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Winter 2017 Build Off - Padauk Single Cut

#181
I keep forgetting to update my thread... :bag:

20181216_110428.jpg


So, it took a lot of grain filler (8 coats, if I remember right!) and by the time I finished sanding it, it opened up some more pores in places. Great.
It looked like it was still mostly filled, so I figured I'd hope the finish would fill in the rest.

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Pretty filled, right?

I decided to make a rack to hold guitars/basses when finishing.

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Another coat of shellac.

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And finally busting out the spray gun.

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First go with the spray gun:


Thanks to a lot of tips here, I think I did okay.

20190115_184305.jpg


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20190115_184346.jpg


This is after several coats:


Now I'm seeing the pores sinking in (not pictured). Maybe the grain filler shrunk back?

I have 12 coats of finish on now.

I decided to let it dry until the weekend, lightly level sand, and start spraying some more.
 
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#182
lbridenstine said:
I keep forgetting to update my thread... :bag:

View attachment 3292815

So, it took a lot of grain filler (8 coats, if I remember right!) and by the time I finished sanding it, it opened up some more pores in places. Great.
It looked like it was still mostly filled, so I figured I'd hope the finish would fill in the rest.

View attachment 3292817

View attachment 3292819

View attachment 3292821

Pretty filled, right?

I decided to make a rack to hold guitars/basses when finishing.

View attachment 3292823

View attachment 3292829
View attachment 3292826

View attachment 3292827

View attachment 3292828

Another coat of shellac.

View attachment 3292830

And finally busting out the spray gun.

View attachment 3292832

First go with the spray gun:


Thanks to a lot of tips here, I think I did okay.

View attachment 3292834

View attachment 3292835

View attachment 3292838

This is after several coats:


Now I'm seeing the pores sinking in (not pictured). Maybe the grain filler shrunk back?

I have 12 coats of finish on now.

I decided to let it dry until the weekend, lightly level sand, and start spraying some more.
Click to expand...

Stunning!
 
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#184
Aqua coat really isn’t very good is it!?

I feel I’ve given it a fair chance now but it just doesn’t seem to fill grain very well at all without a load of coats. Even then after it looks like you’ve got all the pores, wait a while and the pores will reappear as it shrinks. This can take hours or even days. The latter happened to me on one bass several days after finishing it and the glass smooth surface turned into sunken grain all over. Not good.

It’s just about bearable to use on Mahogany or Walnut as far as number of coats go, but even then it’ll shrink back. Anything with more pronounced grain like Ash and you’ll be there for days filling.

Moral of the rant...get some z poxy :)
 
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#187
Jon Clegg said:
Funny you should mention z-poxy; I'm about to give that a go for the first time. Any tips?
Click to expand...

I always measure the mix using disposable teaspoons, but I think it’s fairly forgiving with the mix ratio...I’ve seen people eye ball it.

Make sure your room is fairly warm, this is the only annoying bit of using z-poxy for me, as over here it’s rarely above the temp it requires (something like 20 C). So I have to heat the room, the mixture and warm the surfaces at this time of year.

A tiny bit goes a really long way, so don’t pour too much out or you’ll make a mess! Use a squeegee and leave as little as you can on the surface. Though it sands really well if you do miss some, but if you miss any on the edges it can be a pain, so wipe them clean.

It’ll probably take two or three applications to completely fill the grain, but once you’re done it’ll stay that way.

Keep in mind that the z poxy will amber the wood pleasantly. So you either need to finish off with a thin even coat all over, or completely removed and only left in the grain. Either works.

I find it much easier to use for grain filling than other epoxies.
 
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#188
Manton Customs said:
Aqua coat really isn’t very good is it!?

I feel I’ve given it a fair chance now but it just doesn’t seem to fill grain very well at all without a load of coats. Even then after it looks like you’ve got all the pores, wait a while and the pores will reappear as it shrinks. This can take hours or even days. The latter happened to me on one bass several days after finishing it and the glass smooth surface turned into sunken grain all over. Not good.

It’s just about bearable to use on Mahogany or Walnut as far as number of coats go, but even then it’ll shrink back. Anything with more pronounced grain like Ash and you’ll be there for days filling.

Moral of the rant...get some z poxy :)
Click to expand...

Well, I'm partly happy to read this, in that at least I don't feel like I did a bad job in my filling, but also that sucks. It literally took me weeks to grain fill because I was doing like 2 coats + sanding after each coat per weekend and didn't have time to do more than that each weekend, but it just took forever.

Definitely not worth it if it's just going to shrink back. I'll try z poxy next time. The only reason I didn't on this one was because I was sick of working with epoxy from previous builds (buckeye burl), but I know that this would be different.

Slidlow said:
Nice work. I see a maple leaf?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's my electroform metal decal. :) I put that on after the first spray coat dried.
 
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#189
Manton Customs said:
I always measure the mix using disposable teaspoons, but I think it’s fairly forgiving with the mix ratio...I’ve seen people eye ball it.

Make sure your room is fairly warm, this is the only annoying bit of using z-poxy for me, as over here it’s rarely above the temp it requires (something like 20 C). So I have to heat the room, the mixture and warm the surfaces at this time of year.

A tiny bit goes a really long way, so don’t pour too much out or you’ll make a mess! Use a squeegee and leave as little as you can on the surface. Though it sands really well if you do miss some, but if you miss any on the edges it can be a pain, so wipe them clean.

It’ll probably take two or three applications to completely fill the grain, but once you’re done it’ll stay that way.

Keep in mind that the z poxy will amber the wood pleasantly. So you either need to finish off with a thin even coat all over, or completely removed and only left in the grain. Either works.

I find it much easier to use for grain filling than other epoxies.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I'll try it out on a few test pieces, to get the hang of it.
 
#190
lbridenstine said:
Well, I'm partly happy to read this, in that at least I don't feel like I did a bad job in my filling, but also that sucks. It literally took me weeks to grain fill because I was doing like 2 coats + sanding after each coat per weekend and didn't have time to do more than that each weekend, but it just took forever.

Definitely not worth it if it's just going to shrink back. I'll try z poxy next time. The only reason I didn't on this one was because I was sick of working with epoxy from previous builds (buckeye burl), but I know that this would be different.
Click to expand...

Yeah I tried a few different approaches before coming to the conclusion it’s just not very good! So I’m sure it’s not your application. I’ve tried it under a few different finishes too and the results were the same.

The idea of it sounded great on paper though, non toxic, clear and easy to apply.
 
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#191
I don't think this really helps, but I've been doing a wet sand with Tru Oil to do grain filling and it works amazingly well (and lasts). My most recent build I didn't do this as I wanted the grain to show through, comparing that body to the last one I did with the slurry sand it's really apparent just how well that grain fill method works.
 
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#193
Here I am finishing my Winter 2017 build challenge while everyone else is on a new challenge. :)

I haven't updated in a bit because I was filling pores (with the finish) and sanding and repeat forever.

I block sanded with 800 grit to get the finish flat, then used 1000 grit Abralon on my random orbital sander (with little to no pressure) to remove the sanding scratches.

I used Meguiar's Polishing Compound and a microfiber cloth to start polishing.


Then followed it up with Meguiar's Mirror Glaze and a foam pad on the drill.







Here are some before and afters:

Link Removed

Link Removed

The front:



The back:



The fretboard:



Some detail:



The headstock:

 
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