Saturday, June 26, 2010

DONE!

Ok, the finish has sat for a week so now it's time to scrape it back and glue on the bridge.



Bridge glued, now tape it off for a quick coat of Teak Oil on the redwood bits.


Oil wet but tape removed so it won't wick underneath.


Trying to get a shot of the reflections... it's shiny!


Strung up and looking good, just needs the strings trimmed.


Lovin' the tail graft.


A minor issue here but I'm the only one who knows...


More Sheoak in the rosette turned out nice.


The zipper and skunk stripe line up perfect!


Grover friction tuners seem to work really well!


Time to play! The fretboard feels so much wider and the frets so far apart, this will take some gettin' used to, but it turned out nice and sounds good so far!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

sanding and polishing!

Tonight I wet sanded with 600, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit. I would have gone to 4000 if the store had it.
Then I hit it with Maguire's rubbing compound. Still need to use their Scratch-X but boy, does it shine!
So, tomorrow night I "scratch" it, then attach the neck. Then I measure for bridge placement and remove the finish so I can glue on the bridge. After that it's pretty much just setup; filing nut slots, fitting tuners, etc.
I'm shooting to bring it this weekend to the Lil Rev workshop even if the strings are still stretching!

It's been a "long and winding road" on this uke but if it plays half as good as it looks I'll be thrilled, and with the tap tone and lightness I'm expecting it to be a great player anyway.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Letting finish rest before polishing


Have to wait a week before sanding with 600-2000 grit and polishing.
You can see a bit of reflection on the lower left. It really shines but isn't smoooooth yet.
It won't be quite like the mile thick commercial finishes but I think I'll be happy as long as I don't sand through!