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You Can Build It

#221
I gotta try that UV poly, a little disappointed with the Envirotex Lite i tried for glitter inlays on the Hossenfeffer II, it didnt cure as hard as advertised, and left some tiny bubbles in the mix. Nice jig! It took me around 6 hours to hog mine out with a chisel and downcut spiral dremel bit.
 
#222
Science! I tried and failed to find out exactly what resin Ric used to use for the glitter inlays. Some of them have really yellowed, I assume it was just some two part epoxy or polyester resin that was commonly available.Wouldn't surprise me if it was just old school bar top epoxy. I thought about using it, I know it cures extremely hard, but very amber, where I wanted water clear. The bane of all the resins I’ve tried is bubbles. Regular two part West epoxy was useless, full of bubbles. The Envirotex Lite is like thin maple syrup in consistency, much thinner than honey. Its a simple 50/50 mix, but sensitive to accuracy in measuring. I used cups graduated in ML. It’s a slow cure, so you have to keep passing a torch near it, or breathing on it, the CO2 pops the bubbles. If you are really vigilant, you can get all the bubbles out. It seemed to work better by pouring half the inlay depth, torch the bubbles out, then pour the rest. I still found some extremely small pits in the surface left by bubbles, like pin pricks. I dry sanded it up to micro mesh 12000 grit, but it never gets as shiny as if you just poured it and never touched it. Now that it’s fullly cured, I find it’s easy to scratch it, so it never gets as hard as bar top epoxy. The ideal would be truly water clear bartop epoxy or polyester resin.
 
#224
Somebody was looking for black plastic Fender style block inlays, which are pretty much nonexistent for sale online. I suppose you could cut them from black sheet plastic. I did some finish repair on my Steinberger neck, which is polyester gel coat over carbon fiber, using Spectrum Gelcoat paste. It worked incredibly well, it’s tinted gelcoat and hardener, it cures as hard as any boat gelcoat. Expensive, but enough to do a full set of black inlays in one jar. It also has a shelf life, about one year, like most gelcoat stuff.
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Tinting regular epoxy would probably be cheaper, but I don’t think it dries as hard as the Spectrum, and again... the bubbles! The Spectrum is like thick cake frosting going on, you can trowel it into a void and work it smooth. It sands and buffs up to high gloss.
 
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#225
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#226
#227
You could seal those holes with shellac as well, it dries very quickly.

I use 2P-10 CA glue, you can get it in multiple viscosities, it's good to have all the flavors around, they work well for different jobs. I find the thicker the viscosity the softer the dried product is. It's not so noticeable when I go from thin to medium, but it's very noticeable on the jel thick stuff.
 
#228
Here's my attempt at "Glitter" Rickenbacker inlays using crushed MOP flake and Envirotex Lite polyester resin. First experiment was comparing the Envirotex to standard West epoxy, which is the dreadful pee-yellow one in this photo. Awful, and full of bubbles. The Envirotex can be made (nearly) bubble-free with a propane torch, or just breathing on it. With a dark bubinga board, this made it obvious I'd need to paint the recesses prior to putting in the MOP, or the wood shows through.
4ELRJlZ.jpg

FwTV0sK.jpg


I painted the 1/8" deep triangle recesses with some pearlescent acrylic craft paint mixed with Envirotex, which worked well. I actually had two grades of MOP flake, medium and fine. The fine was sprinkled onto the wet Envirotex/Paint mixture and left to harden.
aAArcMP.jpg


I used foam double-stick tape to create a "dam" around the recesses, wet the bottom with Envirotex, then put in the medium MOP flake, and poured up to flush in two passes, working the bubbles out with a torch.
WwN4qTL.jpg


Here it is hardened, looks shiny, right?
oag6RdH.jpg


After radiusing.... not so shiny. I worked my way up the grades, all the way to 12000 grit micro-mesh, then some plastic polish, but it never got as crystal-clear shiny as the initial pour.
VuzpXLc.jpg

wjRyHHi.jpg


I was VERY careful on the mix, a simple 50:50 resin/hardner, so I don't think I effed it up, but i don't think it ever got hard enough to buff out to a really high gloss. I can't dent it with a fingernail, but it will scratch easily. I plan on letting it cure for a couple months and see if I can get more shine out of it.
 
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#231
alder said:
View attachment 3320983

More test cuts and adjustments. I picked out the edges with a Sharpie rather than waste more CA on testing. Final tweaks to the templates, making sure squares are square, straights are straight, curves are curved, and the guide bearing bottoms-out tight in the corners where it is supposed to. One little addition to the base: I drilled the well at the right to put the screws in when I am changing templates, so they don't escape from me on a cluttered workbench. For storage, I can screw all three templates on at once.

I have to stop with this now, or I never will. StewMac could laser-cut these things easy and sell them for a bundle. This is the most complicated template I ever made, and I made three of them.
Click to expand...
Very, very nice work. :thumbsup: Not that you need my endorsement, but you have it anyway. :D These are cool enough that I'd rather buy one from you than make it myself - although I'd prefer not to pay your full engineering hourly wage for the work... :laugh: Thanks for sharing; like several of your ideas, it's really clever... :)
 
#235
NKBassman said:
I think most of the "wet glass" looking fretless bass fingerboards that you see out there (ie Pedula) are typically polished CA.
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Pedula actually uses some kind of polyester resin, I think they called it "Diamondkote" or "Glasscote", or at least they used to. I had them coat a Warmouth fretless neck for me many years ago, whatever it is, it's incredibly hard, all those years with rounds and it still looks great. I think they still use it on the Buzz fretless basses. Some people on TB have gotten great results with CA though, that stuff has really come into it's own. I don't like working with it much, makes my eyes BURN.
 
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#236
Gilmourisgod said:
Pedula actually uses some kind of polyester resin, I think they called it "Diamondkote" or "Glasscote", or at least they used to. I had them coat a Warmouth fretless neck for me many years ago, whatever it is, it's incredibly hard, all those years with rounds and it still looks great. I think they still use it on the Buzz fretless basses. Some people on TB have gotten great results with CA though, that stuff has really come into it's own. I don't like working with it much, makes my eyes BURN.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected. :)
Have seen good results with CA around the LC forum in the past, though.
 
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#238
Looks like the same trussrod sold by BBG, Bitteroot, and a few other vendors. Some have blue shrink wrap, some black. Mine looked the same at the heel, pretty tight to the end of the fingerboard. I have a standard 5 degree headstock angle on my Ric clone builds, figured I could extend the TRC route as you did if I ever need to get them out again.
 

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