OO-45 Project

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I've often wondered why we don't finish the bridge.
Go for it and let us know how it turns out.

[BlindBo]

That’s a great tip about “denting” the finish during clamping. That had not occurred to me. Maybe that’s why you don’t see them finished that often.

This may be crazy, but, below is question for any lacquer experts regarding curing. I’ve read and usually give lacquer a couple of weeks cure time before final sanding and buffing. I’ve also seen spraying operations, like John Hall’s, that have heat lamps in the spray booth to accelerate setting the lacquer.

Our oven has a low temp (95 degrees) setting used to proof yeast batters. It seems logical that a low temp treatment would accelerate the hardening. (And what wife wouldn’t love the sweet smell of lacquer in her kitchen???👹). Does anyone have any experience with a “baked on” lacquer finish?

[TEETERFAN]

I do a lot of lacquer work producing “relic” electric guitars. Addressing the drying process only, heat does accelerate things. But problems can arise when the outer layers dry before the inner layers. In extreme cases you can get cracking similar to a pie crust, where you have a dry layer over a soft layer that still is drying and shrinking. Anyway, I have had ok results using an over on electric bodies in the oven, elevating them with small nails in the screw holes (pickguards, bridge, ect.) in the front. But I have ruined several due to moisture from inside the wood bubbling the finish. I am sure any heat source has this potential. If I use an oven now, it is at 100 degrees or less. And then I turn off the oven once the part is inside, so a lot of steps.
Gentle, moving air from fans actually is quite effective and much safer. I use this method the most. And I use this method between sessions, during the finish build up stage. Again, the idea is to let the lower layers of the lacquer “gas out” their solvents before adding more layers. Nice thing is a small fan does the trick, saving electricity. But any acceleration (heat or fans) runs the risk of cracking, so be conservative. Additionally, I never do these things with an acoustic body! Way too abrupt temperature and humidity changes…you could easily crack the thin wood. A search of this forum will reveal many excellent, detailed procedures for applying lacquer that repeatedly produce great results. Those rely on good old “drying time”. (sorry for the long post)

[BlindBo]

I appreciate the thorough explanation and it makes perfect sense. When I first started this journey , one time I got in a rush and bubbled a drying lacquer finish with my heat gun. The repair was brutal. Think I’ll work on other projects and give the bridge several weeks to cure!
Thanks for the advice.

[TEETERFAN]

You’re welcome. Yes, multiple projects are the key!

[BlindBo]

Yeah, just started a Dred for a good friend ,and then, there’s always that gate my wife has wanted built the last 4 years!😬

[BlindBo]

I finally got put some time on my current project. There has been a lot of stopping and starting.
Got the bridge glued on this weekend. Once glued, I clamp a backing plate under the bridge plate in the center of the bridge and drill out the 1st and 6th string holes. Then I release the clamp, bolt the backing plate through the two string hole and finish the other 4 holes. Works well and gives me a nice, smooth -bridge plate.

IMG_1553.jpeg

Got the pick guard located. It’s a little large for this body , but what the hell, I just couldn’t ‘hep it”!😂
Also level sanded the fret board.

IMG_0426.jpeg

I’ll post some more photos tomorrow of the fretting, etc.

IMG_0425.jpeg

[BlindBo]

The “Queen’s Gate” is almost finalized which created a little shop time. With the fret board sanded true, I turned to fretting.

IMG_1555.jpeg

I have never installed frets after gluing the neck on and wasn’t exactly sure how to suppport the top while working on the fretboard extension area. John Hall recommended a Fret Buck from StewMac. It’s a serious piece of equipment but did the job perfectly.

IMG_1558.jpeg

I finally decided to install a K&K Pure pickup system after I had already drilled the end pin off center on the end wedge. I wasn’t excited about having to repair and redo the original screw up, but, then the 1/2” end plug for the pick up came to my rescue. So, how to drill a centered 1/2” hole over top of a mis-aligned 1/4” hole? I felt that a 1/2” forsner bit would be the best choice with solid control. A while back I built a spanning jig that clamps over the lower bouts and provides a clamping strip across the butt of the body. It allows me to set up whatever size and angle end wedge I choose while giving me a straight fence for my rougher bit. So, I had my son make me an 1/8” thick, steel place with a 1/2” hole centered. A little paint and adhesive cork and it worked perfectly with my other jig.

IMG_1567.jpeg

The end plug turned out reasonably well.

IMG_1568.jpeg

So, after a couple more days finishing the gate from Hell, I’ll get back to finishing the fret work and start the set up process.
Cheers!

[BlindBo]

Spent the afternoon installing the under saddle pads for my K&K UltraPure preamp system .i was a little anxious about gluing them in place but they have a pretty good system of jigs to help you get them in the right location. I’ve only used under saddle thinelines before. This is a lot more work but I’m pretty excited about having a powered preamp on board.

IMG_1588.jpeg

IMG_1589.jpeg

[BlindBo]

Made some more progress this weekend whil paint coats dried on the “Gate from/to Hell”!

The K&K went in pretty easily even with one false start gluing the preamp into the sound hole.

IMG_1593.jpeg

I installed this as an afterthought. The instructions and other sources said to install it on the bass side of the sound hole. Because of my vision limitations, I decided to put it on the treble side where I might have a chance of seeing it. The under saddle transducers went in like butter. The end plug takes some iterations to get it right but not too hard if you have any left over chopsticks.😂 The biggest challenge is making the mounting plate to fit in around the sound hole and match up the thickness with the sound hole bracing. This is a lot of fiddling with really small pieces and custom fitting. (I can hear John right now saying, aw that’s not hard!👹). My first attempt, using TiteBond orig. overnight and then giving the adhesive bracket overnight to cure, failed the next morning when I tried to mount the preamp. The TiteBond joint failed, not the mounting bracket adhesive. . So, I sanded the wood and the underside of the sound hole and reattached it using West Systems expoxy. This morning it was solidly in place. Getting the preamp in was no problem. If I do this again on a new build, I think I would make the sound hole bracing on that side large enough to accept the mounting bracket without having to fiddle with adding wood pieces after closing the box. Also, cord management is a little tougher with the preamp on the treble side. May have to revisit that later.

Back to the frets. Did the best I could getting the fret board flat with zero relief. Frets are in, levelled and crowned.

IMG_1591.jpeg

Frets done and polished.

IMG_1592.jpeg

Time for saddle, nut, and initial set up.

IMG_1594.jpeg

I’m going to let is sit overnight and see how it settles in overnight.
Getting closer!