The Hoff
Active member
Simply beautiful and just incredible, I fully approve-it's looking really good 
A
Anonymous
Guest
My wife approves of this post.Digital Jams":2l95sm4u said:
Steve
A
Anonymous
Guest
Learning is a bitch... Sealing the grain...
Well... I've HAVE been working on this so I thought I'd give an update. I used some stuff called Z-POXY to seal the grain in my body and the headstock of my neck. The idea is you apply it with a brush and then "squeegie" it off with a flat plastic piece like a credit card. This stuff was a BITCH to work with. You mix it and then you do a coat on the top, wait 1 hour for it to dry, do another coat, then move on to the back and sides doing the same. You "squeegie" as soon as you brush some on so (hopefully all that is left is what is filling the grain...
Easier said than done... First it took way longer to dry because (since I had no frame of reference) I put WAY too much on. NO amount of squeegieing was pulling it all off. So I hung the body and just did two light coats waiting 3 hours between. When the body was done it had run a bit, and it was THICK with this crap. This stuff is unbelievably messy... hated working with it... I just didn't realize how little you need to use!!
BTW - all this worked fine on the headstock - still put too much on though...
So I just let the body and neck hand for two days to dry completely and then went to work sanding this all flat. Here is what everything looked like after 2 HOURS of sanding with 220 and 320 grit paper:
AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!! See all those shiny spots that are still there - those are low points that need to be sanded out... I had had enough so I put it away and came back the next day for another hour os so of sanding with 320 and 400 grit. Here is what it looks like now:
Ah... much better. Mostly very, very smooth with most of the grain sealed. The body still has some uneven points but most of it is like glass now, just like the headstock. The headstock is good to go and ready for primer. The body needs to be sealed more, but I'm going to skip more of the Z-POXY. Had it with that stuff for now even though I know how to use it right now. Instead, I'm going to spray the body with Killer Cans 2K Speed Clear - 3 dust coats and then 4 medium coats. This will complete the sealing. I'll then sand it smooth and it will be ready for primer. I'll do the headstock and body primer at the same time. Be back after that...
Steve
Well... I've HAVE been working on this so I thought I'd give an update. I used some stuff called Z-POXY to seal the grain in my body and the headstock of my neck. The idea is you apply it with a brush and then "squeegie" it off with a flat plastic piece like a credit card. This stuff was a BITCH to work with. You mix it and then you do a coat on the top, wait 1 hour for it to dry, do another coat, then move on to the back and sides doing the same. You "squeegie" as soon as you brush some on so (hopefully all that is left is what is filling the grain...
Easier said than done... First it took way longer to dry because (since I had no frame of reference) I put WAY too much on. NO amount of squeegieing was pulling it all off. So I hung the body and just did two light coats waiting 3 hours between. When the body was done it had run a bit, and it was THICK with this crap. This stuff is unbelievably messy... hated working with it... I just didn't realize how little you need to use!!
BTW - all this worked fine on the headstock - still put too much on though...
So I just let the body and neck hand for two days to dry completely and then went to work sanding this all flat. Here is what everything looked like after 2 HOURS of sanding with 220 and 320 grit paper:
AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!! See all those shiny spots that are still there - those are low points that need to be sanded out... I had had enough so I put it away and came back the next day for another hour os so of sanding with 320 and 400 grit. Here is what it looks like now:
Ah... much better. Mostly very, very smooth with most of the grain sealed. The body still has some uneven points but most of it is like glass now, just like the headstock. The headstock is good to go and ready for primer. The body needs to be sealed more, but I'm going to skip more of the Z-POXY. Had it with that stuff for now even though I know how to use it right now. Instead, I'm going to spray the body with Killer Cans 2K Speed Clear - 3 dust coats and then 4 medium coats. This will complete the sealing. I'll then sand it smooth and it will be ready for primer. I'll do the headstock and body primer at the same time. Be back after that...
Steve
H
Heavy Ed
New member
Awesome! Can't wait to see this when it's finished. 
A
Anonymous
Guest
I'm workin' on it!Heavy Ed":78tjie3y said:Awesome! Can't wait to see this when it's finished.
Steve
A
Anonymous
Guest
More Grain Sealing
Today I got around to doing some more grain filling and trying out my spraying technique. Instead of using the Z-Poxy again, This time I used some Killer Cans 2K Speed Clear:
WIth this stuff, you take off the top red piece and push it into the bottom of the can to let the hardener mix in, shake the can for 2 minutes and then spray. Once you mix, you have 6 hours to use the paint or it just hardens in the can and is unusable. I wore a NIOSH mask I bought to avoid breathing in the fumes and some eye protection as well. I did some lighter dust coats and then normal paint coats until the can was empty. Went pretty well... Here some pics of what it looks like dried a bit:
Now I have to wait a few days and then I sand it all flat and (hopefully) the grain will be all completely filled. Then I can spray the 2K primer on the body and headstock and see where I am...
Steve
Today I got around to doing some more grain filling and trying out my spraying technique. Instead of using the Z-Poxy again, This time I used some Killer Cans 2K Speed Clear:
WIth this stuff, you take off the top red piece and push it into the bottom of the can to let the hardener mix in, shake the can for 2 minutes and then spray. Once you mix, you have 6 hours to use the paint or it just hardens in the can and is unusable. I wore a NIOSH mask I bought to avoid breathing in the fumes and some eye protection as well. I did some lighter dust coats and then normal paint coats until the can was empty. Went pretty well... Here some pics of what it looks like dried a bit:
Now I have to wait a few days and then I sand it all flat and (hopefully) the grain will be all completely filled. Then I can spray the 2K primer on the body and headstock and see where I am...
Steve
Bob Savage
Well-known member
Looking good!
A
Anonymous
Guest
Thanks dude! Still a long way to go... But I'll for sure do my primer coats next weekend...Bob Savage":1rrej7i3 said:
Steve
L
linuxpenguin
New member
Haha hope you arent getting any over spray on the C6 of yours 
Man I cant believe you are painting over that body, but oh well. Just make sure you do a good job, and all will be forgiven Looks great so far dude.
Man I cant believe you are painting over that body, but oh well. Just make sure you do a good job, and all will be forgiven
Looks great so far dude.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Ha - I'm not painting in there, man!linuxpenguin":38yccg5f said:Haha hope you arent getting any over spray on the C6 of yours
Man I cant believe you are painting over that body, but oh well. Just make sure you do a good job, and all will be forgiven
Yeah, that is a nice grain on the body, but I bought it with another plan in mind...
Steve
gbsmusic
Well-known member
Its looking great! I love the flame in the body!!
A
Anonymous
Guest
Well... it's all gonna be covered in paint pretty soon...gbsmusic":1ark8qgp said:Its looking great! I love the flame in the body!!
Steve
Digital Jams
New member
When did you upgrade the vette Steve? I thought you had a red one.
Nice Lexus, way smooth move moving some capital to the wife's happiness and frame of mind.
I am disappointed with the old school cathode ray tube tv though, not in the same vain as the rest of the home style wise.
Please correct.
Guitar looks awesome!
Nice Lexus, way smooth move moving some capital to the wife's happiness and frame of mind.
I am disappointed with the old school cathode ray tube tv though, not in the same vain as the rest of the home style wise.
Please correct.
Guitar looks awesome!
A
Anonymous
Guest
No, my 'vette has always been black...Digital Jams":1aaj0gq0 said:
I love that old TV!
Steve
A
Anonymous
Guest
Finish Priming... Shooting the first color - KIller Cans SUCKS!!!
So I made some more progress, but had an annoying problem today... Actually nothing has gone perfectly, but this was really a pain...
Anyway, I sanded down the clear I shot previously to get the body good and smooth. I pretty much had all the grain filled at that point, or at least I thought so. I then did my primer coats and sanded the body and headstock down, but found areas where the grain was still coming through. I had to sand down through the primer in some places to get the body even and flat. I applied some Bondo to the grain problems and waited for it to dry. Here are some pics:
You can see I sanded through to the clear filler in some places. So now, I shot some more coats of primer in the areas that needed repair and then did a light sand with 400 grit. Here is the body and headstock ready to paint:
Cool... So today I decided to shoot the white paint. I was using Killer Cans Pure White urethane enamel. This is where things got a bit ugly... I shook the can for a couple of minutes and sprayed a little just to see if it was ok (seemed fine) and then started painting the body. The paint starts coming out of the can almost immediately on my first coat sputtering and spitting drops of paint onto my body, instead of coming out in a fine spray like the primer and clear did. Killer Cans paint just sucks... no way that should happen as badly as it did. The fix is (of course) to get some different automotive white urethane enamel and keep painting until I have a solid white - at that point the drops won't really be detectable. Anyway, for reference, here is what it looks like now... Avoid Killer Cans paint if you are gonna paint your guitar... that was my lesson today...
Steve
So I made some more progress, but had an annoying problem today... Actually nothing has gone perfectly, but this was really a pain...
Anyway, I sanded down the clear I shot previously to get the body good and smooth. I pretty much had all the grain filled at that point, or at least I thought so. I then did my primer coats and sanded the body and headstock down, but found areas where the grain was still coming through. I had to sand down through the primer in some places to get the body even and flat. I applied some Bondo to the grain problems and waited for it to dry. Here are some pics:
You can see I sanded through to the clear filler in some places. So now, I shot some more coats of primer in the areas that needed repair and then did a light sand with 400 grit. Here is the body and headstock ready to paint:
Cool... So today I decided to shoot the white paint. I was using Killer Cans Pure White urethane enamel. This is where things got a bit ugly... I shook the can for a couple of minutes and sprayed a little just to see if it was ok (seemed fine) and then started painting the body. The paint starts coming out of the can almost immediately on my first coat sputtering and spitting drops of paint onto my body, instead of coming out in a fine spray like the primer and clear did. Killer Cans paint just sucks... no way that should happen as badly as it did. The fix is (of course) to get some different automotive white urethane enamel and keep painting until I have a solid white - at that point the drops won't really be detectable. Anyway, for reference, here is what it looks like now... Avoid Killer Cans paint if you are gonna paint your guitar... that was my lesson today...
Steve
Death by Uberschall
Active member
Can't wait to see it finished.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Me either! This is a pretty interesting learning experience for me. I haven't put down every hassle I've had so far, but they have been numerous due to my inexperience. But I'm learning something really cool and this guitar will be more meaningful to me because of the effort..Death by Uberschall":1cv23985 said:
Steve
Digital Jams
New member
Ugh nozzle issues................................I would have been on that Smith machine for about 20 minutes letting go some anger.
Looks great Steve, keep it up
Looks great Steve, keep it up
A
Anonymous
Guest
Thanks man - yeah, it's ridiculous - that can shouldn't have clogged like that - especially early in the first use - none of the 2K stuff I used did anything like that... At least it isn't a huge deal...Digital Jams":1k0d89db said:Ugh nozzle issues................................I would have been on that Smith machine for about 20 minutes letting go some anger.
Looks great Steve, keep it up
Steve
A
Anonymous
Guest
Yeah... I think I'll hit that Smith machine right now!Digital Jams":5jdj5wkl said:
Steve