SpondonBassed Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 9 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said: Still no idea how to bevel the scratchplate edges. You could do worse than use a quality hand file. Do a few practice pieces first to get your eye in. You're looking for the best filing angle. You're also looking to clamp the workpiece such it can be quickly moved around as you progress section by section whilst always presenting the workpiece in a manner that gives you the best angle of attack. I enjoy a bit of filing. Metals and plastics are my favourites. Timber is a bit different because the grain affects the cut but I'm getting there with that more and more these days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 Have you got access to a router? if so I would be more inclined to make a template of the pickguard out of at least 12mm MDF stick the two together with double sided tape and carefully use a chamfered router bit with a bearing and then you would be able to get a nice bevelled edge on it.............👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 I've only just seen this thread and have enjoyed reading through it. This bass is going to look cool when finished. I've bevelled scratchplates with new Stanley blades or those single sided razor blades. The scratchplate material is surprisingly soft and it doesn't take too long. I've got to make a P plate for my Hohner I've just painted as it's a different shape to any standard one. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 On 11/01/2019 at 01:24, fleabag said: Interesting to see you're using a Warman UK built MM clone. I have one in my accessories draw that i fitted to one of the Vintage MM basses. The used a Wilkinson, IIRC. I dumped it in favour of the Warman, and it was way better. When i sold the bass , i put the Wilky back in and kept the Warman for a later project, which hasn't happened. Booo I'm thinking of doing a Jazz Precision Music Man hybrid and want a cheap MM pickup. The two that are readily available and roughly the same price are the Wilkinson and the Warman. What was it that you preferred about the Warman? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 It just seemed beefier , which really is what you want from an MM clone pickup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 (edited) 7 minutes ago, fleabag said: It just seemed beefier , which really is what you want from an MM clone pickup Cool. It's also the cheaper of the two, only a few quid but every little helps. If I'm routing a new cavity for it I could go deeper and then fix a neo magnet across the bottom of the Warman and supercharge it. Thanks. (Sorry for the slight hi-jack @Pea Turgh) Edited April 8, 2020 by Maude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 Oh well, that's me committed to another build, I've just bought it. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted April 9, 2020 Author Share Posted April 9, 2020 10 hours ago, Maude said: (Sorry for the slight hi-jack @Pea Turgh) On the contrary dear chap, I positively encourage derailments! Makes it more interesting for everyone! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si600 Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 43 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said: On the contrary dear chap, I positively encourage derailments! Makes it more interesting for everyone! Network Rail would possibly disagree with you on that. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 The neck is down to bare wood at last! After an evening sanding by hand down to about 240 or something, I gave it a wipe over with some Ronseal “antique pine” from the back of the shed. It’s actually doing a good impression of roasted maple colour, but will need to be sanded back down and thinned before reapplication as it looks a bit pants now. Should I have gone to a finer grade first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 I’d generally sand to 320 or 500 before looking at a finish. Don’t know if that is right or wrong but it works for me! The first coat can sometimes look a bit rough as it will highlight any places where you haven’t followed the grain when sanding or where you haven’t got rid of the deeper scratches from the previous, thought grade of sandpaper. Looking forward to seeing more pics of this. How are you getting on with the scratch plate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuzzie Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 (edited) I go even higher on sanding sometimes into the thousands, but that’s for a very even finish, slightly tougher finishes have their appeal as well Edited April 13, 2020 by Cuzzie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 Yeah, I should really ask for advice before doing things! I was so happy with the lovely roundedness of it that I jumped the gun. I will sand it down again and go to a higher grade before re-applying a thinned down coat. The scratchplate is on the back burner til the neck is done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuzzie Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 14 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said: Yeah, I should really ask for advice before doing things! I was so happy with the lovely roundedness of it that I jumped the gun. I will sand it down again and go to a higher grade before re-applying a thinned down coat. The scratchplate is on the back burner til the neck is done! For the first 2-3 coats I thinned with mineral spirits and applied with a bit of the sandpaper I used for my final sanding, in my case I think it was 1500. Then I went to oil on its own, just fingers, light sand drips, re-apply, buff etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 Sneaky far away shot to show the colours. Mmm, nice. It’s not quite as orange in real life. I love the subtle rounding of the usually sharp edges. Will do some close ups when I’ve got some satisfactory progress! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 18 hours ago, Cuzzie said: For the first 2-3 coats I thinned with mineral spirits and applied with a bit of the sandpaper I used for my final sanding, in my case I think it was 1500. Then I went to oil on its own, just fingers, light sand drips, re-apply, buff etc That's sort of what I do with a varnished neck. I, like you @Pea Turgh , do sand down to 240 and then apply a couple of coats. But I make those my sealing coats, not the first of the finish coats. I then sand down those coats back to the wood with 300ish grit and finer before starting to add the actual finish coats. So, maybe more by accident, you are actually on the right path, I reckon 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuzzie Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 I have to add that I also used some rub’n’buff on a couple of my jobs so that seals some pores and there is a very faint underlying sparkle to the whole thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 (edited) Back on it after a little break to do absolutely nothing. This lockdown is making me sleepy. So I have sanded down to 600 grit now, and I’m very happy with the silky-feeling results! Which is good, because that’s all I have in the shed. A lot of sanding has revealed some incredibly subtle figuring - you can’t really see it properly on the images, but I’m happy to have found it. Im going for a refinished/roadworn look as opposed to perfection, which is also lucky as I’m not skilled/patient/equipped enough for perfection! I brushed the ever-so-slightly watered down Ronseal on tonight, but I ain’t keen on the visible brush strokes, so I wiped it off gently (with one of Mrs Turgh’s special cloths smuggled out to the shed). Think I’ll do a cloth application for the next coat (so long as I don’t need to sand the first one off again). Edited May 10, 2020 by Pea Turgh 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 So last night’s coat looked crap, so I sanded it down, but not fully. I’m hoping the more coats that go on will even out the patchyness. 2nd coat rubbed on with a cloth - man I should have done it this way to start with! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 Looking lush my bab 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 Been hunting around the house for the scratchplate so I can get things going - can’t find the bloody thing!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 2 hours ago, Pea Turgh said: Been hunting around the house for the scratchplate so I can get things going - can’t find the bloody thing!!! You have my sympathies! I'm sure I spend more time hunting round for things I know I have somewhere than actually building!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 The neck's looking lovely. I've just re read a few bits and realised when I said about using a Stanley blade to bevel the scratchplate I meant use it at ninety degrees to the surface as a scraper. Just keep scraping in fairly long, smooth, fluid motion until you get your 45 degree bevel. The different plies actually act as a guide rather than making it difficult, when the plies look right, it is right. The first one I did I thought, I'll never get this looking even, but it's actually rather quick and easy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 And while I’m waiting for the scratchplate to magically reappear, I stuck all the bits on to see what else I need to do. The cavities need cleaning up and re-shielding, I need a little block under the front of the control plate To fix it in place, but really I should be able to complete this quite soon! Crap night time pic... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 It's looking really good @Pea Turgh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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