MIMF

Got the Amber dye on. Have since started working on the burst. It has gotten a bit dark so I may wash some dye out with warm water. Here it is with the Amber over sanded back dark brown.

Got some shellac on it to seal it up. Still contemplating what method for filling the grain. There are some others in the grass but they are a bit washed out for lighting.

frets are leveled and crowned.

Damn I need to get a crowning file. Crowning with the triangle file is a bit of a pain. I at least rounded the edges of the file so I wouldn't cut through the tape on the fretboard with one slip.

I good fret file is a great investment. Don't waste your money on anything else- get the diamond file.

Whoops. Messed up spraying the burst. Gotta sand it off and try again. Got some good practice with the airbrush at least and the color is good.

And after trying again, I got the burst looking great and went to seal it with shellac out of a spray can.....

And the new layer melted into the burst and made it blotch really badly

Glad I did a seal coat first! I'll sand back to the seal coat again and try and do the layer over the burst with a gun or the airbrush instead. I think the mist out of the can was too thick. A finer mist laid on with very thin layers for my tie coat before the 2 part clear should work a bit better.

The first coats over the burst need to be very thin and quick coats. I would have used lacquer for this.

thanks for the tip, I'll do that after sanding it down

I was planning to finish with a 2 part automotive grade clear. Would that be a problem over a typical lacquer? I've sprayed it over shellac before with no problems

That will likely not work well. Always try unusual combinations on scrap before committing to final project.

in general, everything works over shellac. it is fantastic in that respect.
it is very dangerous to assume that anything else has that property.

2k clear over shellac is holding up well on my latest finishing job

Got a little logo made by the fellow on Reverb.com

Sweet!
Is that an inlay or transfer?

that's a transfer. I might re-do it though. I didn't buff out the finish under it so it shows through after I sprayed a little clear over it.

Not exactly a glamour shot but here is the burst. New help worked well

Look's great Eric!

New HVLP, not new help.....

Ahh.. I wondered what the new "help" was.

Well crap......

Burned through the burst while scuff sanding. Going to try to fix it with the airbrush or else it will be the third time sanding the burst off to try again.