Pores - b - gone........

DAY 37

Not a whole lot to report today. It was still a fairly nice day so I put a second coat of pore filler on the guitar and sanded it down to 800 grit. Other than a final inspection and a thorough wipe down with a tac cloth and then some naphtha to make sure all of the dust is gone it is ready for finish. Depending on the outside temps, I will try and get started with the first few coats of sealer. This time I am going to apply the finish exactly as the Colortone instructions say. Last time I used nothing but lacquer for all of the finishing coats. According to the instructions they recommend that somewhere around 60% - 70% of the overall finish thickness be sealer and the rest top coats of lacquer. I didn't buy sealer the last time because a lot of info on the internet said it was not necessary. I figure that the manufacturer probably knows the best way to use their product so this time I will try it their way. I am hoping that it helps a little bit with leveling and makes the finish a little harder to sand through. I know, lofty hopes but who knows!

I also spent some time building a 'spray booth'. Well, I use that term a little bit tongue in cheek. I picked up some 3.5 mil plastic and built some 'walls' out of it in the corner of my shop that is sealed off from the rest of the shop. Last time I just did the finish in the corner of the shop but I had to cover all of my tools to protect them from overspray, and I couldn't do any work because I didn't want any dust floating around. My hope is that this spray area will keep the overspray contained, and will also keep any dust in the shop from landing on the drying guitar. In theory it should work but I won't know until I use it. It is 5' deep by 7 1/2' wide. Not huge but plenty of room to prop the guitar parts on a sawhorse and walk around it with a spray gun.

So, if the temps and time permit, I will start finishing this weekend and I will post my progress. Oh, I forgot to mention that I ordered the plan for the OOO from Stewmac. I really like the guitar that Ted built and that is what I had in mind for my next build. Unfortunately the plan I included in that kit order was for the Martin OOO which is too much like the OM I already built. If the plan arrives on Saturday, I will probably get started on making the bending form and the clamping form if I can't start the finishing. I also included a rosewood bridge blank so I can try my hand at making a bridge. As silly as it sounds, that is the only part of a 'build from scratch' that I question my abilities on. I am not too worried about the neck shaping, side bending, or top/back joining. They might not be perfect but I am pretty confident that I can do them. The bridge on the other hand is a lot more like a piece of art that someone who carves would make. I am not good with the whole 3 dimensional shaping thing. I have been reading several articles about how to do it so I have some ideas. Stay tuned.......