help with sanding super glue

[hopdybob]

Hello All.
I am working on a neck that lost his 'plastic' position dots. they melted.

sideway in this story.
a member here, Laren , made a scrap wood guitar and used acrylic glitter on that guitar.
cut off scrap wood guitar

i am doing this for the position dots.
now i am this far that i have the dot holes filled with some glitter and drop fill the holes until they will be a bit above the fretboard.

but what do i do than to keep the super glue transparent to see the glitter?
what do i use to sand the dots level?

i have to refret the neck to, frets are already out so before refret i have to have the dots ready

 

[Nicko_Lps]

but what do i do than to keep the super glue transparent to see the glitter?
what do i use to sand the dots level?

I would use epoxy on this job but not all of them cure to clear see thru, some get yellowish. Really yellowish you have to research this.

If you use superglue, i assume once you sand it and polish it it will become transparent. Never tried it, its an assumption.

what do i use to sand the dots level?

i have to refret the neck to, frets are already out so before refret i have to have the dots ready

When you remove your frets and finish with your fretmarker-job you will need to sand it down with the proper radiusing block and make everything even.

 

[Buckocaster51]

Scrape level with box cutter blade

Sand up to 3000 grit

Polish

Keep the flake LOWER than top of fingerboard. You want the CA to be your top surface. Flake does not polish

 

[Peegoo]

@hopdybob

Here's what to do (I've done it).

Make your CA drop fills a little higher than the surrounding surface. Do not use accelerator; allow the CA to cure on its own. If you accelerate it, it can foam up, turn cloudy and get bubbly. And you will have to redo it all.

When the CA sets hard (overnight), use a smooth file to flatten it. Scraping with a blade will pull out any glitter you have in the surface. Work carefully with a small file, such as a 6" single-cut ignition file. Have a small brass toothbrush on hand to scrub the CA powder out of the file's teeth as they load up. The cleaner you keep the file, the smoother your surface will be.

Follow that with block sanding using 320, then 400. Shoot clear finish over the neck; several light coats are far better than one or two thick coats.

 

[eallen]

You didn't mention the fretboard type Bob but if unfinished CA polishes up well. I have done similar inlay fills using crushed abalone. Bucko nailed it.

 

[dsutton24]

Do yourself a big favor and experiment on a scrap of wood before going after a neck.

 

[Freeman Keller]

Most of the time when I drop fill or inlay with super glue I'll scrape with a box cutter blade instead of sanding. I might wet sand after its perfectly level . Don't use accelerator on drop fills, it can turn hazy or white.

 

[hopdybob]

You didn't mention the fretboard type Bob but if unfinished CA polishes up well. I have done similar inlay fills using crushed abalone. Bucko nailed it.

i have no idea what kind of wood it is, think maple.


but it already has a finish of boat lacquer

 

[hopdybob]

@Nicko_Lps @Buckocaster51 @Peegoo @eallen @Freeman Keller

thank you for all the guidelines, i can work with that

 

[hopdybob]

Do yourself a big favor and experiment on a scrap of wood before going after a neck.

to bad i have no scrap wood, but plenty of patience

 

[toanhunter]

in this case I think 2 part epoxy would be a better choice to fill the holes than superglue, overfill the holes a bit, let it fully cure, at least 24 hours and then sand them back ideally with a radius block if you have one.

 

[Freeman Keller]

in this case I think 2 part epoxy would be a better choice to fill the holes than superglue, overfill the holes a bit, let it fully cure, at least 24 hours and then sand them back ideally with a radius block if you have one.

I have used both medium CA and epoxy to till voids. CA is a good choice for drop filling poly finishes, I like to mix epoxy with sawdust when doing inlay - depending on how tight the inlay fits into the cavity. With dark woods like rosewood or ebony the little cracks around the inlay can be made to completely disappear.

Here are MOP dots inlayed in a rosewood fretboard with CA


And sanded with a radius block

 

[Boreas]

When drop-filling and such, I prefer scraping level to sanding. My favorite tool is a single-edge razor blade that has a burr burnished onto it with hardened steel - like on a woodworker's scraper. Then I tape both sides with Scotch tape and scrape WITH the burr. You don't HAVE to draw a burr, but I feel it lessens chatter and gets a smoother result. And less likely to chip/dislodge your work. I think it may take a little longer this way, but if it avoids collateral damge, it is usually a benefit.

Any "sanding" I would do is usually to polish, not to level. I go right to micromesh grits.

 

[Chuckster]

Has anyone tried this with UV cure resin?

I use Solarez for fly tying and the results are always crystal clear and durable.

(I would include a picture but I don't want the thread to drift; this is a cool topic.)

 

[hopdybob]

Well, my first attempt failed. the flakes were to deep, the CA to thick and the thrill is gone, ehh the glitter.


so re drill and start over again.
Drilling is by hand, maybe using a dremel with a round head

and have more controle

 

[Jupiter]

I’ve done this with good results

Just to echo others:
Get the flake close to, BUT STILL BELOW, the surface. If you are using silver flake, sanding through a couple flakes won’t really show, but with colored flakes it WILL, because the color is just on the surface of the flake.

If you use a few dabs of CA over time it’ll cure faster than pouring a whole gob of glue at once.

Don’t use accelerant. Don’t blow on it.

I had great results with scraping flush, then sanding. It’ll be nice and clear when you spray/wipe whatever finish you are using over it.