basic masking and prep

[mike-p]

Hi all,

more beginners Q's here, hopefully of use to other people.

What technique do you use to get accurate masking of the neck joint and FB extension. I'm worried that any lack of accuracy will either leave a visible strip of wood around these areas or the finish will intrude into the joint.

I'm not fully understanding the use of tempered glass for the bridge mask and I don't have any. Should i get some and get understanding it or is there another way.

Does anyone have a good thread/ guide with lots of pictures?

The finish is going to be black nitro.

thanks.

[ken cierp]

Masking for an opaque finish is best accomplished with flexible auto body pin stripping tape.

Any surface that will easily release your bridge mask can be used – pay attention to the sequencing when laying out the mask and removing it from the surface other wise it will not stay in one piece.

Do not make the huge mistake of using your newly constructed guitar as a finishing experiment. Get 10x10 samples of similar woods test and practice your techniques and process on those – not the guitar, hold off until you are sure of what you are doing. --- this is time well spent, pay back will be ten fold.

[mike-p]

hmm, I have some scrap spruce and I have some lovely mahogany for my next build, would the mahogany do as walnut practice piece? The mahogany isn't jointed or thicknessed so the finish would be removed during that process anyway right?

[ken cierp]

Yes -- Walnut is similar to Mahogany -- "Where there's a will there's a way" I am sure you can scrape up some test materials -- the hidden aspects of Craftsmanship make all the difference in the world.

[mike-p]

I'm sure i could get hold of some walnut but might take a while/expense, the mahogany is pretty oversize but was reclaimed from old furniture and was not cheap. should i take the time and effort to get a bit of walnut?

Annoying, if i'd thought i'm sure i could have got some scrap when i got the mahogany from the supplier but it's a bit of a drive away.

[ken cierp]

The most basic prep in the finishing process is knowing what you're doing.

[TonyinNYC]

Go to home depot or Lowes and get some oak. I bought a few strips, they sell it in 4 or 5 inch wide by two foot long pieces. I'm not sure of its intended purpose. Anyway, you can play with that to practice pore filling and spraying finish. Oak has pretty big pores so its good practice for pore filling.