AddamInsane wrote:Looks good!
What pickups are you planning?
It's a shame there aren't really any repro off-brand pickups available rather than strat and humbucker designs.
Since it looks like I am making two bodies, I will probably go with some sort of humbuckers or gretsch type pups on one. The other will probably be a single high output lipstick from GFS that I have sitting around.
got my purple sparkle in.
I fixed the ding so that I could route the edge. By the time I do a tummy cut out in it it will most likely be gone, but had to patch it for initial edge route.
watching the work that you (as well as other talented cats people on ol sso) do makes me want to just burn everything i'm trying to build.
Might as well send down my drawings, notes, & schematics to someone who could probably make a much better guitar out of it all then I can.
What color base are you gonna lay down for the candy? Are you gonna mix it up with lacquer or poly? Thanks for that link, it should keep me busy for years.
Nice project and that Aria looks great. Wish I had the skills to do this stuff. Pearl purple is a bit too glam for me but maybe I'll be surprised....For some reason I'd like to see this in mint.
Joey wrote:What color base are you gonna lay down for the candy? Are you gonna mix it up with lacquer or poly? Thanks for that link, it should keep me busy for years.
They recommend white as a base coat for this. I have some cream-white that I will do a test with. I am going to try it with some system three poly that I have. It is not toxic, water soluble and sets fast. I have it in the cream and their clear gloss. I am going to go to norther tool and equipment and pick up a mini hvlp gun. problem this time of year is to find the correct day to shoot the paint out side. So the faster I can get it done the better.
I will probably test out several different base colors as a tester first though.
Just touching the bag gets some of that powder on your hands and gives your fingers an eerie glow. Like if you ever touched a butterflies wings.
cur wrote:I will probably go with some sort of humbuckers or gretsch type pups on one. The other will probably be a single high output lipstick from GFS that I have sitting around.
got my purple sparkle in.
I'm guessing filtertron style?
Far off in the future I want to make a guitar with These Gretsch pickups
Grizzly.com has some good mini hvlp guns for around $20, I love em and use em all the time. I've paid $80 for a Porter Cable mini hvlp gun and it had a shitty spray pattern... I don't ever use it at all. Buy at least two guns, cause once you spray pearls or flakes through a gun you'll never be able to clean it out entirely. So have a gun dedicated for sealer/gloss.... gun for color.... gun for flakes/pearls. And make sure you know what size needle/tip you need, you'll need bigger needles for flakes & pearls.
Fall/winter is the best time to spray. Temp don't matter, humidity is the biggest pain in the ass.
What do you use to fill the edges of the plywood. I'm working on a couple of dano style bodies that will need some filling.
I figured I would use wood putty but I've read where some guys use epoxy.
cooterfinger wrote:What do you use to fill the edges of the plywood. I'm working on a couple of dano style bodies that will need some filling.
I figured I would use wood putty but I've read where some guys use epoxy.
Yes, I was going to paint the edges with epoxy and then sand. Probably put on several coats to make it nice and thick then shape by sanding. The first coat will just saturate the wood anyway. But this is my tester body, I have a slab of poplar too. But I am going to turn the ply one into a guitar and maybe give to my brother.
cooterfinger wrote:What kind of epoxy are you using?
I like system three and west systems two part epoxy. If I have any more I will use that. If not I will use regular two part epoxy, but get the slower cure stuff so it has a longer pot life. You can mix big-ish batches and then spread it out without getting super hot and starting to kick. I will let you know how I do it tonight after it is done.
Went to lowes and picked up the big pack of 5 minute epoxy, the stuff that comes in two squeeze bottles (not the syringe stuff) because of the volume value. The bottles are 4.5 hardener and 4.5 oz resin and it is a 1:1 mix. I got some 2" foam brushes, then ripped off the foam and ripped them in half for application. I mixed up batches that were about 2 inches in diameter of resin on a styrafoam plate and mixed with a toothpick. gloved up my hands and the used the foam bits to apply. Did the edges first, then flipped over an put on a block so it would not touch the wax paper and did the back. It took about 4 batches using a different piece of foam each time. They get very hot and turn into bricks. It will take probably a day to set well enough to sand, but will also act as grain filler. I put it on very thick, but not so that there were drips.
Had an hour to kill today so I started on my poplar body. I bought the cheapest benchtop bandsaw I could get at the local bigbox a couple years back. Then gave the saw a proper set up and changed the belt drive spindle set up. It will rip through 1.5" poplar and plywood now.
I like to get close to the line and then use my orbital sander to get right up to the line. Then I use carpet tape to stick my template to the roughed our body and use pattern cutting bits on my BRAND NEW ROUTER TABLE.
I got the table with router (1/2 and 1/4 inch collets) for about $107 us at Sears tonight. It is pretty nice actually, better than my other set up. That comes to 14 quid for you UKers (9 euro's). Jealous much?
Next step is to make a template for neck pocket and pickups and controls.
cooterfinger wrote:Add a planer in there and that's pretty much my exact setup. It's really all you need.
OK, steps backwards. And I have a small bench top drill press too.
And my shop dog is better than your shop dog too.
Shit, I think that's the exact planer I have.
No shop dog here so you got me beat on that one.
The family cat likes to come in the shop when I'm working.
We couldn't find him for a couple of days and it turns out I had locked him up in the shop.
Now he runs out every time I walk near the door.
here is how to route a body with a wimpy 1/4 collet router (actually my new router has 1/2, but I don't have a long bottom guide bit yet).
Using a feud bottom guide 1" bit with template on bottom ( held in place with 2 sided carpet tape).
Flip it over and use a 1" top guide ( just purchased from sears and was off by 1/32 of an inch - my old feud bit tossed the screw last week).
The two bodies are the same, but look a little different due to ply and I did not add tummy cut yet.
Last edited by cur on Wed Oct 24, 2012 1:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Joey wrote:Grizzly.com has some good mini hvlp guns for around $20, I love em and use em all the time.
And make sure you know what size needle/tip you need, you'll need bigger needles for flakes & pearls.
Fall/winter is the best time to spray. Temp don't matter, humidity is the biggest pain in the ass.
1) thanks, I was looking at these and will bite the bullet from your endorsement.
2)their response to me "Our candies will go through even the smallest tip. You won't have any problems."
3)seems like it is always raining in the fall and it is not humid around here until if freezes (about 30 days a year).
need to do a base coat test with the sparkle. think I will mix a bit with my girls glossy top coat nail polish and test over different base coat colors (probably on white, cream and black) to see what I like the best. My girls can then have purple rain polish and be the cool kidz in class.
I love my Craftsmen router, it's got soft start, LED, 1/4" & 1/2", variable speed, 2 HP.... only $100 brand new. I put my router table on table saw wing.
Don't forget to get a water trap for the spray gun... install it on your compressor. Sears sells em locally for about $20. When the compressor sucks in air, it will spit water drops out all over your wet paint as your spraying.
I don't have a shop cat or dog... just some big rats and squirrels, it's creepy because you can hear em scatter across the tin roof.
