The Twins

[Jimothey]

52 minutes ago, fleabag said:

A thousand fleas infest your undies draw. 

 

Is that how you got your name?? 😋 

[SpondonBassed]

44 minutes ago, Christine said:

besides it's not a lice looking bit of wood I used

You mean you've got better pieces?  I'd have been happy with it.  Still, the paint should showcase the carving of the top.

[fleabag]

Booo hissss

[Christine]

Tough!!

[bertbass]

Paint's fine with me!

[Christine]

2 hours ago, bertbass said:

Paint's fine with me!

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!! 😬

[Christine]

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!

[SpondonBassed]

That's proved you right about the black!  Already the contrast with the binding defining the edge catches the eye.

[Christine]

6 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

That's proved you right about the black!  Already the contrast with the binding defining the edge catches the eye.

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

[songofthewind]

I had a Norlin era Les Paul Custom, as black as a very black thing. Beautiful it was. A friend said it looked like a weapon. 

Those two guitars above look da biz.

[Christine]

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

[fleabag]

I take it all back Christine - that black is looking pretty damn good. Lets hope for dustless and mistless future spraying  .

I'll be booking myself in for some carpentry lessons very soon

 

[Christine]

2 minutes ago, fleabag said:

I take it all back Christine - that black is looking pretty damn good. Lets hope for dustless and mistless future spraying  .

I'll be booking myself in for some carpentry lessons very soon

 

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

[fleabag]

I'll leave it to the pros !

I live 2 floors up in the air, so trying to do what you're doing would mean working in the kitchen,  without proper tooling. No thanks 

 

[Jimothey]

1 hour ago, Christine said:

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

That's a good shout but also buy good quality tools as it's a lot easier to get them and keep them sharp like my Marples are about £70 a set and keep an edge relatively well but my Ashley Iles are outstanding which were £140 a set and go through Oak and Wych Elm like a knife through butter 😀

Edited August 4, 2018 by Jimothey

[Christine]

17 hours ago, Jimothey said:

That's a good shout but also buy good quality tools as it's a lot easier to get them and keep them sharp like my Marples are about £70 a set and keep an edge relatively well but my Ashley Iles are outstanding which were £140 a set and go through Oak and Wych Elm like a knife through butter 😀

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?

[SpondonBassed]

14 minutes ago, Christine said:

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?

It would be very welcome.

I'd like to get a better edge on a chisel than I can manage currently but I have some planes that could do with being restored too.  They've not been touched for nearly forty years!  I also have my Dad's wetstone but no grinder other than my Dremmel's stone bits.

It's feeling like the right time to finally get them out and incorporated into my workshop.

[Andyjr1515]

46 minutes ago, Christine said:

 

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?

I think that would be hugely helpful.

I've finally got to the stage of being able to sharpen planes and chisels successfully and repeatably, but it was a tortuous learning curve.  I think there are a lot of folks around here, including me, that would find it very valuable to see a professional's approach

Edited August 5, 2018 by Andyjr1515

[Jimothey]

I use my Marple for my job as a joiner so I use nearly all the different widths depending what job I am doing as for my Ashley's I only use then for cabinet making or if I'm fitting Oak doors/cabinets etc 

As for the sharpening and how to sharpen my preference is oilstone for honing then diamond for sharpening (all done freehand) what angle do you set your chisels at? I set my 1/2" or smaller at 30-32° but my 3/4" and bigger are at 25-27° both I do a 2° micro bevel on aswell 

I think if your not in the trade then most people dont know what angles work best (even tho personal preference is a factor too) but I think that quite a few people on here would benefit from your knowledge if you did a how to guide 😀

Edited August 5, 2018 by Jimothey

[Christine]

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

[Christine]

1 hour ago, Jimothey said:

I use my Marple for my job as a joiner so I use nearly all the different widths depending what job I am doing as for my Ashley's I only use then for cabinet making or if I'm fitting Oak doors/cabinets etc 

As for the sharpening and how to sharpen my preference is oilstone for honing then diamond for sharpening (all done freehand) what angle do you set your chisels at? I set my 1/2" or smaller at 30-32° but my 3/4" and bigger are at 25-27° both I do a 2° micro bevel on aswell 

I think if your not in the trade then most people dont know what angles work best (even tho personal preference is a factor too) but I think that quite a few people on here would benefit from your knowledge if you did a how to guide 😀

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

[Reggaebass]

5 minutes ago, Christine said:

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

A honing guide /gauge will give you a consistent angle 

[Christine]

7 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

A honing guide /gauge will give you a consistent angle 

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

[Jimothey]

36 minutes ago, Christine said:

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

I completely agree they are more hassle than their worth! yes they give you a consistent angle but if it's not set up correctly it will be consistently the wrong angle (especially the ones with the plastic flap thing that has the different angles on it) and my technique is moving the chisel in a figure of 8 movement which you can't do with a honing guide 

Its like everything the more you do it the better you get at it. 😀

Edited August 5, 2018 by Jimothey

[Christine]

54 minutes ago, Jimothey said:

I completely agree they are more hassle than their worth! yes they give you a consistent angle but if it's not set up correctly it will be consistently the wrong angle (especially the ones with the plastic flap thing that has the different angles on it) and my technique is moving the chisel in a figure of 8 movement which you can't do with a honing guide 

Its like everything the more you do it the better you get at it. 😀

A bit like a fretless player needing lines or not