Starting my Martin Dreadnought Christmas present build...

[darren]

lookin' good, that back is a beauty. my problem with tru oil is it keeps looking better every coat you put on so it's hard to know when to stop. I've done as little as 12 coats and as much as 22...

[justrfb]

Hello All.
Moving right along. Absolutely love Tru-Oil. Will be using this for finish for a long time to come as I see it now... Been measuring and reading for a few weeks now and finally pulled the trigger on setting and gluing the bridge. Thanks to all the information on this forum I am 99.9% sure I have the bridge in the exact place it is supposed to be in... Time will tell. Will be using the information you guys gave me in my other thread soon in buying nut files. Thank you. Some pictures from tonight...

Sincerely,
Rich

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Yah! You are almost there and looking good.

Kevin

[johnnparchem]

Looks really good. How did you remove the true oil finish from where you glued on the bridge?

[justrfb]

Hello Guys...

Thanks for the kind words! I can't wait to get it done and hear my son Willie play it like it needs to be played... Hopefully it will sound good and play even better. In case I forgot to mention, I can't play a note to save my life. I just love instruments (especially guitars) and love to hear Willie and others play them...

I located the bridge with the method mentioned here (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5892&p=28936&hilit=scale+length#p28936) and watching John's YouTube video a few times... After I located the bridge, I taped off the area around it (to protect the finish) and scraped the finish off with different sized chisels. Then, with the tape still protecting the finish outside the bridge location outline, I sanded (just a little bit) with 150 grit paper. I then proceeded with the "glue down." I will keep you posted on the final few steps. Thanks for all of your help. I wouldn't have been able to get this far with out it.

Sincerely,
Rich

[justrfb]

Good morning.
I wanted to share a few thoughts and ask a question or two... I was down working on the guitar last evening to take off the clamps holding the glued bridge and to tape off the finger board to start fret leveling. I took off the cam clamps, loosened up the wing nuts on my home made bridge clamp and went to push out the bolts that hold it together... Wouldn't budge! I said, "OOooo-NNnnoooo..." I envisioned the squeeze out glue getting on the bolts and under the clamp. I now figured I had a bridge plate 3 layers thick and measuring about a 1/2" high... Thankfully, the only thing held by the squeezed out glue was a few threads of the bolts and with a little patience and time, it all came apart without incident. Question - next time, would it hurt anything to put a little petroleum jelly on the treads of the bolts to keep from gluing them in the guitar? That is what I used to use in building RC airplanes... If you didn't want something glued, put some petroleum jelly on it.
Another thought... I was very careful (obviously not careful enough though...) with the Sitka Spruce top. In the whole process of finishing the top, locating and gluing the bridge, I noticed in the light, at a certain angle, I can see little indents and grooves from measuring and marking the location of the bridge, over tape layers of course... At first glance and maybe the "non builder" would probably never notice them but you guys would spot them right away... Any advice beside the obvious, be more careful, you guys have for me to not have my next top "dented and grooved?" Thanks for listening and commenting. The moment of truth is fast approaching. Thanks for all the help and support.

Sincerely,
Rich

[Ben-Had]

I use dry bar soap on the threads.

[justrfb]

"Ben-Had".
Awesome!... I tend to not think "outside the box..." I use dry bar soap to lubricate wood screws. Perfect, never thought to use it as a barrier against glue. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Rich