The frets are naked and need dressed. I cut a 35 degree slot in a scrap radius block and a file was held in place with a screw. This was used to bevel the sides of the frets.
I used a 12" long flat piece of metal with 400 grit sandpaper glued on it to level all the frets. High frets get more of a plateau than the lower frets. I sanded until all the frets were touched by the sandpaper.
The third to last fret has been covered in black sharpie. The second to last fret has been crowned. The fret was shaped from the sides until there is only a thin strip of black down the center (shown). The shaping was done with a small piece of 400 grit sandpaper.
After a quick wipe with 1500 grit sandpaper, the frets got buffed with the dremel.
The tape is removed and the resulting shine could be seen from space. Each fret got about 10 minutes of attention each (yes, it took almost 4 hours).
Hardware.
I received a 1# tub of hide glue from LMI. Here is my setup for heating the glue. The hide glue was soaked in water overnight, and was then placed into the double boiler and let hover at 140 degrees Phairenhight (60 Celsius) until it reached the viscosity needed. Shown is the double boiler, with the brush being boiled.
Plenty of glue was applied, and a single clamp was used to hold the neck in place until the glue dries overnight.
The guitar can now freely sit in the stand. I glued a piece of 1/16" maple veneer onto the headstock and trimmed it flush to the mahogany.
I used the Gibson logo along with other similar logos to create my own logo in MS paint. I think it turned out well.
I printed out the logo at different widths to see which one worked best. I chose the 1.6" wide logo, adhered it to the MOP blank, and proceeded to cut it out with a jewelers saw i got from LMI.
Here is the cut out logo on a scrap piece of maple with black dye added.
The logo was tacked down with super glue to the headstock.
A quick spray with black paint will transfer the logo's shape onto the maple.
I whipped up this router base for the dremel using some lexan, plywood, and some bolts. The MOP logo broke when i tried to remove it from the cut. Nothing some super glue can't fix.
Some spots went a little wild, but it all gets filled in with black glue anyway.
Here is was i've settled on for a finish. First fill the grain with 2 part epoxy (Loctite Extra time, with a drop of black dye for the mahogany filler. This will be done probably twice until the grain is completely filled. After this, the wood gets a thorough sanding back down to the grain. A few coats of sanding sealer will level off any imperfections that still may exist, leaving a flat surface for the topcoat. A quick sanding and the topcoats go on. I will use Behlen's Gloss Topcoat Lacquer and Sanding Sealer from Rockler. The picture above only shows 1 layer of epoxy filler w/o sanding, but it gives me a good representation of what the final grain should look like. The topcoat lacquer will 'cure' for about a month, when i will polish and buff it by hand. The buffing and polishing will occur when i'm up at school (hopefully).
For now, i will glue in the inlay, sand it flush, and dye the headstock veneer. Once my grover tuners arrive, i can drill the holes and install them. The bone nut needs shaped, and the bridge/tailpiece need installed. After this, it's all the finish and detail work.
-Andrew
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