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Time to work on this continues to be a challenge, but I got an hour in the shop today. I spent a lot of time smoothing things out and generally adding curves. I think at this point I've got the major shaping and forming done:
I got the jack installed:
and I got the control cover sanded to thickness:
I have a lot of sanding to do, but things are coming along. I still highly doubt I'll be done before the 20th - that was the end date right?
I got the jack installed:
and I got the control cover sanded to thickness:
I have a lot of sanding to do, but things are coming along. I still highly doubt I'll be done before the 20th - that was the end date right?
I've been grabbing minutes here and there to sand. I still have a lot more to go, but I'm getting there.
I had a couple of voids (might be tear out) on the white part of the wood. Rather than try to sand down to the depth of those I thought I'd fill them in with CA glue, I'm hoping this doesn't stick out too much, but I think it will look better than the voids:
I've got a lot sanding to fix stuff like this:
I got the fretboard leveled and sanded down to 000 Steel wool (or whatever number of zeros). It looks great, I forgot about the stripes on this thing - it's going to look great once I get the finish on it. I wonder if I should hit it with tung oil before I put the CA on it, but I don't want to darken it at all. hmm.
I had a couple of voids (might be tear out) on the white part of the wood. Rather than try to sand down to the depth of those I thought I'd fill them in with CA glue, I'm hoping this doesn't stick out too much, but I think it will look better than the voids:
I've got a lot sanding to fix stuff like this:
I got the fretboard leveled and sanded down to 000 Steel wool (or whatever number of zeros). It looks great, I forgot about the stripes on this thing - it's going to look great once I get the finish on it. I wonder if I should hit it with tung oil before I put the CA on it, but I don't want to darken it at all. hmm.
I prepared the control cavity for magnets. This means making one half of the cavity a "through hole" so the cover can be pushed down. I forgot to bring my router over to my dad's so I used his with his upper bearing bit, I gotta get him a new router, the one he has is such crap, it vibrates and the depth controls are all wonky, never mind the dull bit! I also drilled for the magnets:
Miraculously my dad had a long bit that was the same diameter as some hardwood dowels I had, I drilled for the side dots. All went well with the exception of one of the octave dots where the bit wandered. Ugh. Not much I can do about it:
I drilled for the controls - I'm using a GuitarFetish pickup for this one for now, I'll see how things work out and upgrade it if this thing is a success. It's an active pickup, but no preamp - simple tone and volume:
I installed the side dot dowels with thick CA glue and then hit them with the accelerator. That thick glue takes forever to dry, one spray with the accelerator and it's hard as a rock in 2 or 3 seconds.
They ended up a bit more "blobby" than I would like, but it's ok, I might try to put a black dot in the middle of each, I think that might add a little focus.
I installed these magnets for the cover, they are pretty small and tend to roll around a bit as I get them ready to be installed. To ensure I end up with the polarity correct I put a small dot on the side that should be facing out and do one pair at a time. These things fit tight in the holes I drilled so getting one out (even before I glue them in) is challenging/impossible.
It works!
The cover is not thick enough for the magnets to be flush, so I recessed the magnets inside the cavity to make up the difference, apparently one of them is not quite deep enough, the cover is raised up a bit on one side. I'll file down the magnet and it should be ok, unfortunately I glued them in before checking (though as I said above it would be hard to get one out once it was in the hole anyway).
I think the sanding is just about done, I'll look at it in the bright sun today to be sure. I guess I'll probably do the CA coat on the fingerboard before finishing, so maybe I'll get that done tonight and get tung oil started tomorrow morning.
Today is paint decision day in the house, I've seen enough variations of gray to make your head spin, and greige? What the hell is that? My wife says she's enjoying it, that's enough I guess.
Miraculously my dad had a long bit that was the same diameter as some hardwood dowels I had, I drilled for the side dots. All went well with the exception of one of the octave dots where the bit wandered. Ugh. Not much I can do about it:
I drilled for the controls - I'm using a GuitarFetish pickup for this one for now, I'll see how things work out and upgrade it if this thing is a success. It's an active pickup, but no preamp - simple tone and volume:
I installed the side dot dowels with thick CA glue and then hit them with the accelerator. That thick glue takes forever to dry, one spray with the accelerator and it's hard as a rock in 2 or 3 seconds.
They ended up a bit more "blobby" than I would like, but it's ok, I might try to put a black dot in the middle of each, I think that might add a little focus.
I installed these magnets for the cover, they are pretty small and tend to roll around a bit as I get them ready to be installed. To ensure I end up with the polarity correct I put a small dot on the side that should be facing out and do one pair at a time. These things fit tight in the holes I drilled so getting one out (even before I glue them in) is challenging/impossible.
It works!
The cover is not thick enough for the magnets to be flush, so I recessed the magnets inside the cavity to make up the difference, apparently one of them is not quite deep enough, the cover is raised up a bit on one side. I'll file down the magnet and it should be ok, unfortunately I glued them in before checking (though as I said above it would be hard to get one out once it was in the hole anyway).
I think the sanding is just about done, I'll look at it in the bright sun today to be sure. I guess I'll probably do the CA coat on the fingerboard before finishing, so maybe I'll get that done tonight and get tung oil started tomorrow morning.
Today is paint decision day in the house, I've seen enough variations of gray to make your head spin, and greige? What the hell is that? My wife says she's enjoying it, that's enough I guess.
Ok, first coat of CA done, whew I forgot how hard this stuff is, I tried a thick CA first, I'm going to try medium next. I've got this sanded back, but seems like I sanded more off than I put on.
I got the fingerboard coated. CA coating is not that hard to do, but the two or three times I've done it, I thought I was done, only to have to start over again due to sand through. That happened only once this time around.
First time through - I got it nice and flat with 220, then worked my way up to 320, then steel wool.
Hey, that's a pretty good finish!
No matter how much I buff this spot it won't shine up! what is going on? Oh.
A coat of medium viscosity, this time around I filled in any gaps and low spots as the glue dried.
Back to where I started:
Getting there - the last pass I used a piece of denim to polish, it wasn't quite where I wanted it, but close.
I don't have access to any of my liquid polishes, but there is some glass stove top cleaner here, it worked great!
It's not perfect, but it's pretty dang close, at certain angles you can see small irregularities, but I don't think you'll see them once the strings are on. Getting the top edge of the blue tape off was tough I had to scrape it with a razor blade, I hate doing something like that this late in the game.
First time through - I got it nice and flat with 220, then worked my way up to 320, then steel wool.
Hey, that's a pretty good finish!
No matter how much I buff this spot it won't shine up! what is going on? Oh.
A coat of medium viscosity, this time around I filled in any gaps and low spots as the glue dried.
Back to where I started:
Getting there - the last pass I used a piece of denim to polish, it wasn't quite where I wanted it, but close.
I don't have access to any of my liquid polishes, but there is some glass stove top cleaner here, it worked great!
It's not perfect, but it's pretty dang close, at certain angles you can see small irregularities, but I don't think you'll see them once the strings are on. Getting the top edge of the blue tape off was tough I had to scrape it with a razor blade, I hate doing something like that this late in the game.
I applied the first and second coat of Formby's tung oil. As is usual I did a soaking coat as the first one, literally pouring the oil onto the instrument and wiping it around until the wood wouldn't take any more. Usually after the first coat I see a lot of scratches and things that need to be fixed. I did find two spots where I had some CA overspill, but remarkably I don't see anything else that needs to be addressed. That may change when I bring it out from the basement and look at it in the light.
There's only a single hanging bulb in the furnace room where I'm doing the finishing (in the rental house), so these pictures are terrible, but wow, this wood is amazing. I can't wait to see both the walnut and the tiger maple together.
Back - there's some really great figuring in the walnut, very deep and 3D:
The front was facing away from the single bulb, so I had to turn on the flash, but that same deep, 3D figuring on the walnut is on the front as well, even though you can't see it in this picture. Even the white wood has some nice figuring in it.
I will do a "wet sand" with tung oil after this coat dries then probably four or five coats after that. I should be putting pieces together by the weekend.
There's only a single hanging bulb in the furnace room where I'm doing the finishing (in the rental house), so these pictures are terrible, but wow, this wood is amazing. I can't wait to see both the walnut and the tiger maple together.
Back - there's some really great figuring in the walnut, very deep and 3D:
The front was facing away from the single bulb, so I had to turn on the flash, but that same deep, 3D figuring on the walnut is on the front as well, even though you can't see it in this picture. Even the white wood has some nice figuring in it.
I will do a "wet sand" with tung oil after this coat dries then probably four or five coats after that. I should be putting pieces together by the weekend.
My wet sand coat was a bit sloppy, it took a while to sand out the drips, but it's all good now, coat 3 on and it looks good.
I went over to my dad's and got knobs and nut made. I know I have some ebony over there, but I sacrificed "finding time" for "shaping time" and just used tiger maple. I'll see how it goes, I can always gig with it once :-D
More of the same, but I sanded down with 400 this morning and put on another coat, this might be the last one, I'll have to see how it looks when dry.
I somehow managed to lose the nut between upstairs and downstairs. It's driving me crazy! I had it in my hand, it is in this house somewhere!
I somehow managed to lose the nut between upstairs and downstairs. It's driving me crazy! I had it in my hand, it is in this house somewhere!
Minor update. I can't for the life of me find the nut I cut last night. This house we're in is not small, but the area I covered this morning between my office (where the nut was) and the basement (where I'm finishing stuff) is a pretty direct route and covers very little area. It's nowhere to be found. I'll bet it's comical to my wife hearing me walking around muttering "I can't find my nut".
I am certain I will find it eventually but I decided I could cobble something together here even though I don't have any tools here, and with the blizzard in full effect I won't have anything at my disposal anytime soon. I found some small pieces of walnut and tiger maple and laminated up a new one. It's a good diversion as things dry anyway.
I was gathering up the stuff I need to put this all together and realized I don't have a drill to mount the bridge, so the build will have to wait until later Wednesday or Thursday to come together. The last coat of tung oil looks good in the basement, but again, with a single bulb down there that's not a very good indication. Once it's dry I'll bring it upstairs and make the decision if this is the final coat or not.
I am certain I will find it eventually but I decided I could cobble something together here even though I don't have any tools here, and with the blizzard in full effect I won't have anything at my disposal anytime soon. I found some small pieces of walnut and tiger maple and laminated up a new one. It's a good diversion as things dry anyway.
I was gathering up the stuff I need to put this all together and realized I don't have a drill to mount the bridge, so the build will have to wait until later Wednesday or Thursday to come together. The last coat of tung oil looks good in the basement, but again, with a single bulb down there that's not a very good indication. Once it's dry I'll bring it upstairs and make the decision if this is the final coat or not.
There are a broad range of inappropriate things I could post, but let's just say that the quantity of nuts is now correct (it was underneath a piece of sandpaper, that I would have sworn I moved already). I'll probably use the laminated one anyway.
It looks like I got my final coat of tung oil on. As with every bass I've built I get to a point where I say "the next good coat is the final coat" then I go on and do 3 or 4 more coats before I get one with no drips, streaks or spots I missed. I tried to look at my process a bit more during this one, hopefully the next one will be more efficient.
I'll probably start putting it together tomorrow, besides the physical build I also have to carve the nut. I have it generally to shape, but I like to customize it on the bass to incorporate some of the flowy lines, if possible.
I could be making music by the weekend! Pretty psyched about this one.
I'll probably start putting it together tomorrow, besides the physical build I also have to carve the nut. I have it generally to shape, but I like to customize it on the bass to incorporate some of the flowy lines, if possible.
I could be making music by the weekend! Pretty psyched about this one.
I made a post on my build thread a couple weeks ago showing the side dot jig I made for the cnc and mentioned that I must forget to put them on once every three of four builds!
The center of a log or branch is the pith.
Out of the basement, it's not perfect, but it looks pretty good. I lined the control cavity with copper and mounted the pots. I formed the nut, oiled it and waiting for it to dry. I need to get over my dad's to get the screw holes drilled for the bridge, pickup and strap locks.
Small update, but I got the nut mounted. The walnut laminate in the middle looks like another fret line, I hadn't thought of that, but it looks cool.
I'm going to try and run over my dad's at lunch today to get the screw holes drilled.
I'm going to try and run over my dad's at lunch today to get the screw holes drilled.
I got the bridge installed, it didn't give up easily, buy I got it in. There is contention between the string saddles and the mounting screws, so it took a little engineering to get it all installed.
I got the holes drilled for the pickup, I'll work on mounting that and wiring it up tonight.
I got the holes drilled for the pickup, I'll work on mounting that and wiring it up tonight.
