Moldy’s Brotherhood Build 2022 - Strat

[Moldy Oldy]

I took a little time out to work on my buddy’s George Harrison psychedelic guitar (pic is in the workbench thread) but now I’m back on the case.

Did the belly cut. The Shinto rasp takes off material about as quickly as any rasp I’ve used, but it still took a good 20 minutes. I need to find an easier way.


After the Shinto I switched to a fine Dragon rasp and then to 60 and 150 grit paper glued to thin (flexible) strips of scrap wood. I’m happy with the results.

 

[crazydave911]

Except for the shape, not generally a Strat fan, but this is beautiful

 

[Moldy Oldy]

For the arm relief I had to switch from the Shinto to the Dragon rasp much earlier because the Shinto wanted to tear out chunks of the redwood. Didn’t seem to matter which direction I was cutting. The Dragon is slower but no tearout problems.


I doused the cutout with a little naphtha to get a better sense for what the redwood/rosewood/ash sandwich would look like under finish.


Here’s the “finished” body. No more cutting or drilling… just about a thousand hours or so of sanding, grain filling, spraying, leveling and polishing… and every minute of it is great therapy.

 

[RickyRicardo]

Looks great!

 

[Moldy Oldy]

Looks great!

Thanks Richard

 

[Moldy Oldy]

On Saturday I decided to wipe on a thin coat of CA to the top. I hated doing that because the stuff is so horrible to sand, but I thought it would give me the best shot at deemphasizing my little crack repairs. It really made the grain pop and the 3D effect is spectacular. Of course that doesn’t come out in a picture. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that I’ve apparently developed sensitivity to CA. Even though I was very careful to arrange extra good ventilation as I was wiping it on, my sinuses swelled and got very painful, and are only now getting back to normal. I’m going to try sanding really lightly so it doesn’t need another coat, but I also bought a new filter for my respirator just in case.

Anyway, here’s where I’m at.

 

[RobRiggs]

That CA really brought out the tiger stripes. Beautiful.

 

[epizootics]

Yup, you always want to wear a respirator when working over large surfaces with CA. Goggle are also a good idea - this stuff is as hard on your eyes as it is on your sinuses.

It does work really well as a grain enhancer / pore filler, though. If you are going for a lacquer finish, make sure that your first two or three coats are sprayed from farther than usual - the proverbial dust coat - to start building up material without dissolving your CA fill, since the solvents in lacquer will soften CA.

I really enjoyed following your build!

 

[Moldy Oldy]

That CA really brought out the tiger stripes. Beautiful.

Thanks Rob

It does work really well as a grain enhancer / pore filler, though. If you are going for a lacquer finish, make sure that your first two or three coats are sprayed from farther than usual - the proverbial dust coat - to start building up material without dissolving your CA fill, since the solvents in lacquer will soften CA.

Thanks. I used CA to grain fill my 2nd guitar but I believe I used water based lacquer for that one. I plan to use nitro for this one so I’ll definitely remember your advice.

 

[Moldy Oldy]

I don’t have much of a plan for finishing this one. Seems like I’m just doing whatever hits me at the moment. So I decided to mask off the top and apply a coat of Z-poxy to the back. As expected it darkened the ash some and helped the grain to pop. I can tell it’s going to take at least 2 or 3 more coats to get everything completely filled.

 

[gb Custom Shop]

Everything is looking excellent so far. The wood grain on the top and body is just...wow

 

[crazydave911]

I don’t have much of a plan for finishing this one. Seems like I’m just doing whatever hits me at the moment. So I decided to mask off the top and apply a coat of Z-poxy to the back. As expected it darkened the ash some and helped the grain to pop. I can tell it’s going to take at least 2 or 3 more coats to get everything completely filled.
View attachment 985513

Try thinning the Zpoxy with Everclear. Way deeper penetration and I have used a 50/50 coat as a final finish it looks so good

And yes, that is a red oak neck as smooth and slick as a babies bottom

 

[Moldy Oldy]

I’m giving up on Z-poxy. Because it’s pretty dark I ended up with light and dark patches, depending on how thick it was in any particular spot. I had a little trouble on my last guitar and figured it was just learning curve. So this time I made sure to apply it as thin as possible. It looked ok on the back but I was just getting too much buildup on the sides. I tried sanding everything down till I just got into the wood but couldn’t get it even. So today I sanded it all off. That was not fun at all. I’m going back to Birchwood Casey Sealer/Filler, assuming they’ll still let me buy it in the Republic of Kalifornia. It takes about a million coats to build up, but at least I know I’ll end up with a decent finish.

 

[crazydave911]

Às I've said many times, thin Zpoxy with Everclear 190, starting at 25% and ending at 50%. I too started by following instructions (so not my style ) but eventually went to what I do now (was an bass oak neck, so harder still) YMMV

 

[Moldy Oldy]

Às I've said many times, thin Zpoxy with Everclear 190, starting at 25% and ending at 50%. I too started by following instructions (so not my style ) but eventually went to what I do now (was an bass oak neck, so harder still) YMMV

Hi Dave. I’ve seen your recommendation many times, but I don’t believe I’ve seen you talk about how you actually apply it. A squeegee doesn’t really work on the edges or roundover on an electric. Are you wiping it on with a rag?

 

[crazydave911]

Vintage Home Depot foam brushes . Truly, it's so thin you really can't squeegee it especially on a neck. The results speak for themselves

I call it my Russian bass, built of the dimensions of a Tonika (trash) GUITAR, the bass was long as a javelin . Though I did make it short scale, 30"
If any questions please ask

 

[gb Custom Shop]

Admittedly I was waiting for Dave's answer before I applied zpoxy to my tele last night, but I got too excited and just went for it

I mixed it up real thin, and at first tried to apply it like shellac. But with the alcohol drying so fast, I was getting ridges. And I couldn't afford to deal with those as I was applying over a stain base. That's why I ended up wiping on, and wiping/buffing off on mine. Whatever ratio I used to thin, was unscientific at best. But hey, it still worked. I applied another coat this morning, and it's getting progressively better. I will mention though, I was using it mostly for grain enhancement, and not filling. BTW my applicator pad was a cellulose/polyester sheet, they're virtually lint free and don't tear up easily

 

[crazydave911]

First coat 75-25 Zpoxy to alcohol, you will have to sand. Second verse same as the first. Third coat 50/50 with a brush

 

[Moldy Oldy]

Thanks guys. You talked me into giving it another try. This is when I learned it’s not legal for liquor stores to sell Everclear 190 in Kalifornia. So I found a place to mail order 200 proof pure corn alcohol and will see how that goes. It will take a week+ for it to get here from Maine. In the mean time I’ll finish resending everything.

 

[crazydave911]

Thanks guys. You talked me into giving it another try. This is when I learned it’s not legal for liquor stores to sell Everclear 190 in Kalifornia. So I found a place to mail order 200 proof pure corn alcohol and will see how that goes. It will take a week+ for it to get here from Maine. In the mean time I’ll finish resending everything.

The People's Republic of California strikes again . A few years back I was gonna send some forum friends some Tru-Oil for Christmas only to find out anything with "gun" in the name had been banned. Really? Varnish? OMG
Oh well, I love Maine, very common sense those down Easter's
BTW, don't drink lmao