 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Not logged in - | |
ezFolk Forums > General > Instrument Repair and Luthiery > Anyone have a piece of mahogany to spare? |
| Moderated by: Richard Hefner | Page:   1 2 3 |
|
|||||||||||||
| Anyone have a piece of mahogany to spare? - Instrument Repair and Luthiery - General - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
| Author | Post | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||
|
theBlackman Approved 
|
It's a little late, but when you use stain make it a little weaker solution than you want the color to be. You can always apply another coat to darken a light tone, but it's really difficult to remove a deep color and start over. As for cleanup, alcohol is actually a better choice. It won't hurt the finish, evaporates quicker than water and won't soak the wood fibers. Water will often raise the grain of the wood. Alcohol won't.
____________________ Let each day start as a blank page for life to write upon. http://ezfolk.com/audio/dusty http://cdbaby.com/all/theblackman |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved 
|
I have a few suspiscious white spots. Really small ones and only visible when I look for them. Makes me leary of alcohol. They look like beer splatter. (CSI:GIBSON?) Actually, alcohol is the solvent for shellac so I was both puning and really concerned that alcohol may be a telescoping solution. Water, in fact, did raise the grain on the patch and I did have to fine sand it again. I've now applied the second coat of red lacquer. The edges of the patch and some of the scratches will be visible forever (he sighed), but very visible. Will let everything sit all night and inspect and go from there. Why red? Well, I have clear and red. I tested the red on a table I rebuilt last week and it looked great. Don't think fire truck. This is a subtle reddish-clearish finish that adds warmth and depth to a finish. After I have the color as matched as I can (pretty close now), I'll give a final coat or six of clear. I'm going to a jam in 2-1/2 hours. Theoretically, I could take the guitar. What's on it now will be dry long before then. But this guitar is easing into retirement. And will be a homebody and really special occassion instrument for the next half-century of it's life.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
theBlackman Approved
|
Water on lacquer will leave white spots. Remember the white rings when you put a damp glass or coffee cup on a table. This Blush can be removed with (don't laugh) Cigar/cigarette ashes. A damp, not wet, rag on a finger dipped into the ashes and used like rubbing compound. The nitro-lacquer you have on the instrument is not soluble by water or alcohol, but as it ages moisture (your splattered beer spots), can cause it to blush. Alcohol will affect only shellac finishes, so it is a good cleaning agent when you know the surface is not shellac. You can always test in a inconspicuous are if you are not certain about the medium of the finish. By the way. DON'T PUT THE STAIN ON THE LINES OF THE JOIN. The one coat will have done that already. So if you need a little more keep it away from the cut lines. They will be dark already. Last edited on Wed Jun 11th, 2008 10:18 pm by theBlackman ____________________ Let each day start as a blank page for life to write upon. http://ezfolk.com/audio/dusty http://cdbaby.com/all/theblackman |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Water on lacquer will leave white spots. Remember the white rings when you put a damp glass or coffee cup on a table. This Blush can be removed with (don't laugh) Cigar/cigarette ashes. A damp, not wet, rag on a finger dipped into the ashes and used like rubbing compound. --As it will on leather top furniture. In this age of thick synthetic finishes some of the old bugaboos are not problems. But on old instruments... they are. No one smokes in my house. Lost both parents and wife lost her father to tobacco. Wood ash do? The nitro-lacquer you have on the instrument is not soluble by water or alcohol, but as it ages moisture (your splattered beer spots), can cause it to blush. --As it turns out, the finsih on the guitar is quite thin. The white spots are not a real problem. Mile rubbing with the 600grit paper and a microburst of clear took care of the worst. I'll live with the rest. Alcohol will affect only shellac finishes, so it is a good cleaning agent when you know the surface is not shellac. You can always test in a inconspicuous are if you are not certain about the medium of the finish. --Have such an area picked out to test tomorrow. By the way. DON'T PUT THE STAIN ON THE LINES OF THE JOIN. The one coat will have done that already. So if you need a little more keep it away from the cut lines. They will be dark already. --Now you tell me! Actually, I realized that and the second application was much more focused and only on the broad area of the patch. The edges and the scratches will be visible. But not troublingly so. Last edited on Wed Jun 11th, 2008 10:34 pm by Philj200 ____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
theBlackman Approved
|
Wood ash might. Just be certain to only use the most powdery dust. Sorry about the delay in mentioning the "cut line". My bad.
____________________ Let each day start as a blank page for life to write upon. http://ezfolk.com/audio/dusty http://cdbaby.com/all/theblackman |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Ecce Gibson: I chose a satin finish because the guitar was that way. Note the scatches are dark. So be it. The fuzzy edges on the patch are a trick of the light. THey are snug and smooth. It has had five applications of lacquer so far. May be nearing the end of this project. It feel good. Yes, you can tell work has been done. Attachment: lmost finished.JPG (Downloaded 15 times)
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
theBlackman Approved
|
Compared to Photo 1, it looks great. Next time use masking tape to cover the crazed lacguer. (I know... Late again), and the stain won't seep in. You can also sand the cracks down a bit and then respray the lacquer. Now, after being nasty. GOOD JOB! 
____________________ Let each day start as a blank page for life to write upon. http://ezfolk.com/audio/dusty http://cdbaby.com/all/theblackman |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Thanks. In reality, the scatches are not all that obvious. The gloppy area on the edge of the patch near the connector are smooth and the same color as the rest of the repair (and the original wood). While it may seem like a cop out to blame the photo, it is a repair I am proud of. After I clean up the edges (don't use painters' tape, use masking tape) from finish materials that crawled under the tape, a little buffing... I'll take a better photo and post that. This job is almost over.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Job complete. Wax turned out fine. Hand buffed. Enough machinery applied to this lady in the past few weeks. Waiting for the batteries to charge on the digital camera to post a better pix. I had to remove some stain from the binding. Alcohol didn't faze it. Didn't want to do any stronger chemicals. Tried the 600 grit paper. Nada. Tried medium grade emery paper. That did the trick. I used a light hand. And dressed the areas with the 600 grit then a last very quick pass with the clear nitrocellulose. Forty-five minutes later it was plugged into to the equally old Ampeg Rocket and sounding just as good as ever. ------ I see a few people read along. Thank you for your interest. Next project I tackle, I hope with be a new instrument or an upgrade. Shouting Code Blue for a vintage guitar is unsettling.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
theBlackman Approved
|
Can't wait to see her. Sorry about my babbling as you went along. And apologies for all the "Second thoughts" that came after the fact. Your most current photo was fine. You did a good job, and counter to my misunderstanding, took the right approach. I really did think that the damage was more extensive than the opening shown, and thought the "crazing" was also crushed and not just cracked lacquer. Good job! And may the two of you live happily ever after. Dusty
____________________ Let each day start as a blank page for life to write upon. http://ezfolk.com/audio/dusty http://cdbaby.com/all/theblackman |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Dusty, your help has been key... not to mention your wood...without which this thread would have frayed long ago. This has been a learning experience as well as hand-on one. The ES-175 is now on call for the next time I need it. Not to far down the road is the solution to a guitar to jam with that I won't go sideways if anything happens to it. Among my junk guitars is an archtop with no electronics. Brand name Kawal. Never heard of it before I literally found it lying in the hedges at the local railroad station ( I was a commuter in those days.) Nice looking instrument but I've never needed it what with the much better Gibson doing the same thing and having double humbuckers and Bigsby bridge. After a double decade and a thick patina of dust, it's day has come. I'm thinking of adding a single inset pickup. The hole I cut for the pick-up will be all the access I need (I hope to run a conector cables and perhaps volume and tone controls. Will look at the StewMac catalog for ideas later on. This Kawal has one of those fretboards that alway smell of cheap guitar to me. A fret where the nut should be and the nut almost a quartin inch behind it. If I do this surgery, I'll cut the fretboard to more attractive (to me) configuration and move the nut to the right place. Yes, I will measure the fretboard for accuracy before I raise another dustcloud. And if I go this route, it will be on a separate thread. This thread, by the way, helped me beyond the support I recieved directly from Dusty and knowing that others were reading along. It kept me diligent. StewMac sent me a nice note when I updated them (they were very helpful too). So, trust on the image, the guitar looks good, another picture will be glare and soft focus to explain. The guitar came out better than I can shoot it. And unless something wierd happens. We're done. Thanks.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
theBlackman Approved
|
I think you'ff find that that is a KAWAI. Kawai was not an uncommon brand in the 60's. Kawai was still in business last I heard. The early F hole models are rare as most of thier instuments were electrics, although they did make archtop acoustics with humbucker pickups also. Last edited on Sat Jun 14th, 2008 01:59 am by theBlackman ____________________ Let each day start as a blank page for life to write upon. http://ezfolk.com/audio/dusty http://cdbaby.com/all/theblackman |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved
|
You are right again. The "i" looks like an "l" until you get close and suspend a priore logic. (The quacks like a duck sort of thinking... It looked like an "l.") Note in the pix, the odd zero fret. Added a few hours later: I checked the prices of pickups. The kind that would suit the insdtrument and myself costs about $140 w/o S&H. Phooey! I want a guitar I don't have to be concerned with. For that or maybe a little more, I can find a knock-around on eBay. That project is on hold until some brainstorm hits me. Or maybe the ES175's retirement won't be very long. Attachment: Kawai tuning board.JPG (Downloaded 5 times) Last edited on Sat Jun 14th, 2008 10:15 pm by Philj200 ____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved
|
And since I had the camera working, the ES-175 finished. Pun intended, again. It is better in real life. Come by, we'll jam. Attachment: Job done.jpg (Downloaded 5 times)
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Current time is 09:46 am | Page: 1 2 3 |
| ezFolk Forums > General > Instrument Repair and Luthiery > Anyone have a piece of mahogany to spare? | |
