Re-finishing my build challenge guitar

A familiar picture again.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/ugly_guitar_guy/2012%20TDPRI%20COntest%20Build/2012-06-09_16-08-36_61.jpg

I pulled it all apart, stripped and sanded the rest of the oil down, and now I'm going to be going along with MUCH thinner coats to really work it into the wood evenly. Hopefully in a couple weeks I'll have a much better outcome this time, and now I'm in no hurry to get it done right.

:cool:

About 4 coats of sealer again, and the first coats of oil going on. It's pretty dry and warm in So Cal right now, so I can get a couple coats of oil on each day with no problem. The part that I'm dreading at this point is the buffing/polishing portion, but if I give it a week to cure after doing about 15-20 coats then it'll probably be a much better result than what happened last time...

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/ugly_guitar_guy/2012%20TDPRI%20COntest%20Build/2012-06-10_12-59-27_370.jpghttp://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/ugly_guitar_guy/2012%20TDPRI%20COntest%20Build/2012-06-11_14-55-54_306.jpg

Sooooo, Oil -2, Chris - 0.

After a total of 4 sealer coats, and 12 Tru Oil coats (lightly leveling with steel wool every 3rd coat), I let the guitar sit for 48 hours and last night got out my 800 grit to wet sand the top level with a block.

I s%*t you not, after only about 20 seconds of light passes across the top of the body I got sand through. With 800 grit!! I wiped the top down and cleaned up the slurry and sprayed down a HEAVY coat of TO over the whole top, then 2 hrs later came out and did it again. The sand-through spots seemed to be covered at that point.

I think I'm going to give up on this being a level finish and just spray oil until the spots are completely covered. I must be water because oil and I don't seem to want to mix, so the future I'll stick with poly or nitro which I'm good at. I just don't understand why I can't seem to get the same results with TO that so many other people have. It doesn't make any sense to me.

I think the Tru-Oil soaks in and leaves a very thin coating. I have the same problems. When I get enough coats on this one, I think I'll just buff it with polishing compound or something like that.

I've got to say though, you're putting a lot more effort into it than I am. Probably why your finishes are soooooo much better :grin:

Usally I just use steel wool and rubbing compound when I use Tru-oil. This obviously give a more satin finish. Tru-oil can get fairly glossy with wet sanding but I start with 1500 grit. (This what I did for last years build challenge, for example). Because you're not deal with orange peal or (hopefully) runs you can start with a very fine grit. Maybe the 800 is just overkill?

Yeah, I think that once I get the bad spots covered I'm just gonna take some rubbing compound to it and call it a day. Tired of fussing with this one when I can use that time to get my shop reset to start building another. :mad:

I love that little acorn-style end on it. Very nice, kind of alembicy.

Hope the finishing goes better!

I love that little acorn-style end on it. Very nice, kind of alembicy.

Hope the finishing goes better!

Well said! :mrgreen: I've been trying to think up a good way to describe that end detail ever since Chris unveiled it !

Chris-- I've used Tru-Oil a lot over the years for a number of projects, and every so often, it seems that I just can't buy a break. Normally it's easy, cooperative, and gives a great finish. Other times it comes out of the bottle sticky, drags horrible gummy lines across the wood, and dries with what looks like a mountain range in there.

I can't explain it at all. But very much like the experience you're having, sometimes Tru-Oil just about makes you give up. Your guitar has a lot going for it with the interesting, unique shape, and the wood patterns and figuring, so I don't think you need a really glossy finish that plain janes need to make it atractive. A nice satin finish would look great on it, and save you further hassles.

Thanks for the insight guys!

I ended up layering on several more coats of TO and letting it sit in the nice hot garage for a few days to fully dry, and yesterday took to buffing it. Now this time, instead of steel-wooling over the whole top to scuff up the surface, I just went over it lightly to get rid of any imperfections on the surface (dust n junk). Once it felt smooth to the fingers I got out my polishing compounds.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/ugly_guitar_guy/2012%20TDPRI%20COntest%20Build/2012-07-04_13-58-22_782.jpg

A few minutes of hand buffing with the 3M polish wasn't really going as well as I'd like it, so I switched to the Meguiars Scratch X. MUCH better. Started removing scratches much faster.

After about 30 minutes of hand buffing the top with round buffing pads (I really need some of those stew mac drill mounted foam pads), here's where I got:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/ugly_guitar_guy/2012%20TDPRI%20COntest%20Build/2012-07-04_14-19-09_607.jpghttp://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/ugly_guitar_guy/2012%20TDPRI%20COntest%20Build/2012-07-04_14-19-54_139.jpg

MUCH better. :mrgreen:

A couple more areas need to be spot buffed on top for tiny scratches, and a few minutes to make the back look nice and I'll get it reassembled by next week! Oh, and the LED on the 7th fret stopped working in chase mode but still works in all-on mode, so I'll have to pull the fret and make sure that there's still connection. I sure as hell ain't steaming the fretboard off again...

:cool:

Dead sexy!

Looking good, and I like seeing those bench cookies in use.

Foam drill pads. Just as a side note, you can buy foam buffing wheels that fit in drills from OReilly autoparts for about 6-7$. They even have spherical and cone shaped ones over in the wax/headlight restore section. They work better than my expensive right angle buffer and a lambswool bonnet.

Looking good, and I like seeing those bench cookies in use.

Foam drill pads. Just as a side note, you can buy foam buffing wheels that fit in drills from OReilly autoparts for about 6-7$. They even have spherical and cone shaped ones over in the wax/headlight restore section. They work better than my expensive right angle buffer and a lambswool bonnet.

Well, I don't have much choice on the bench cookies for this pose. This guitar doesn't bode well to being set on end. :wink:

Thanks for the tip on the foam buffing pads! Maybe that'll help get the last little faint scratches out.

Hey guys, I finally got this one wrapped up this weekend! :mrgreen:

Did another quick fret dressing to sort out a couple low spots on the upper frets and bolted it back together:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/ugly_guitar_guy/2012%20TDPRI%20COntest%20Build/2012-07-08_20-10-51_63.jpg

Then it only took me about a half hour to put all the hardware back on and get the pickups/LED's re-wired.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/ugly_guitar_guy/2012%20TDPRI%20COntest%20Build/2012-07-08_22-24-00_429.jpg

I'll put some better pics up in my official build thread in a few days but I was excited to share now that I can call this one completely "DONE." :cool:

Very beautiful finish on a very cool looking guitar! Without going back to look at your challenge thread, I can't recall what that gorgeous top wood is. Walnut?

I made a jewelry box for my wife out of walnut, and I finished it with TruOil. I was really surprised at how much that wood was able to soak. Like you experienced, by the time I built it up enough to get a glossy finish, I was sick of messing with it, and I'm talking like only half the size of your guitar's body :lol: But it looks really nice, though. Birchwood Caseys also makes a sealer/filler, which I will definitely use next time.

Very beautiful finish on a very cool looking guitar! Without going back to look at your challenge thread, I can't recall what that gorgeous top wood is. Walnut?

I made a jewelry box for my wife out of walnut, and I finished it with TruOil. I was really surprised at how much that wood was able to soak. Like you experienced, by the time I built it up enough to get a glossy finish, I was sick of messing with it, and I'm talking like only half the size of your guitar's body :lol: But it looks really nice, though. Birchwood Caseys also makes a sealer/filler, which I will definitely use next time.

Ah, everyone is so in love with walnut around here! :razz: No, it's a koa top and mahogany body.

Yeah, I started with the Sealer/Filler first before putting on the oil coats. It would take a long time for the koa to absorb enough oil to build up on it's own. Next time I'm definitely sticking with laquer though. Oil will not be a standard finish for me, that's for sure...

And here's the guitar at last night's practice. My drummer has a nicer camera than me and snapped some pics (but apparently he isn't aware of avoiding reflective angles...). :cool:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/ugly_guitar_guy/2012%20TDPRI%20COntest%20Build/djentcasteratpractice.jpg

FINALLY DONE!

Ah, everyone is so in love with walnut around here! :razz: No, it's a koa top and mahogany body.

Yeah, I started with the Sealer/Filler first before putting on the oil coats. It would take a long time for the koa to absorb enough oil to build up on it's own. Next time I'm definitely sticking with laquer though. Oil will not be a standard finish for me, that's for sure...

And here's the guitar at last night's practice. My drummer has a nicer camera than me and snapped some pics (but apparently he isn't aware of avoiding reflective angles...). :cool:

FINALLY DONE!

Wow, koa, that's a really beautiful piece. (Mind me asking where you got that?) Yeah, it would be better without the big reflection, although that highlights how nice and glossy your finish is. Again, thumbs up on this one, very nice work. I can't wait to see what you do with the redwood top!

Wow, koa, that's a really beautiful piece. (Mind me asking where you got that?) Yeah, it would be better without the big reflection, although that highlights how nice and glossy your finish is. Again, thumbs up on this one, very nice work. I can't wait to see what you do with the redwood top!

Ebay actually. I just kept searching until I found a guy in hawaii selling a plank that was big enough for me to bookmatch, and it looked good. He seems to have lots of stuff up now, but not much big enough for a guitar.

I have to insert the obligatory oooooo, aaaaah! That is a gorgeous guitar, sir. Your perserverence was worth it to mine humble eyes....

Beautiful! I mean really, what more can you say?