Doing Things Wrong

Still Loothering

This is the Kubicki bass body from last year (?) It is now wearing a nice chocolate burst and a thick coat of OIL-BASED polyurethane. It has been hanging up for over two months, and I figure the poly is 99% as hard as it will ever get.

I just finished wet-sanding to get out the orange-peel and dust nits. A quarter-sheet of good quality 1500 ( not Chinese ! ) and my small sanding block made from 1x2 and mousepad rubber, see it in the laboratory section. The matte finish now is very nice, but I'm not done yet.

I remind everyone that this body is built up from Radiata pine 2x2s, from Home Depot. Now that the edges are covered, you'd be hard-pressed to tell it is not an expensive single-piece blank from some luthiery supply place. This wood is really great to work with, much better than alder or poplar. Of course, the tone is "radiant".

That's better, a nice shine. Needs a bit more work in some spots, then it will be ready for re-assembly.

This is my dry-polishing setup, also described in the laboratory. One thing about this rig is how surprisingly quiet it is.

While I was at it, I decided to do the guitar body as well. These are all sanded 1500-2000 and then rough-polished. Block sanding on the faces has made them as flat as glass. A bit of touching-up, and then final polishing will make them shine.

On the right is an old Harmony body that I got on eBay a long while ago. I gave the lacquer the same treatment. Lacquer polishes much faster than tough poly, and scratches up just as fast. A project for someday ...


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Such a simple idea, yet it makes a world of difference in finishing. StewMac - feel free to copy this design, I've copied enough of yours!​

Sanding blocks are 1/8" neoprene foam (mousepad) glued over 1x2 & 1x3 scrap pine, with 1/4" roundovers ( makes 3/8" roundover with padding. ) Use waterproof contact cement. The large block is sized for 1/4 of a standard sheet of sandpaper, and will also take half of a 1/3 sheet piece. Small block works well for details, inside horns, etc. The neoprene grips the sandpaper exceedingly well, wet or dry, and has just the right amount of 'give' for very fine sanding.

Printed from luthierylabs.com