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POST 7
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The
guitar is nearly ready to apply finish. The quality of the finish
is determined by the preparation. The entire sound box is sanded
smooth and then a coat of finishing epoxy is applied and pushed
into the pores of the wood with a squee-gee. The finishing epoxy
does a good job of binding the finish to the wood and fills
the pores in the wood to give us a smooth surface to apply finish.
One coat of epoxy goes on the sound board and is sanded smooth.
Several coats of finishing epoxy were required to fill the pores
of the Koa. Each coat applied and left to cure over night and
then sanded down smooth. In the picture below the first coat
of finishing epoxy has been applied and awaits sanding.
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I
use a waterbased laquer to finish the sound box of the guitar.
I spray on several coats over a three day period and then let
the finish cure for three weeks. In the two pictures below,
you can see the guitar after spraying. Notice how the bear claw
figure in the sound board shows up better after spraying. |
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While
waiting for the finish to cure, I work on the neck and make
up several bridges. The neck is sanded and finished with an
oil finish. The oil finish gives the neck a nice wood feel and
makes touch-up easier when the guitar needs a re-fret or repair.
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The
following series of pictures document the making of several
bridges. I will choose one of these, after the neck is attached
to the sound box.
Five ebony bridges are dimensioned and then the layout for saddle
slot and bridge pin holes are determined. |
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Saddle
Slots are cut:
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Bridge
pin holes and countersink are drilled in the bridge blank:
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The
bridge shape is cut and the bridge is shaped by hand using a
belt sander, various hand tools and sandpaper.
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Three
weeks have passed since the finish was applied to the sound
box. A series of sandings with dry and wet sanding papers to
level the finish is follwed by buffing the finish. |
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With
the finish buffed on the sound box and neck, the two pieces
are ready to be permanently attached.
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Now
full attention is turned to the fret board. Frets are levelled,
recrowned, sanded with 220, 320, 400, 600 and polished with
‘0000’ steel wool. The ebony fretboard is sanded between the
frets and cleaned and oiled. Then the location for the bridge
is determined and the finish scraped from that area of the sound
box. |
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Then
the bridge is glued to the sound board. |
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concludes the 7th Post. The 8th Post will cover the final set
up of the guitar and will include some nice pictures of the
finished guitar. I have enjoyed your comments and questions
and am committed to answering them all. Keep them coming Email
me - Thanks - mdg |
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