First kit build - Martin dred

[rcplanefan]

I was able to get the back binding/purfling glued in today and this evening I spent some time with some 150 grit paper in a random orbit sander on the top. Fortunately, all evidence of squeezed out glue disappeared. It did take a bit of sanding to get the binding/purfling flush and also flush with the spruce top, but in the end, I think it looks really good.

I'll sand the sides and back tomorrow once I remove the tape.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Really nice work

[tippie53]

looking clean nice work

[TEETERFAN]

First class, baby!!!

[Diane Kauffmds]

You did an outstanding job. Congratulations! Finish work is the Achilles heel of luthiery. The secret is to prep, Prep, PREP. That's what you did.

[krrtlr1]

Dang, very nice. That came out slick

[rcplanefan]

Thanks for the compliments. I did run into my first "oopsie" today. After I removed the tape from the back bindings, I used my palm orbital sander to make everything flush like I did the top bindings. However, that just ground brown rosewood dust into the beautiful white bindings/purflings. So then I spent a couple of hours lightly sraping the bindings to remove this burned in brown color. I think they look OK now, but I sure would like to know how everyone else cleans up the back/sides of the guitar after glueing them in.

Here are some photos of the body as it is currently finished. On to fitting the neck!

[MaineGeezer]

Dark sanding dust can certainly discolor a top. A couple of ways to minimize the problem are to use a scraper or a plane instead of sanding, and to put on a couple coats of shellac to seal the wood before starting.

Your work looks impeccable. That is going to be one fine guitar.

[rcplanefan]

Dark sanding dust can certainly discolor a top. A couple of ways to minimize the problem are to use a scraper or a plane instead of sanding, and to put on a couple coats of shellac to seal the wood before starting.

Your work looks impeccable. That is going to be one fine guitar.

Thank you! The dark sanding dust actually discolored the bindings/purflings. How do you sand the back/sides and not discolor the bindings? Maybe I was just really heavy handed with the sander, but man there has to be a better way to flush everything up. Maybe I need to look into scrapers?

Appreciate all the comments. I've learned a lot and will continue to do so.

[Diane Kauffmds]

Do your sanding first, then scrape the bindings last. After using an orbital sander, you need to sand by hand using a block. Never sand with just your hand holding the paper. The orbital leaves little tiny circles in the wood which show when you finish. When you hand sand, a lot of the discoloration will come out of the binding.

Just finish by scraping. Actually you should scrape your eventual finish off of the binding anyway, so don't worry too much.