SGC Nanyo re-build

[Andyjr1515]

Got on well today.  MrsAndyjr1515's sister has come to stay for a few days and they have been out all day, no doubt comparing their poor choices of spouses, so I've cracked on pretty much undisturbed all day!

For flat faces, once I've run over the face with a plane, I use the chalk/engineers blue trick.  I put some school chalk on my dead-flat chisel sharpening diamond stone:

Then put it on the face and just move it a couple of mm, leaving me the chalky high spots:

Which I then scrape off the chalk and a smidgen of wood underneath the chalk with cabinet scrapers:

..and repeat until the chalk smudge is all over the face.

Ditto for the block.

Then I added a dowel as a belt-n-braces support:

...and put in a corresponding hole in the block.

Then added a generous coating of titebond and clamped:

 

I'll leave that clamped overnight and then should be able to carve the corrected horn end tomorrow

That's enough for one day

 

[AndyTravis]

Was going to ask if there would be a dowel.

very cool

[Andyjr1515]

33 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

Was going to ask if there would be a dowel.

very cool

Yes.  To be honest, it shouldn't actually need a dowel but there's no harm in having that extra bit of security even if just for peace of mind

Andy

[Andyjr1515]

Yup - that should work....

 

I'm chuffed with the joint - one of my better ones

I'll get that cut out in the morning and get shaping 

 

[Andyjr1515]

And cut and carved

That dark natural grain mark heading towards the back is useful because it distracts your eye to the actual join line which is here:

I'm pleased how the grain lines seem to join up - at the back too:

Again, that natural dark patch takes the eye away from the join.

[Unknown_User]

Sheesh.  That looks fantastic.  At first I thought "He's done a good job there but you can really see the join."  Then I saw the next pic with the arrows!

[AndyTravis]

Shawoddywoddy bing bang bong...that’s good.

[Reggaebass]

What a lovely job 👍

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, Unknown_User said:

Sheesh.  That looks fantastic.  At first I thought "He's done a good job there but you can really see the join."  Then I saw the next pic with the arrows!

I'm pretty sure, once the stain and/or finish is applied, that the join line will become more obvious.  But that dark line is a useful distraction nonetheless  

[Andyjr1515]

One of the other things in the package of bits that @TheGreek sent was this:

The veneer that he wants on the body top and the headstock!    And it's a bit of a bobby-dazzler!

There is a sort of impossibility that natural wood at 0.6mm thick can be rolled tightly like this  - but that is how it's often delivered.  I once had a boxful of about 8 different woods, some over 2m in length that all came from Germany in a box no bigger - and perfectly and undamaged!

 

Other than the quick demo I did at the Midlands Bass Bash last year, it's been a while since I've done a veneer job so, for those who might be interested in trying it sometime I'll take a number of photos of how I do it.  With MrsAndyjr1515 still distracted, that might well be this afternoon's job

 

 

[Unknown_User]

36 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I'm pretty sure, once the stain and/or finish is applied, that the join line will become more obvious.  But that dark line is a useful distraction nonetheless  

I think that the way the grain lines up so well will be the biggest thing that will cover it.  Plus if you're putting veneer over the front then that should sort it.  Who is interested in looking at the back?

Looking forward to seeing the veneering process!

[Andyjr1515]

The veneering is covered in two stages - which is convenient because it means I can type it up as I go along.

This is my veneering kit:

 

Basically, we are going to turn standard PVA wood glue into an iron-on glue job

 

I use the mini roller (Homebase/B&Q) for ease and convenience but you could use a rag or sponge.  The Evostick is a decent quality white PVA.  Probably most decently thick PVA's will do...but don't use the school arts / paper versions - they are too thin and wet.

Very, very first thing is taking an impression of what's going to be underneath the veneer.  Trust me - without this, you will NEVER find those bridge holes again!

 

Then I cut the veneer to size.  This takes a bit of care because there is so much of the figuring that disappears under the bridge, in the neck socket, in the horn cutaways.  For the shape of the Nanyo, I've opted for this way round with LHS being at the tailstock.

I've also checked the width from the middle of the figuring (which is a touch offset) - I think I can just get this pretty central with a mm to spare at one side

Then I put some PVA in the roller tray and roll it onto the flat surfaces of the top:

 

It is essential that there is a covering all over the flat surface and also particularly just over the curve around the sides.  After two coats, I've got this:

 

And I leave that to dry - usually takes around 30 minutes.  Then I do the same with the veneer.

The veneer Mick has sent me if the type with a very thin tissue backing.  It is great stuff - behaves exactly like the plain veneer but is much less susceptible to splitting while you are handling it prior to its glue coat.

 

I then leave that to dry too.

Some veneers start curling immediately that the glue gets applied.  That's what I use the little water spritzer for - I give the back a couple of squirts which counteracts the expansion of the glue side and will stop it curling too violently.  This veneer has behaved itself - this is as glued, with the expansion of the back straightening more or less the curve of the rolled-up packaging.

This process is not time critical.  Once it is dry, you can use it immediately, or days later, or even weeks later!

My iron is on (I actually use a small heatshrink iron from my aeromodelling days - saves upsetting MrsAndyjr1515 by getting burnt PVA smears on the hot plate of the household iron!) and I'll go and have a sandwich then iron on the veneer and trim it.   See you in 1/2hr or so

 

[BassTool]

Utterly brilliant as usual, that joint is amazing, and I'm looking forward to revisiting how the veneering is done.

I veneered my BlazerRay headstock and only found Andy's 'how to' after I'd messed it up slightly 😣

 

Great job so far 👍

[Andyjr1515]

With the glue now touch dry, I can begin the veneering itself:

 

The advantage of the glue being dry is that you can spend as much time as you like positioning it because it barely grabs.  Then with a hot (dry) iron (as I said above I happen to use an old heat-shrink iron, but a standard ironing iron works fine), I start in the middle and progressively radiate outwards, making sure the veneer gets hot and applying firm pressure, but moving it in circles so I don't scorch the veneer in one spot:

 

Once the main flat areas are stuck flat (this only takes a few minutes) I start applying firm pressure round the outside of the body shape, starting to seal what will become the edges:

 

 

To allow the veneer to bend round the edge better, I then remove some of the bulk excess with scissors, keeping an eye on the grain direction to avoid a grain-following split heading towards the body:

 

I then work round the edges with the iron again, peening the veneer over the curve by a mm or two.

The glue, once cool grabs in seconds - but it is fully repeatable.  Just heat up an area and the glue will remelt and then grab again as soon as you lift the iron and let it cool for a few seconds.  If it's a tight curve and a stiff veneer, you can hold the area down firmly with a cloth (to prevent burning yourself) while it cools and grabs.

Once all of the flat areas are glued and the edges defined and secure, you can start trimming just past the flat surfaces.  I find the easiest way to do this is use a disposable Stanley knife (Swann Morton do them too) and use the body itself as my blade guide, holding the blade at about 45 degrees to vertical:

I use a sawing motion.  If you are careful, you follow the outline without the risk of cutting into it.  BUT - always, always, think of where the grain is going and make sure any split will go away from the body and not towards it.  In the above example, I will stop around here and then cut the bottom overhang in the other direction - the grain then naturally pulls the blade (and any split) towards the left and not to the right and into the body.

For the chambers, I get my template out and cut a small hole in the middle so I can see where the chamber edges are.  Again, I use the chamber sides themselves as the blade guide, this time with the blade vertical:

 

So eventually, you have trimmed it just round the edge of the flat areas, but with no unglued overhang of veneer:

 

Then simply sand with a sanding block along the line of the join. 

There will be a bit of tidying up to do to sort the edges properly and make sure there is no PVA line or - in the case of the tissue backed veneer, fuzziness - at the edges...and I also need to know from Mick how 'sharp' or 'blunt' he wants the tips of the veneer at the ends of the two horns...but this is broadly done

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2019 by Andyjr1515

[Jimothey]

That Rosewood looks great!! Are you leaving it natural or are you going to stain it?......... 😀 

[AndyTravis]

Corblimeyflippinecklummyday! Nice one.

[Andyjr1515]

3 hours ago, Jimothey said:

That Rosewood looks great!! Are you leaving it natural or are you going to stain it?......... 😀 

I'm pretty sure the veneer will stay that colour. 

On the other hand, Mick and I still have to decide whether the underlying wood at the edges and back would look best stained or left natural and there are still some options of how much to cut in the veneer into the body wood and where.  Whatever, I have a good feeling about how this will look when its finished.

[Andyjr1515]

So now we have the veneer covering the largest area that it physically can (basically, veneer generally can't do compound curves so it covers the flat areas and just round the edges a couple of mm), it is then time to make it look a little less like veneer-just-stuck-on.

Mick and I bounced a few ideas off each other and came with cutting away the veneer and blending it into the body a bit like this: 

 

So this morning, out came the sanding block

 

The nice thing about having such a defined grain, is that - even though this is only 0.6mm thick - the grain STILL follows the curves at the edges, adding the illusion of depth and giving the illusion that it is a solid top skin rather than a veneer:

Next job is the prepare the headstock for the same veneer

 

[ezbass]

Oh my giddy aunt! You’d think after following a number of @Andyjr1515‘s builds and fixes that one would become inured to his level of talent, but this is not the case. Every project leaves me slack jawed in appreciation of his talents - and this one isn’t even finished! Well done, sir, well done 👏👏👏. 

[Andyjr1515]

5 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Every project leaves me slack jawed in appreciation of his talents - and this one isn’t even finished!

Ah - but there's the rub.  Anyone who has seen my threads knows that while-ever it isn't finished, there's always the chance that I might still get it horribly, horribly wrong! 

 

[ezbass]

8 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Ah - but there's the rub.  Anyone who has seen my threads knows that while-ever it isn't finished, there's always the chance that I might still get it horribly, horribly wrong! 

 

Yeah, right! Even if you do make a mistake, it'll be  seamlessly rectified and invisible. Then you'll add that to your knowledge database and share with us so that we can learn (or in my case go, "What, how did he do that?"). In the words of Wayne Campbell to Alice Cooper, "We're not worthy, we're not worthy."

[Andyjr1515]

So, using some already glued offcut from the body:

...I gave the headstock a coating of PVA, let it dry, then ironed it on.

 

And THIS is why I love this hobby!

Edited June 2, 2019 by Andyjr1515

[TheGreek]

Loving the progress Andy, but even God took Sunday off...

Superb...

[TheGreek]

Anybody who has had a build by Andy knows that there's constant discussion behind the scenes - Andy's thorough like that, ensuring that you get what you want - even though it sometimes feels like he's reading your mind and already knows.

I'm thinking the body needs to be a honey/coffee hue - something from the veneer's existing palette. In fact I really like the tones of the bass in Andy's avatar.

Opinions from the BC massive??

Edited June 2, 2019 by TheGreek

[TheGreek]

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by TheGreek