Copper Firebird/Strat build.... "Coppercaster"? "Stratobird"?

victorludorum

stickyfiddle said:

WezV said:

stickyfiddle said:

Yeah, I think I'm print-free so far, though honestly I'm knackered and have an early start so haven't scrutinised yet. Will see how I feel about it after work tomorrow  

You will probably find some appear as the copper starts to oxidise

Now you tell me!!  

Then I may be buggered - we'll see. I have plenty of spare copper for another layer if needed. Will see what it looks like once I'm potentially ready to finish it

On the plus side, if it ever gets nicked you'll be able to identify it easily.

Sporky

stickyfiddle said:

Long term if I like it as much as I'm hoping then a two-tone Tele-over-Strat outline headstock could be super cool. But I'm guessing that might cost quite a chunk to commission as a one-off..!

I reckon you could get a bit of plastic laser cut like the Tele silhouette fairly cheaply, and stick it onto a Stratty headstock. Might need feathering in to the curve up to the nut, but I think it's doable that way.

Easier with a scarfed headstock I'd think.

You could double up on the stratele theme with a modified Tele scratchplate to fit the lower bout...

stickyfiddle

Sporky said:

stickyfiddle said:

Long term if I like it as much as I'm hoping then a two-tone Tele-over-Strat outline headstock could be super cool. But I'm guessing that might cost quite a chunk to commission as a one-off..!

I reckon you could get a bit of plastic laser cut like the Tele silhouette fairly cheaply, and stick it onto a Stratty headstock. Might need feathering in to the curve up to the nut, but I think it's doable that way.

Easier with a scarfed headstock I'd think.

You could double up on the stratele theme with a modified Tele scratchplate to fit the lower bout...

Yeah I thought of that. 

OR... route off a little but of the wood from the outer right-hand edge like a Stratcaster... 

Def sticking with a strat pickguard though. It'll be weird without that

WezV

this was the last full copper leaf finish I did - the phone on the side tells you how long ago it was  




you can see the edges clearly in these pics as that is where I went to do a second round of touch-ups, its noticeably pink before it starts turning more orange.  It mostly evened out over the next couple of days

stickyfiddle

Cool. I’m quite happy if it’s got a little darker before finishing, but hopefully aiming for a fairly consistent colour across the body, at least on the front! 

This was the status when I left for work this morning. I'll see how it looks when I get in later! 

stickyfiddle

An update in early evening daylight. Definitely a few bits I want to go over again, and definitely the odd patch that hasn’t got any copper, but overall not bad

Bit of a rough patch on the back where I may have got some glue on top of the copper, but that should be easy enough to fix

GavRichList

stickyfiddle said:

An update in early evening daylight. Definitely a few bits I want to go over again, and definitely the odd patch that hasn’t got any copper, but overall not bad

Bit of a rough patch on the back where I may have got some glue on top of the copper, but that should be easy enough to fix

£9000 from the custom shop 

stickyfiddle

GavRichList said:

stickyfiddle said:

An update in early evening daylight. Definitely a few bits I want to go over again, and definitely the odd patch that hasn’t got any copper, but overall not bad

Bit of a rough patch on the back where I may have got some glue on top of the copper, but that should be easy enough to fix

£9000 from the custom shop 

Honestly it's not hard to get to this stage. I'm genuinely wondering if there's a market..!!  

stickyfiddle

I'm done for the evening. Basically ended up giving it a whole extra layer on the front after I realised I was getting glue on my copper-applying brush and that was fucking it up a bit. It's still not perfectly flat but I'm hoping good enough to get a reasonable surface once it has some clear on it.

Given I prefer slightly "lived-in" look anyway I think it'll be ok, and if absolutely terrible then I'll start again I guess, but at it doesn't cost much so wouldnt' be the end of the world. 

stickyfiddle

Ok so I need to do a bit more. 

This morning’s close inspection found these ugly things, which I can only assume are from bubbles in too-thick glue. 

I sanded off a patch and added a fresh leaf which is great where I’d fully sanded off the underneath, but really ugly around its edges. 

So I think I need to remove quite a lot and get this bit right, not least because it’s the bit I’m going to see most clearly when I’m playing the bloody thing. If I can strip & re-gilt the new section from the edges to the cavity and down as far as the start of the forearm contour I think it’ll be fine. 

I will get there, just not today… 

 

strtdv

Sporky said:

stickyfiddle said:

Long term if I like it as much as I'm hoping then a two-tone Tele-over-Strat outline headstock could be super cool. But I'm guessing that might cost quite a chunk to commission as a one-off..!

I reckon you could get a bit of plastic laser cut like the Tele silhouette fairly cheaply, and stick it onto a Stratty headstock. Might need feathering in to the curve up to the nut, but I think it's doable that way.

Easier with a scarfed headstock I'd think.

You could double up on the stratele theme with a modified Tele scratchplate to fit the lower bout...

No reason it needs to be plastic, the same laser cutter will just as easily cut a wood veneer or luthitec (the fibre faces Gibson use on their headstocks)

stickyfiddle

A bit of an update after a busy few days. 

I was determined to get some clearcoat on by the weekend as I’m away from today so this week gives me a week’s head start on curing time. 

But the first set of copper just didn’t look good enough on the front, so it had to come off. The back flat as bad, and just had a couple of spots that needed fixing. Judicious use of a Bosch mouse thingy for an hour or so left it like this, and the front completely stripped. 

I also got another batch of copper leaf so I wasn’t worried about wasting it. This lot came with Mickey Mouse gloves which were a massive help - highly recommended if any other iditos/readers wants to have a go

stickyfiddle

The new batch went on much more cleanly. I also thinned the glue a little bit to help get the flattest surface possible, per some suggestions from others on Reddit 

 
A few tidyups later and I had it in a good enough state to get some clear on it. It has a handful of little areas where the leaf is missing but the worst will be under the bridge plate and I can live with the others.

Since the leaf is really brittle I decided a spray finish would be safer, so our spare shower room became a makeshift spray booth yesterday. 

I got about 8 coats on the front and 6 on the back, which I’m hoping will be enough…. 

We’ll see in a couple of weeks when I sand again. Entirely possible it’ll want another coat or two after light sanding but  hoping I’ll get away without. 

So here it sits on a shelf in our storage room (there is a little block underneath keeping the finished section off the shelf!)

Back in a couple of weeks! 

WezV

it's looking good. 

I wouldn't try levelling the finish without a lot more clear on it.  Living with some texture will make your life easier.  I did do some with thicker finishes, but these eventually cracked and crazed leaving razor sharp lacquer edges.  Thin coats of acrylic lacquer seemed to work well enough, and did wear nicely

stickyfiddle

WezV said:

it's looking good. 

I wouldn't try levelling the finish without a lot more clear on it.  Living with some texture will make your life easier.  I did do some with thicker finishes, but these eventually cracked and crazed leaving razor sharp lacquer edges.  Thin coats of acrylic lacquer seemed to work well enough, and did wear nicely

Yeah I’m not expecting flat poly finish perfection at all. I’m thinking literally sand with fine enough grit to remove the obvious specs of dust and fluff and go straight to polishing. 

I reckon I have enough cleaning there for that. We’ll see!’

stickyfiddle

A week of curing; I am back from the England and the pickguard has arrived. 

It’s onnnnnnnnnnnn

richman6100

Looks rather splendid to me. :-) Keep up the progress posts @stickyfiddle, I'm really enjoying the journey of this build.

stickyfiddle

This morning I had conference calls, which gave me some time to micromesh and buff. It's good now. Not perfect, especially on the back, but I’m happy for a first attempt, and the front (i.e. the most important bit) is looking really good

If I could go back in time I’d redo the back with the lessons I’ve now learned but it’s fine and I’d rather get on with the rest of it than stall the project by another couple of weeks AND risk messing up the fronts 

Shiny but not SHINY. Feels good

paulnb57

Looking good, I like you see the grain where the finish has sunk in a bit, bloody lovely, Im going to have to sacrifice a body to the Copper Leaf Gods!

TimmyO

That looks ace