Christine

They are a phaff, honestly with a good technique you don't need one. I suppose if you don't have a wetstone grinder than they do help to stop the bevel rounding over . It's the hassle of sharpening that stops most people doing it and using tools that are blunt. I will sharpen my tools several times an hour sometimes, it's easy and it's not a chore; if I had to fiddle about with a jig then it would be a lot less

The angle on the chisel varies as to what I'm doing with it but mostly its 25 - 27 with a micro bevel . I'll find some time to write something

So I have this to say today, to the person who was supposed to remind me to put the side dots into the neck, you forgot! I wasn't impressed! So now I've distracted you all from any thought of me flamingoing up and not realising until I was sanding the first coat of sanding sealer I'll carry on and hope no one notices So as you gather, two coats of sanding sealer and four coats of clear gloss nitro interspersed with installing side markers

How many chisels do you actually use though? If I could recommend but one tool, actually three it would be a wetstone grinder a 1000 and 6000 grit waterstones. The grinder helps you keep a tool be it a chisel, plane iron or carving tool in a condition where it is easy to sharpen and sharpen quickly. If you can do that then you are more likely to keep your tools very sharp and honestly that is the key. Admittedly quality tools can hold a good edge for longer, when I was starting out I saved up and bought myself a set of four Norris planes at huge expense, I used them for a while and they were very good but I stopped using them because I soon learned that my cheaper Record planes when set up correctly were almost as good. I sold my Norris planes some years ago and I have never come across any job that I really needed them for. I suppose I might take it for granted that I know how to make a plane work well, maybe that is something that isn't common knowledge? Or sharpening, other than the wetstone grinder no jigs, just a quick way of getting the correct angle every time first time. If enough people are interested I could write a how to on those?

There's a world of difference between a possibility and a certainty

You don't need lessons to make a bass, just learn how to keep your tools sharp and take your time. Honestly sharp tools give you control and with that you can do anything, the rest you can just ask, there's always someone who can help you, I get loads of help reading other peoples threads, even if things have gone wrong sometimes you can learn from their mistakes I visualise things when I'm not sure how to do them, I go through it in my head and actually make the cut or whatever there and try and see the problems. Then when it comes to hands on it's like I've done it before, I'm more likely to flamingo up when I think I know how to do things

Thanks everybody for your help and encouragement, this has been heavy going, I'm a bit out of practice but you guys make it all a lot of fun, something easy like a Fenderbird next time! OK maybe not. I gave the necks a sanding first this morning and gave them a dose of clear grain filler; same as the black but a lot nicer to use. I set those aside to dry and moved on to the tops of the bodies after yesterdays session. They looked so much better after being left overnight, first job was to remove the tiny aris or sharp edge where the lacquer climbed the side of the tape leaving a raised burr, I used some dry 1200 grit very carefully and it came off really well and felt pretty good all around. I then got a scalpel and used that as a scraper to clean up the top edge of the binding but only roughly as I would probably get grain filler over the edge later on. Once I was happy with the top I needed to flip the body to work on the back so I made a couple of stands to screw into the cavities to protect the fresh paint. That allowed me to give the back and sides a light sanding and give them a coat of grain filler, that was put aside and I sat down for a cup of tea as you do After the necks had had 4 hours I sat down outside and started to clean them up with some 240. It looked great, no need for a second coat so I set them aside and when the bodies had 4 hours I had a go at them, they were the same so apart from some masking I'm ready to whack some sanding sealer on first thing and hopefully get a couple of coats of clear on the necks and the sides and back of the bodies. I will be so glad to get them sealed just to stop that binding getting dirty, you only need to look at it sideways and there is a dirty mark on it! Fresh grain filler Ready for spraying after masking

I'm looking forward to this one, I wouldn't know where to start, I think I would end up with a lot of shavings and a little bit of firewood if I tried

I think it will all look good when the clear goes on the sides and back. It's not going to be as dark as I wanted it to be (the Mahogany), I was going to fume them with .880 Ammonia but there is a shortage of the stuff apparently so I've forgoe'd that, time will do the same thing so no loss in the long term

After weeks and weeks of sunny weather the day I want to spray starts off misty It was forecast sunny later on so lets go for it Started the day off sanding the tops again after the grain filler, just went over it with 240 and it looked fine. I had a close inspection and all looked well (I thought). I masked the binding with the tape @Gilmourisgod recommended and masked the edges with normal masking tape and waited for the sun to come out and dry the air up. Had a cup of tea... and another cup of tea, some lunch, another cup of tea and then low and behold, the sun came out, yey!! I set the spray gun up, it's a DeVilbis SRI if anyone is interested, it's been a while since I last used it, I was a it nervous about using it again, especially with black nitro as I only ever use it with clear as a rule. I thinned the black nitro with anti bloom thinners, it was getting warm and I was a little worried about any moisture in the air given the weather this morning. I no longer have a spray booth so I sprayed outside with a 3M mist, dust and vapour mask on. I put 4 thin coats on and left it at that. It seems that my grain filling job wasn't quite as good as I thought, there is a tiny it of grain showing but it is only tiny but made worse by the finish being black gloss, by the time the clear goes over the top it will flatten off nicely, I've sprayed lumpier orange peel than that in the past LOL. I'm a little disappointed the surface wasn't quite as flat as I hoped but at least it doesn't need refilling and it will be fine after a few top coats of clear. I stripped the masking tape off after cleaning the gun and there were a couple of little patches where the regular tape had peeled off and some over spray got it, it's got sanding sealer under there so no problem, there's a couple of tiny patches too where the paint got under the 3M tape and that will need scraping tomorrow perhaps, I'll see how it looks after the finish has settled overnight. After one coat Waiting for paint to dry!

And the sides and back are just clear, what more could anyone ask for? My spray gun is all set up and waiting for this mist to clear up, typical, weeks of hot dry weather and the day you want to spray!! 😬

Tough!!

I think you need to re read the first post Only the front is painted, besides it's not a lice looking bit of wood I used for both of them, I chose it with the intention of painting from the off. Actually the whole bass(es) were originally going to be all black but I had my arm twisted

I know, I'm getting impatient now, I want to sand them and spray

I think I overdid it yesterday, my foot was hurting again this morning but hey... it's getting close to the good bit now and I'm getting excited (I live a sheltered life ) First job was to cut the other jack plate recess. Then time for the final sanding, I sanded the back and sides down to 240 grit and the tops down to 180 grit; I did explain this before but just in case: Sanding with too fine a grit can lead to forming ripples where the sandpaper removes softer wood faster than the harder wood. Given that on Mahogany it is very unlikely you'll be able to see sanding marks from 240 grit I stopped there. The tops are getting grain filled and painted so there was no need to be too fussy, nothing will ever be seen even if I stopped at 80 grit. I also masked off the neck joint, I did a double layer just in case some spray got in there. After that and still before breakfast mind, such is my enthusiasm! I sprayed the first coat of sanding sealer from a rattle can as I was just feeling too lazy to set up the compressor. after an hour and breakfast I sanded them and sprayed another coat and left to dry off for a couple of hours. Then I cut them back right up to the banding so they were smooth but leaving the bindings straight from the can for protection against the grain filler. I masked the sides just for general tidiness then put on the first coat and wiped it smooth and went to sit down for a few hours. The destructions say 4 hours so that's what I gave them before cutting back with 240 grit again, It all looked good other than a couple of patches I wasn't sure about but either way they got a second coat of grain filler along with the headstocks, I did those too (forgot). That's it now until tomorrow, sand them back, give them a thorough inspection and maybe get the spraygun out and put the black on if I have the time

You definitely want to grain fill first, lacquer will continue to shrink for many months and wood pores will show through eventually otherwise

Sort of, it's getting better, yesterday was a good day but it's feeling quite sore again this morning, think I'll have to take it a bit easier again

Grain fill first and get it dead flat

I think I would be tempted to just spray the Olympic White with no primer, it will build up almost as fast as with a primer and with less chance of sanding through before the top coats

Well I sanded the test piece from yesterday and there is a hint of greyness to the binding, easily sorted, I'll spray sanding sealer before grain filling fingers crossed that will keep me good. Even if not it was only a hint, it shouldn't be a problem. Beyond that I've been sanding and scraping, on my hands and knees looking for a nut off my mega expensive Freeway switch which I dropped and it rolled all the way to the back wall under my bench finding it's way past all the junk under there... HOW? I also routed the radius on the rear of the body but that is still unsanded I also drilled out for the jack sockets and rebated one of the jack plate in, I'll do the other in the morning. I'm aiming for getting a couple of coats of sanding sealer over the tops tomorrow if I can so I can get the grain filling started before the weekend

Had a good day in the shop today, nothing really to show for it but here what I did. Scraped the sides of the second body flush with the binding, finished the shape sanding of the tops which hopefully will give a nice smooth flow to the gloss when it goes on. Finally I cleaned up the control cavities and made a start on fitting the pots, I gave up because I needed to go out but I'm most of the way through cutting angled seats for the pots to sit on to keep the barrels perpendicular with the top curves. I also stuck a piece of binding to a bit of Mahogany and sanded it so I could test how the black grain filler behaves on the plastic binding, as it will it stain it or will it clean up easily during sanding. We'll see in the morning

We can say all we want about how good it all looks but a happy customer is priceless Job well done

Lots of post today, 5ltrs clear gloss nitro, 5ltrs thinner, 5ltrs acetone (nail varnish remover :) 1ltr anti bloom thinners, 25oml black nitro, 400ml black grain filler, 400ml clear grain filler so won't be long and it will be in use me thinks

Move on Not done a huge amount today, just finished of carving the necks, oh to be that slim! Even a bit of work with the rasp around the heel, most of the general shaping was with spokeshaves and a block plane with a little bit with a cabinet scraper once in a while when I needed more control of what I was removing when the grain was adverse and only wanted to tear no matter how I worked, sometimes a problem with laminated bits

Once this is done it will be well worth it, these old tools are streets ahead of the new stuff you can buy from this or that hardware companies