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. 

Day 39

More work on the truss rod cover. 

Day 38

The finish has cured for 12 days. Now I want to get out those wiping streaks. U can see them in these two pics. 

Applied 3M Finesse-It II to a clean cloth and polished with medium pressure. Wiped clean with a different cloth. Worked really well. See next two pics. 

Finally I went over everything with some lemon oil. Suppose to stop fingerprints. 

I read something about using denim or burlap to buff. I tried it and it just made scratches. Won't do that again. 

So in conclusion,  this method worked great for a gloss finish. For satin I would have waited the same time to cure, then scuff with grey or white scotchbrite. Then lemon oil. 

Lesson learned- After pore filling, the shellac was sprayed at 2lb cut (and probably too heavy) and wasn't leveled so I have some small dull splotches under the finish. 

Next time I'll be spraying a 1 lb cut very thin and maybe wet sand with 1000 before starting Tru-oil. 

Day 37

I had some maple left over from the top but it's at 1/8". So I milled it to 1/16". 

I milled some Brazilian rosewood to .040" and cut it into 1/4" strips. Routed a 1/4" wide lap joint in both pieces. About .020" deep (half of .040" height)

Made two crosses and glued them to the maple. One with superglue and one with wood glue.