Acoustic Guitar Construction

Hi all.

Dave mentioned on another thread that an open pore soft sheen finish is simple to achieve with TO. Does anyone have pics/ advice/ instruction for achieving such. Guitar is mahogany - cedar with plastic binding.

Thanks all.

Apply the finish product without pore filling first. The sheen will be the same and the pore holes will show, nothing wrong with it. Sanding and surface prep still needs to be done with care to prevent scratches from appearing.

Mike - like Ken said.

Also - unless you know for certain that's the look you want, take an extra day and do it to some scrap first.

Ok, I got started yesterday, did three thin coats, couple of hours apart, touched with 1200 sandpaper between coats, three more today. The Mahogany is looking glorious, deep, dark soft gleam developing. The cedar is faring a little less well, turns out i didn't remove all the scratches before hand so with the light at the right angle you can see faint scratches but i'm pressing on. I'm unsure as to the amount of oil, currently using about 4 decent drops onto a linen pad for a coat on the top or back with very little excess being wiped off with the paper towel afterwards. The cedar is looking better with each coat.

how long shall i leave before gluing up? I'm in a hurry as i'm leaving the country in a week or so and really need it done before then. I'm basically happy with the soft glow of the unpolished finish on the mahogany and i think after a few more i will be happy with the cedar too so no sanding and polishing required right?

Do i need thinner coats and longer drying time as i get towards the last coats? Seems like certainly the cedar is taking much less oil with each coat.

Thanks for the help guys, there will be finished pictures soon!

The thinner the coats the better, as a rule of thumb. After it has cured a week or so it CAN be rubbed out/polished whatever - but for open pores (which I also like) it is not necessary.

great, so how long just to avoid marking it when handling it for bridge glue up etc, I want strings on this baby!

I've always waited as long as I could. If the temperature and humidity are in range, just hold off as long as you can then go for it. It's easy enough to touch up if need be.