Refinishing my BD guitar

[kiteman]

Round one-rough sanding





Round two-fine sanding





Note for fine sanding, don't use anything to wipe the dust off, use compressed air. Leaves fine scratches. :thwap

Round three-stain first coat



I don't know how that's going to come out. The grains may not be worth enhancing or whether I should sand again but there it is.

By the way, the instructions says to let it soak for 5-15 minutes but I wiped it dry after two minutes. The wood was really soaking it up.

Round four-rough sanding





Ran out of sandpaper.

 

[bigoldron]

Looking good, Kite! So you did decide on staining it huh? What color stain are you going with?

 

[kiteman]

Looking good, Kite! So you did decide on staining it huh? What color stain are you going with?

Miniwax Wood Finish Cherry 235. After that it'll be clear gloss poly wipe.

 

[bigoldron]

Miniwax Wood Finish Cherry 235. After that it'll be clear gloss poly wipe.

Sounds cool! Can't wait to see the pics. I like when we get updates as the project progresses. Good luck with her!

 

[kiteman]

Glad you'll enjoy it. :dance

I'm taking my time on this. I'm thinking about triple step jobs but I'm not sure. I guess it'll depend on how the first step goes.

 

[Bloozcat]

Did you use and wood pore filler, kiteman? Or are you going more for a hand rubbed "furniture" type finish with an open pore?

 

[kiteman]

Say guys, what's cherry? I don't see anything reddish about it.

EDIT: I didn't use any filler. I don't know much about finishing.

 

[Bloozcat]

Cherry stain does rely upon the natural reddish tones of the cherry wood to enrich the color. Cherry stain is generally a lighter reddish color compared to some of the mahogany stain finishes. A good piece of mahogany generally finishes well with just clear applied, although it won't come out real dark and reddish without stain enhancement. This is why I mentioned mixing a cherry and mahogany stain together, although a good, plain mahogany stain woks well also. Here's a stain chart to look at:

EDIT TO ADD: You could still use a clear filler if you wanted to eliminate the open pore showing after you clear coat. In fact, it is preferred that you stain first, then fill the pore as the stains will most likely not penetrate the pore filler if it's applied before hand. That wouldn't look good at all.

 

[kiteman]

Thanks Blooz, too bad I didn't see the chart. My friend mentioned that he has some red stain at his house. I'm going to look later.

 

[Bloozcat]

A good mahogany stain will probably work best. Whatever stain you choose, try it out on a piece of scrap wood first. If it's pine or a similarly light wood, know that it will be darker on the mahogany.

If you look at Gibson guitars you'll notice that some (bodies) look like a medium brown color. Those guitars are shot with clear and the mahogany is Honduran, which is not a dark mahogany. The bodies that appear a darker mahogany or deep reddish mahogany are enhanced with stain. African mahogany has a naturally darker tone to it and will generally look nice even when shot clear with no stain.

 

[kiteman]

Round five-rough and fine sandings





It revealed some more grain so I'm done sanding. Whew!

Here's an outdoor shot what it really look like.

 

[kiteman]

Round six-two coats of spray shellac so far. It looks like the way it was before I started but it's not. The yellowish hue (from the poly) is gone.

 

[kiteman]

Round seven-fine sanding and one coat of shellac. This time outdoor shot to show the real beauty.

It ain't done yet but it rained so I stopped and let it cure for now.

 

[kiteman]

Round eight-two more coats of shellac. Getting some shine.



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[Tig]

Round eight-two more coats of shellac. Getting some shine.

Wow, that's looking really good now. You might need some very light sanding between each coat, like worn down 400 grit or 600 grit in the later stages. Just enough to knock down any dust or roughness. It should take 12-24 hours to be dry enough for even light sanding.



// That SA neighborhood in the pic's looks familier... Her name was Michele!

 

[kiteman]

Wow, that's looking really good now. You might need some very light sanding between each coat, like worn down 400 grit or 600 grit in the later stages. Just enough to knock down any dust or roughness. It should take 12-24 hours to be dry enough for even light sanding.



// That SA neighborhood in the pic's looks familier... Her name was Michele!

I have a niece named Michele. Your turn.

anyway I was going to steel wool it once it cured.

 

[bigoldron]

Looking REAL good Kite! I think you're on the right track with the steel wool, maybe some 000 or 0000 should smooth it out nicely. Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[kiteman]

Me too.

 

[kiteman]

Round nine-One coat of shellac and it's getting smooth to the touch. I think I can stop spraying. I believe that's six coats already.

No pics, recharging batteries.

 

[Bloozcat]

That's looking great, kiteman!

The cherry stain brought out the natural grain in the wood nicely and additional applications of shellac should darken it some more.

 

[kiteman]

Thanks, I steel wooled the body and it took the shine off but really smooth. It's got two more coats to bring the shine back but appeared smoother.





I forget to blow out the wool in the cavities so I have more work to do. I'd just wiped it down before spraying.

 

[bigoldron]

Very nice, Kite! She is going to be gorgeous when you're through! Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[kiteman]

It'll probably be a week before I do anything with it. Shellac takes a long time to cure.

 

[M29]

Lookin good Kite!! It takes time but it well worth the wait. :rockya

 

[kiteman]

..still curing but almost there. :dance

 

[mrmudcat]

Looking really nice brother:dude

 

[bigG]

Looking really nice brother:dude

+1 on that, Kite! Good stuff! :thumbsup

 

[kiteman]

Thanks guys.

The pics doesn't do it justice. It's actually a beautiful piece of wood. I can see the depth in it. Move it around and it shimmers (for a lack of word to describe it).

 

[syo]

Shimmering wood is good. Somehow I missed this thread. I enjoyed going over your progress and seeing the results. Looking forward to the final showing. Looks great already. :applause

 

[kiteman]

Assembled. Just gotta wire it up and string it.

..and setup of course.