Thinline project

ThePrettyDamned · June 2015

Okay, I've assessed the damage...

Some of the dings and chips are just too deep to sand out - it'll look bad. I've removed all of the dust and dirt with the help of a lot of wire wool rubbing, and put another coat of finish on.

Its still attractive. It's not quite an even finish anymore, though, especially on the sides and around some edges. The binding is a bit damaged (scratches, not coming away) so I'll try to sand that out a bit, or use a Stanley knife to remove a scraping from it.

My plan - I'm going to finish as usual, tidy the binding and then try my hand at artificially ageing it using micro mesh and wire wool. Wish me luck...

Obas · June 2015

You can get a fairly good relic finish (in my opinion) with Wudtone. This is mine in aged Olympic Girl from last year.

ThePrettyDamned · June 2015

Obas;671514" said:
You can get a fairly good relic finish (in my opinion) with Wudtone. This is mine in aged Olympic Girl from last year.

That looks pretty sweet!

I'll see how I get on. Finish first, then rub it back a bit and see what happens.

hobbio · June 2015

You'll pull it round dude. I'm looking forward to seeing this one finished!

Jalapeno · June 2015

On the tools front a Dremmel is handy for occasional fiddly chores. Just used mine (for the first time in 5 years) to grind down Tele saddle grub screws (with a small vice to hold 'em).

WezV · June 2015

can you steam out the dents with a wet cloth and soldering iron?

ThePrettyDamned · June 2015

WezV;672023" said:
can you steam out the dents with a wet cloth and soldering iron?

Yeah, did this. It reduced the size but not removed them. Much improvement.

The top has started to come away an*tiny* bit, might just be binding damage... So I'm going to put some glue in and clamp it tonight. What sort of glue would you use? I was thinking regular super glue or pva.

ThePrettyDamned · June 2015

Success!

Sarge · June 2015

Steaming out dents works best if you can see, and moisten, the wood, otherwise the effect is minimal, I've had great results from a pair of pinpricks on each dent, put a drop of water on the dent then boil it carefully with just the tip of a soldering iron, sounds brutal but works great.

ThePrettyDamned · June 2015

Okay, it's getting there - slowly.

Got back from work today and wire wooled the guitar post glitter coat, then removed the masking from the binding and scraped back to tidy it up a bit. It's not bad - *far* from perfect, but actually only up close. I've seen Gibson CS VOS guitars with similar sort of flaws (scratches to the wood or missed spots on the binding), so I'm not too worried. They're perhaps not as severe or as numerous, but hey ho!

The 'binding' inside the f-hole (actually a very light teal colour wudtone mix) is, however, not fantastic - I've sanded it back a bit to help level it and it's better, as well as having the bonus of looking like an older guitar. I suspect that, when top coated and I've rubbed back the rest of the guitar, these smaller flaws will fall into place and it'll be quite attractive.

The glitter coat is interesting. I'm not a huge fan of it initially, however, rubbing it back for a while with wire wool has removed some of theglitter from the rest of the finish, highlighting the grain more than the rest of the body. Bitch to photograph and looks better in real life, but here are my best goes.

Hard to photograph, the colour is closest to that in the last picture. The glitter makes it very variable in the light, it's very interesting to look at.

I've started rubbing back a few spots as 'ageing'. Never done relic type work before but, what with all the knocks, bumps etc I may as well blend them in somewhat. It'll be interesting to see how it goes. Comments, positive or otherwise, welcome!

mart · June 2015

That's looking pretty good!

Andyjr1515 · June 2015

It's looking good from here. You say the last shot is the closest colour-wise? That's a really nice colour

ThePrettyDamned · June 2015

Cheers chaps.

Andyjr1515;678043" said:
It's looking good from here. You say the last shot is the closest colour-wise? That's a really nice colour

It really is lovely. I *wish* I hadn't masked the binding and just scraped it. I'm getting a super sharp adjustable length knife today (Stanley knife should do?) and that, coupled with a steady hand, should tidy the binding up a little more, the knife I used last night was a little too blunt.

I reckon that in a year or two I'll refinish it, because I think I can do better - dad knocking it off has really screwed a few things. But it's generally okay! I don't know how I'll scrape the top binding without going onto the body, though... Precision adjustable knife?

One thing I will say is I've used some micro mesh to age the headstock a little and wudtone, being quite a soft finish for some time, ages very easily.

ThePrettyDamned · June 2015

So I've put the first aged satin top coat on back and sides, and have also put it on the binding to yellow it a little. I'm going to rub it back on the binding a fair amount and try to make the dings look more authentic - they'll have less finish as it would have come off in the fall.

Binding it hard work. I need a blade that's adjustable in length to a very precise length so I can set it, rest it on the body and scrape the binding accurately.

I'll do it like that when it comes to refinishing it, which I'll almost certainly do. However... I must admit, from a couple of feet away, it looks very impressive.

WezV · June 2015

ThePrettyDamned said:

Binding it hard work. I need a blade that's adjustable in length to a very precise length so I can set it, rest it on the body and scrape the binding accurately.

I just hold the blade very close so my thumb guides it round. this works best for me as there is little chance of my thumb scracthing the paint the way a hard tool could. When scraping the thin top edge of the binding I angle the blade, it helps stop it going too far, but also gives a softer edge to the guitar

ThePrettyDamned · June 2015

WezV said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

Binding it hard work. I need a blade that's adjustable in length to a very precise length so I can set it, rest it on the body and scrape the binding accurately.

I just hold the blade very close so my thumb guides it round. this works best for me as there is little chance of my thumb scracthing the paint the way a hard tool could. When scraping the thin top edge of the binding I angle the blade, it helps stop it going too far, but also gives a softer edge to the guitar

Awesome, I'll give that a go for the top edge. The side isn't *awful* it's just not that flawless, sharp edge. I'll definitely know better for next time.

I'm not going to mask the top, I'm going for scraping. How exciting. What sort of blade do you use?

WezV · June 2015

either a stanley knife or razor blade - whatever is closest

ThePrettyDamned · July 2015

WezV;678392" said:
either a stanley knife or razor blade - whatever is closest

Gots me a stanley knife. Shortest setting is a bit short, next shortest is a bit long but... I reckon I should be okay if I'm careful. I might try to make something to help butt it against the guitar for the perfect length.

Anyway, as an update - the front is pretty amazing! But... That highlights how much dust got into the back and sides. As a result... I'm going to sand it all off on Sunday with my trusty mouse and a lot of swearing (cutaways are bastards! Any hand helds that are great for this?) and refinish from scratch. It deserves to be great, and I can't accept the amount of dust in the finish making it quite bad looking, even if the front is great. A total refinish will let me mix the perfect colour match, too.

I'm excited still, though - the front really is great. Just... The rest!

ThePrettyDamned · July 2015

https://flic.kr/p/vf6ZLA

WezV · July 2015

whenever i said "whatever is closest" i meant literally whatever is closest to my hand, not what gives the closest adjustable length

i control the length if the cut with my grip, i use the blade without any handle

this is someone doing it at gibson - its just a long flat metal bar

http://cdn.mos.musicradar.com/images/Gear non mag/Gibson Factory/GibsonFactory8-620-80.jpg

http://images.gibson.com/Lifestyle/English/aaFeaturesImages2009/Making-of-a-Gibson-Custom/Binding-Scraping.jpg

and this is more like my method

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/510519ace4b0869f641519d9/51051a84e4b0a00e2e9133e4/51051a87e4b0a00e2e913672/1359289009529/20110729_DSC_0099_small.jpg

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