Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
Post Reply
User avatar
Amon 7.L
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 739
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:45 am

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by Amon 7.L » Thu May 16, 2019 9:25 am

You're a machine, man.
The padauk has a super cool shade too.
Yet, if you want to darken it, you can experiment with a teaspoon of baking soda diluted in tiny glass of water. Then brush it on. Try on some padauk leftover first, as depending on the wood you get different result. It works great on bubinga and mahogany. More baking soda=more dramatic tan.

User avatar
Rgand
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 3:55 pm

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by Rgand » Thu May 16, 2019 9:50 am

Amon 7.L wrote:
Thu May 16, 2019 9:25 am
You're a machine, man.
The padauk has a super cool shade too.
Yet, if you want to darken it, you can experiment with a teaspoon of baking soda diluted in tiny glass of water. Then brush it on. Try on some padauk leftover first, as depending on the wood you get different result. It works great on bubinga and mahogany. More baking soda=more dramatic tan.
Would you need to neutralize the baking soda afterwards with something? You can burn leather and make it brittle with too much baking soda.

User avatar
Amon 7.L
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 739
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:45 am

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by Amon 7.L » Thu May 16, 2019 10:55 am

Rgand wrote:
Thu May 16, 2019 9:50 am
Amon 7.L wrote:
Thu May 16, 2019 9:25 am
You're a machine, man.
The padauk has a super cool shade too.
Yet, if you want to darken it, you can experiment with a teaspoon of baking soda diluted in tiny glass of water. Then brush it on. Try on some padauk leftover first, as depending on the wood you get different result. It works great on bubinga and mahogany. More baking soda=more dramatic tan.
Would you need to neutralize the baking soda afterwards with something? You can burn leather and make it brittle with too much baking soda.
I just a did a light passage with a paint brush and let the fretboard dry on its own, then I just went on with some wood moisture, nothing else.
No problem handling the fretboard afterwards nor right after the brush-on.
It's not as if you were soaking the entire neck into a barrel filled with pure baking soda.
Watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYH083c8dEw

User avatar
Rgand
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 3:55 pm

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by Rgand » Thu May 16, 2019 11:57 am

Amon 7.L wrote:
Thu May 16, 2019 10:55 am
Rgand wrote:
Thu May 16, 2019 9:50 am
Amon 7.L wrote:
Thu May 16, 2019 9:25 am
You're a machine, man.
The padauk has a super cool shade too.
Yet, if you want to darken it, you can experiment with a teaspoon of baking soda diluted in tiny glass of water. Then brush it on. Try on some padauk leftover first, as depending on the wood you get different result. It works great on bubinga and mahogany. More baking soda=more dramatic tan.
Would you need to neutralize the baking soda afterwards with something? You can burn leather and make it brittle with too much baking soda.
I just a did a light passage with a paint brush and let the fretboard dry on its own, then I just went on with some wood moisture, nothing else.
No problem handling the fretboard afterwards nor right after the brush-on.
It's not as if you were soaking the entire neck into a barrel filled with pure baking soda.
Watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYH083c8dEw
Thanks. I was curious about that.

User avatar
epizootics
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 719
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:29 pm
Location: Lyon, France

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by epizootics » Fri May 17, 2019 8:05 am

Thanks for the tip, I am keeping a notebook with all the ways to alter the color of all sorts of wood...That's a new entry :)

The CockBat (erm) took over my poor Lungs, because it has to be done by next Friday...

Routed the cavity, contour & binding channel:

Image

(now here's one LIGHT body)

...and, talking of doing stuff to poor wood...here's the back after going through the Tint-o-Matic (and a bit of relicing):

Image

(white vinegar, steel wool and a handful of English pence...)

User avatar
Rgand
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 3:55 pm

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by Rgand » Fri May 17, 2019 12:38 pm

Looks good. I like the back color. Vinegar and steel wool I'm familiar with. What were the pence for?

User avatar
epizootics
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 719
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:29 pm
Location: Lyon, France

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by epizootics » Fri May 17, 2019 10:03 pm

The pence emphasize the overall blue tint. It works great on French walnut, making it lean toward purple in a very natural fashion. . Plus years of living in the UK made me like the idea of dipping the Queen in acid

I am pushing back the moment when I'll copy the pickguard template onto my PVC blank. Last time I did that, I filled up the apartment with electrostatically-charged little chips of plastic that didn't want to go anywhere. I am tempted to buy a small tent and a better dust mask to do the dirty routing.

User avatar
Amon 7.L
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 739
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:45 am

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by Amon 7.L » Sat May 18, 2019 2:09 am

* cheerleaders supporting vibes °

Go, man! Go!!

User avatar
epizootics
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 719
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:29 pm
Location: Lyon, France

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by epizootics » Sat May 18, 2019 7:05 am

"reverse country-burst in progress"

Image

User avatar
antisymmetric
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 3601
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:32 pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by antisymmetric » Sat May 18, 2019 12:29 pm

^^Nice! :-*

*files away for future reference*
Watching the corners turn corners

User avatar
Rgand
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 3:55 pm

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by Rgand » Sat May 18, 2019 12:58 pm

This is looking good.

User avatar
epizootics
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 719
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:29 pm
Location: Lyon, France

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by epizootics » Sat May 18, 2019 10:55 pm

Cheers guys! I'm plowing on and doing as little thinking as I can, this body has to be finished & dry by Friday night.
Now we have a binding:

Image

Not sure what I want to do with the top. Maybe something on the orange side. And I am going to have to rethink the bridge thing, I didn't do my maths with regard to pickup height - those Mustang-ish pickups simply won't go high enough with my pickguard design if I use a wraparound. I could recess it into the body but I don' think it'll look so hot. I do have silly ideas and a Mustang bridge to butcher, though. More later...

User avatar
ThePearDream
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2072
Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2017 6:18 am
Location: Detroit
Contact:

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by ThePearDream » Sun May 19, 2019 6:43 am

This is looking really good. Something orange would look nice, or a red-orange coral type color, or an aqua color too.
Doug
@dpcannafax

User avatar
Rgand
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 3:55 pm

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by Rgand » Sun May 19, 2019 9:07 am

Pretty much any color you choose would look good on it. You could even do just a brown dye on it. I like the look.

User avatar
epizootics
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 719
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:29 pm
Location: Lyon, France

Re: Lungs / Adventures in MDF

Post by epizootics » Mon May 20, 2019 9:10 am

Getting there...Slowly but surely...

Image

Pickguard - done
Bridge - getting there

The top half is getting its finish tomorrow...I found a discreet but nicely orange-ish wood dye that should work.

Post Reply