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I do know much about harps/uke's, but I like that one! Love your work John P. !
Side note: Where do you get a case for that?

Jeff

Beautiful job! You mentioned "Z-Poxy" on the sides and back... Is that the same "Z-Poxy" I use to fiber glass my RC airplanes? If it is, it seems like a good idea and really looks nice. Thanks.

Sincerely,
Rich

justrfb wrote:Beautiful job! You mentioned "Z-Poxy" on the sides and back... Is that the same "Z-Poxy" I use to fiber glass my RC airplanes? If it is, it seems like a good idea and really looks nice. Thanks.

Sincerely,
Rich

Rich,

It is Z-POXY finishing resin PT-40. It is used to fill the pores on the wood. I really like it. It takes three to four applications sanding back each application to get the pores filed. After I will apply a wash coat of shellac and spray with either target EM6000 or EM7000.

Rich, it's likely the same epoxy. I bought my Z-Poxy at an RC Airplane store.

I decided to just leave well enough alone and leave the dot on the sixteenth. If someone is playing the high on the neck they can figure out one fret from the other. I finally got the first coat of lacquer on the instrument. I had to finish all of the little detailed prep work. It took a lot of effort to prep all of the little corners and curves and what not especially around the harp peg head. Before doing the final prep I also assembled (photos included :)) the instrument and set the bridge location and double checked the neck angle. All looks good. I should be able to buff it out in a couple of weeks from this time.

With first coat of lacquer



Test assembly before final prep.

I went away to the mountains for a month no internet, not even cell. My wife and I dropped our youngest off at college and instead of going home to an empty nest ...

But I digress, I came home and I am not happy with my application of EM7000 it is very blue. Maybe my coats were too thick I am not sure. I also had adhesion problems when I tried to buff out before the trip. (See the first picture). Right before the trip I sanded down the damaged are and resprayed. You can see in the pictures.

Here is what the instrument looks like in sunlight. It looks ok in warm light. I will sand it down and refinish.

Hey John I need a month like that... consider me jealous.

I've had adhesion problems like that and they are no fun, sorry to hear that. The uke looks awesome though. Strip it and get some more finish on it, we want to know what it sounds like!

Yeah that blue tint is why I haven't tried water based lacquer. The darker the wood, the worse it shows. Sometimes it doesn't seem to show.......and I'm unsure exactly why. Some have suggested thinner coats help prevent this as you mention but I'm not too sure about that.

I'm torn whether to use real lacquer or keep using KTM-SV on my current build. I have no reason not to use the SV.........but I would like to have experience with nitrocellulose lacquer for touchup and repair of other instruments. I would also like to try Pratt & Lambert #38 Varnish.

Did you get this refinished John? wondering what this little guy sounds like. :)

I am close to being able to re-spray. I have the finish off, I need to do a little bit more sanding.

I have been a little slow because been spending all of my spare time building a massive set for the show garden my wife is going to have in the Seattle flower and garden show. This is a huge regional show and she was accepted to display a fairly large garden. The show has a movie theme and she choice a film noir theme. She set her garden in an industrial setting, so the backdrop is a combination of corrugated steel and aged wood buildings facades included pane windows with shutters and blinds that I have made. I also built a water feature out of an 18" corrugated culvert pipe. I still have a lot to do. The set has to be built so that I can set it up in one day on site. We have three day to complete the entire garden on site.
Note to you all having woodworking skill can be dangerous.