Day 52

Did the 8th coat of TO. No pics. 

Also did a test piece of mahogany. 

A couple coats of TO

Gray scotchbrite 

Grain filled. Didn't sand. Just wiped most off. Let dry overnight and went over it with wet paper towel. Then another coat of TO

Looked ok. It filled some of the grain. If I do a couple more filling sessions it probably would have completely filled the pores.  So it's an option in the future, but I'm leaving this one with open pores. 

Day 51

Scuffed all tru-oiled surfaces with gray scotchbrite. 

Day 50

Used a swiffer dust cloth to remove dust

7th coat of TO. 

Day 49 PM

6th coat of TO

Day 49 AM

5th coat of tru-oil. Wiped on with paper towel. No pics. 

Day 48

Knocked back with gray scotchbrite. 

Wiped on 4th coat. 

Day 47

3rd coat of tru-oil. I found applying a small amount to a lint free paper towel and wiping it on real thin works pretty well. 

Day 46 PM

Applied 2nd coat of tru-oil.  It was soaking up so fast I used more oil and my finger and cotton cloth. Wiped off immediately. 

Day 46 AM

Removed tape and sanded off any unwanted stain from the rosewood and mahogany with 500. 

Cleaned non-stained surfaces with mineral spirits and stained surfaces with dry clean cloth. 

Masked off fingerboard surface. 

Wiped on a very thin first coat of Tru-oil and immediately wiped off with clean cloth. 

Day 45

Removed tape and sanded flat surfaces with 320 to keep black dye in lower pores. Used 500 on edges. Then went over everything again with 500. 

Had to be careful sanding the rosewood to dyed maple line. Only used 500 here. 

Pic shows sanding before tape removal. Remove tape first.  

Wiped with clean cloth and vacuum. Retaped and wiped on blue water based stain. 

Day 44 PM

Scuffed the newly shellacked areas with 500 grit. Wiped it clean.  

Taped off ares not to be stained and applied a coat of black water based stain. 

Day 44 AM

Sanded 120, 150, 180, 220, 320, 500

Masked off the rosewood and cocobolo. 

Used a folded paper towel and wiped on 2lb cut sanding sealer to seal the oily woods.  Removed the tape. 

Sanded shellac that got on the mahogany and maple. 

Gonna let dry and scuff the shellacked areas with 500. 

Day 43 New Finishing System

Well I wasnt happy with the top finish. After talking to the guy from sixgunguitars I decided to strip sand and use a new easier finishing method. Stay tuned. 

Here it is after 2 hours of sanding with 120 grit. Wiped down with mineral spirits. 

Day 42

Wet sanded with 1000 grit. Just till it felt baby smooth. Use 2000 grit on edges. 

Wiped clean and applied first coat of Tru oil. 

Day 41

2nd coat of 1 lb shellac

I noticed some dried splotchy shellac in a couple areas, so I hit everything with gray scotchbrite to smooth it out.  I'm going to scuff after every 2nd coat from now on. 

Then a 3rd and 4th coat of shellac.

Day 40 PM (part 2)

Mixed Zinsser Bullseye Sealcoat Shellac with Denatured Alcohol. 50/50. 

This makes a one lb cut. Sprayed the TRC and PG. 

Day 40 PM (part1)

I really wasn't digging the final finish. Looked like plastic wrap. It didn't have the depth that is common with Tru-oil. So I scuffed everything with gray scotchbrite. 

Lightly polished with Birchwood Casey Sheen and Conditioner. Pics show half of top and back done. Big difference. It brings out the luster without making it too shiny. I like it. 

Waiting for Birchwood Casey Gun Stock Wax to be delivered. I'll finish it off with that. 

Day 40 AM

Cut the pick guard to match the FB end and sanded the transitions. 

Traced the pickup pocket on the PG and cut to match. This step doesn't have to be perfect. 

Made the .075" sub plates. Used the 3/4" holes in PG to transfer the center to the next plate and repeated with 5/8" holes for final plate. 

Glued them all together using the white plastic pins to keep the holes concentric. 

Sanded the 15 deg angle on the TRC. 

Quick mockup.