoor workshop so I have to set of the workbench and everything outdoors if I'm using power tools. If I can do it by manual blade/saw crap won't go flying all over the basement and wil be easier to clean up. I can do it at night instead of having to wait for daylight.
Fully cured epoxy cuts well with a sharp router. Also with a sharp saw or file. You can pretty much machine it like any other dense plastic. The handsaw will be tedious but it should work fine. My preference would be a router and template but it makes sense to do it by hand if you don't want a mess.
So because of @T_Bone_TL, i got to thinking... I have a mini hacksaw and the blade is removable...
First I drilled out holes in center and on the cornes with my largest, sharpest bit:
You can see where I experimented with the the blade... very clean cuts, but I needed to be able to aim/line up my cuts better, hence the holes...
As @dwizum mentioned, the epoxy cuts pretty well, even with a power drill, you can see how clean the holes are on the other side:
Now I just remove the blade from the mini hacksaw:
And I can rin it through the hole to make cuts close to the lines...
Let me just say though that bare handing the blade, while not horrible dangerous, ain't horribly comfortable either... lol
First I drilled out holes in center and on the cornes with my largest, sharpest bit:
You can see where I experimented with the the blade... very clean cuts, but I needed to be able to aim/line up my cuts better, hence the holes...
As @dwizum mentioned, the epoxy cuts pretty well, even with a power drill, you can see how clean the holes are on the other side:
Now I just remove the blade from the mini hacksaw:
And I can rin it through the hole to make cuts close to the lines...
Let me just say though that bare handing the blade, while not horrible dangerous, ain't horribly comfortable either... lol
A: I'd think you should drill the "mounting screw bumps" while you have the drill out and before you cut that part with the saw. Place the hole right and you can't do much better for the roundness of the resulting half-hole, but you want to drill it as a full-hole.
B:Tape wrapped around the part you are holding will improve frameless hacksawing comfort, or I have an actual "one ended hacksaw handle" some place, I think. Tape a couple of wood scraps to it and it's almost a real handle.
C: Obviously a coping saw (or the coping saw relative known as a fretsaw which is much deeper, and not the fretsaws that we normally mean here for fretslots) would beat frameless hacksawing.
D: If power tool purchases float your boat more than hand-tools, keep an eye peeled for scrollsaws (often show up on craigslist if you like not spending full retail price.)
B:Tape wrapped around the part you are holding will improve frameless hacksawing comfort, or I have an actual "one ended hacksaw handle" some place, I think. Tape a couple of wood scraps to it and it's almost a real handle.
C: Obviously a coping saw (or the coping saw relative known as a fretsaw which is much deeper, and not the fretsaws that we normally mean here for fretslots) would beat frameless hacksawing.
D: If power tool purchases float your boat more than hand-tools, keep an eye peeled for scrollsaws (often show up on craigslist if you like not spending full retail price.)
I am out of room for power tools at this point... but will bear in mind... I have the mini saw coming tomorrow, may wait for that....
As for drilling the ears, I thought about it, I just didn't want to miscalculate seeing how the bit head has a point so if I aim wrong it would fubar it... badly... I might go back with a smaller but to get the majority cut away and then use my round file to finish it off, then sand smooth...
The plan is to pour a clear coat layer after the cutting, which will fill in the scratches...
Mini hand saw came today... works well except when friction pulls the blade free...
So I took a stab at it with the $20 Dremel clone:
Much harder to control! I didn't have any major snafus but still a lot of post op work...
One down 2 to go!
So I took a stab at it with the $20 Dremel clone:
Much harder to control! I didn't have any major snafus but still a lot of post op work...
One down 2 to go!
Yeesh, time for a "lessons learned" post...
I will get there, just let me set it up...
So I finished the pup holes on the epoxy slab so now its time to cut it to shape, at least roughly.
I need to align my shape to my pup cuts so this is how i do it.
First I copy my pg drawing with a black background to add contrast. Who woulda thought my copy machine would useful for this? It makes it easier to see the true outline to cut out and leaves pup cut in the template really visible:
Then I overlay it with the epoxy, aligning the pup holes:
Run painters tape over the holes and have it make contact with the paper:
Flip it and now you can trace with a sharpie like before, and since this a photocopy, your original is safe-n-sound.
Here is where started hitting snags...
Today I found out that jigsaws are no bueno for doing the rough cuts from the edge of the epoxy. Chunks were just breaking off! Fortunately nothing important, but clearly not an option here...
So I switched up to the dremel thinking it worked last night, it would work here... nope, still had chunks breaking off.
So I had to resort to the little hacksaw and mini pull saw thingy I got yesterday... Waaaaaaaay more work! I about killed them both by the end, but I got it rough cut. This was before I finished:
Then my second hard lesson of the day... I decided to go ahead and rough cut the neck pocket. I thought, surely the dremel will be fine for this little bit... Nope! It snapped between the neck pup and the neck route!
So now instead of fine-shaping, I'm waiting for the quick set epoxy to cure...
I think ultimately if I ever use epoxy for a pg again it will be with a mold or making a giant "cookie cutter" and cutting at about 8 hours after pouring. This is a lot of work and I am not sure an actual mdf template would have stopped the the cracking and chunking...
I will get there, just let me set it up...
So I finished the pup holes on the epoxy slab so now its time to cut it to shape, at least roughly.
I need to align my shape to my pup cuts so this is how i do it.
First I copy my pg drawing with a black background to add contrast. Who woulda thought my copy machine would useful for this? It makes it easier to see the true outline to cut out and leaves pup cut in the template really visible:
Then I overlay it with the epoxy, aligning the pup holes:
Run painters tape over the holes and have it make contact with the paper:
Flip it and now you can trace with a sharpie like before, and since this a photocopy, your original is safe-n-sound.
Here is where started hitting snags...
Today I found out that jigsaws are no bueno for doing the rough cuts from the edge of the epoxy. Chunks were just breaking off! Fortunately nothing important, but clearly not an option here...
So I switched up to the dremel thinking it worked last night, it would work here... nope, still had chunks breaking off.
So I had to resort to the little hacksaw and mini pull saw thingy I got yesterday... Waaaaaaaay more work! I about killed them both by the end, but I got it rough cut. This was before I finished:
Then my second hard lesson of the day... I decided to go ahead and rough cut the neck pocket. I thought, surely the dremel will be fine for this little bit... Nope! It snapped between the neck pup and the neck route!
So now instead of fine-shaping, I'm waiting for the quick set epoxy to cure...
I think ultimately if I ever use epoxy for a pg again it will be with a mold or making a giant "cookie cutter" and cutting at about 8 hours after pouring. This is a lot of work and I am not sure an actual mdf template would have stopped the the cracking and chunking...
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Hey remember that old saying,
"Measure twice, cut once"?
/facepalm
"Measure twice, cut once"?
/facepalm
