Very well done-for your free pours try it with the opening at the top rather than bottom-it's counterintuitive but works giving you some real control.

Congratulations! Suggest you put in a prominent link to the Amazon store in the "about" section, so there are less clicks/browsing and more happy, enthused impulse buyers.

So it's the same colors that artists use to do oil paintings?

congrats great book actually purchased it before i saw this video!! i'll now use this as my bible for guitar construction. thanx a million

wow, here you are! I bought it just after Christmas, a great job! many thanks! PS: I'm also translating it in Italian! (for myself of course)

I am not a guitar player, Thank you for your video. It help me understand and how to use shellac on my vintage travel trailer. 1945. You help me in picking the wood and the color outcome. Save me a whole lot of guessing.and gave me confidants to start shellacing my whole travel trailer from the inside. Thank you. From Dillon,Montana

Hi! this was an amazing series! Thank you. I would be curious how to set the distance of the bridge, wiring the pick-ups, setting the string-height, and the machine heads. Anyhow thank you, it was really nice to see the creation. :)

Great book! I've rushed through it and whished it had been available earlier. Would have saved me time. Well done!

I was ready to invest about $200 for a fancy fret saw From LMI or Stew Mac when I saw this. Instead I made one of these in a few hours from scrap Ash. I used a Hacksaw Blade in the base and ground it to an easily removable shape so I can use the box without it if I want. I ordered several pre-slotted boards from LMI for $12-15 each, one of them custom slotted. The first test board came out great taking about 10 minutes to cut a dozen perfect slots to full depth in a Ukulele board. I made some stackable shims for the top of the mitre bax so I can control saw depth of cut.

Is it safe to stain wood first then Tru oil the wood after the stain? I have this project I want to do as a burst kind of thing and where I live we have an abundance of Mosquitos so spraying with a clear coat is rather hard because of that.

Can you put tru oil over canned no wax shellac?

How does shellac apply over a guitar body stained with a water based aniline dye?

congrats, great job. Looks like the guitar is taller than the new owner, oh well, he will grow into it!

Great vid! Where do you get the veneer?

Great video. I like your technique for filling the grain, fantastic! Danish oil is a great finish in my experience, as you stated it has a mix of oil and varnish. There's a couple of similar products out there too. A tung oil finish works at least as well as the danish oil in my experience. It's also a combination of oil and varnish. You can get 100% tung oil, but that doesn't have the protective properties you'd want in a protective finish. Paste varnish is another alternative rub on finish. It actually polymerizes the wood with the 1st couple of coats, so it makes the wood part of the finish. Then build it up with as many coats as it takes to get it how you want.

Can I add tint like the dyes from StewMac to tru-oil?

thanks

cheese grater from hell :DD do you know pantera?

I love the headstock on this. I'm not a big fan of the Fender body shape (I'm more of a Rickenbacker 4001/4002/4003 fan) but this is a beauty. I've been considering building a bass, and I think I may just have to go for it. I've performed tons of repairs, and thanks to your videos, it seems like a fairly straight forward process. I really liked the knobs you made, that's a nice touch.

Possibly the best woodworking video I have ever seen. Know now that I need to make the conversion to only scraping. Much knowledge here.

Great video. Thank you for sharing. Why buy them when they are easily made? One question... You mentioned sawing the dowel in half. What do you use to do that? Seems the dowel would be too thin to do it with a band saw. And maybe too dangerous and difficult to control. Maybe hold in a vice and use a coping saw?

Congrats!!! Looking forward to your book. You have helped me out for sure already. Keep up the great work.

I watched all of your videos, so if I could now make a comment on your technique. There are many different methods to "French" polish. And we all arrive at a method that suits us personally. That said, the one thing that you are missing is "increasing the pressure" of the pad in the final bodying steps. Pressure to the pad is how you get the high gloss and NOT refilling your pad very often, but applying increasing pressure until your arm feels like it is going to fall off! It has taken me over 20 years to master the FP process. Also, after final bodying, you can wet sand, yes, I said wet sand the finish with soapy water and 1200-2000 grit or higher to entirely flatten the finish. Constantly drying off the water while wet sanding. After thorough drying, more final FP sessions with very little shellac and mostly alcohol and a tiny bit of 4F pumice, and pressure!!! French polishing is not for the weak at heart. It requires years of practice and patience, FYI, to get master quality results. You must put in hundreds of hours to totally understand the process.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and talent. Finishing's always been my biggest issue. My workshop is 12 X 12, with wood heating in our long winters and I can't access a dust-free paintshop near my igloo. I would definitely adopt Shellac but I have a question: Can I use the canned Zinzer product for your technique? I have been unfortunate in my search for flaked shellac and the appropriate kind of alcohol. Same with the pumice. What the heck is that? I am in Canada and "real" Shellac users up here are more difficult to find than a Hillbilly reality show. Shellac got to be my best option. Cheers ...:o)

I like Tru-Oil for the fact that it is a one product finish where you can apply several coats of the same thing until the finish looks good. Danish oil is good too, however a top coating is needed to get a glossier look.

just a quick question, danish oil or tru oil? what is your opinion?

I use a spiral cutter that has the correct shank size to fit into the Dremel. You could also cut yourself a thin piece of MDF or clear plastic sheet to lay over the body as you use the tool if you want a little extra protection for the paint. The router attachment will still leave marks if you drag it along the body with too much pressure. I would cut a small cover or maybe even try painters tape to add a protective layer as you remove that little bit of excess. Best of luck.

I have a Japan crafted Jazz bass, i wanted the pickups changed to usa jazz bass pickups. but usa are just a little bit larger, so i guess the holes have to be shaved in order to fit the usa pickups in, BUT the body is spayed already, dont wanna mess the paint up, I do have a demel, what type of bit do you suggest i use to shave the smaller japan routing holes to fit the usa pickups, Any suggestions?

percentages work for any measure.

I was so happy when I found tru-oil, and it lets me create a really professional looking finish without having to invest in spraying equipment, a spray booth, and working with harsh chemicals. Tru-oil is quick, easy, and anyone can apply it with success. I also prefer it over lacquer for my instruments because it allows the wood to move more easily than a heavier and more restrictive finish.

I'm so sorry that I didn't see this earlier, but the bottom of the trough only needs to be as wide as the widest fretboard blank you plan on slotting. In which case three inches is usually enough for most acoustic guitars and basses. A six string electric bass may need a wider trough, but for acoustic work, 3" will be fine. I hope this gets to you in time to be helpful, and best of luck.

The jig essentially makes marks that end up being sanded when the radius is put on the fret board. The ends are completely sanded off, and all that remains is a small slot in the middle of the board. You have to go back again anyway with a fret saw and a depth stop to re-saw the slots anyway, so all I do is make sure I get into the board about 1/8" or less when I'm using the slotting jig, and they always come out just fine. It's easier than it looks, I promise.

If you try and color the oil at this point, apply it over the existing oil finish on the violin, and use a very small amount of coloring so you can build up coats over time until the color you like shows up. Its much easier to go lighter and sneak up on the coloring rather than go too dark. I've never used the oldwood1700 so I can't say how well it would work or not, but many violins have been finished with tru-oil before.

You could absolutely do that with the kerfing, and that is a great idea. It can be a little tricky with the masking tape, however it does work for me and I'm used to handling it. You could get twice the kerfing for the same effort by making a long strip and cutting it in half. Great idea. For the depth stop a fine adjustment like that would work for sure, it would just need to be close enough to the saw that the spine hits it and stops the cutting. Another great idea.

hey, I like your jigs. I am using the fret cutting jig you showed once in your videos. I wanted to ask why won't you use a wide piece of wood and kerf it, and only then cut it into two separate kerfing strips? peeling off masking tape from the flimsy 0.5 mm back of the kerfing can break it... I also had a thoght for the stopper, you can use some sort of a stop with a threaded rod that could fine tune the depth of cut, instead of the clamp... thank you for you video!

I have a violin which is completely raw wood at this moment. I would like to know if I can use this to put some color on it and then use the tru oil. I used to have tru oil on it alone but I was very unhappy with it's color. I'm wondering if there is a difference between this and the oldwood1700 oil natural color. Can you help me choose what will be best & not loose the sound on my violin?

Thankyou :-)

how do you know how deep to go? Shouldn't you have a stop of some kind to control the depth?

The wipe on poly is actually a polyurethane varnish, which is an oil and a resin that are cooked together to form a new compound. The wiping varnish is just varnish with a larger amount of thinner in the mixture, so that it has time to smooth itself out before it gets too hard. I do not know what the UK equivalent is, but a glue based product does not sound right to me. I would look for any oil base varnish that dries clear, and pick the gloss level you like. Do a test board just in case.

Hi ya I have just upcycled some bedroom furniture, the tops I have left showing the natural wood. I have used your video(thanks very much) and used danish oil on them. It looks great. I tried to get some white bond poly from a couple of hardwear stores and they seemed confused as to what it is. I'm in the UK my hubby is wondering if it is uni-bond, like a glue that you put on and it dries clear. if this is what i need how do I apply it? Many Thanks Sharon

how long does it take to dry the color before you can put the tru-oil on and not have it drag the color?

My Book is available now on Amazon, and it is called Acoustic Guitar Making: How to Make Tools Templates and Jigs. I cover tons of guitar making concepts in over 500 pages and more than 1600 pictures and diagrams. Please give it a look.

Oh, yes it does yellow over time, but it gives a nice patina to the lighter woods like Hond. mahogany, maple, and spruce. I've used it for fifty years and prefer it over lacquer. It will blend in with a lacquer or poly finish for minor touchup repairs also. Very flexible stuff and very user friendly. Birchwood Casey has one find product there. Thanks for the video.

Where i can get fingerbord to buy? i can't find anything

Thks for sharing ! I will try to build one by my own...great vid and series !!!

Very nicely done! I was disappointed that you did not show how to level the frets, set up & install the tuners, & set the string height & intonation of the bass. I also agree with another poster that you should have used either Maple or Pearl plug inserts on the fret board. It would also have been nice to have heard how well the bass played. Perhaps you can do another video on that? Otherwise, nice luthiering job!!......

Brian, you stated toward the end of this video that you recommend using the artist paints on light colored woods. I have an alder body that I like to use for a purple bust finish. I've heard of people bleaching alder. I want to use alder for it's inherent tonal qualities. Any thoughts, opinions or suggestions on the process and the choices of bleach? Thanks. Great video.

or do I have to stain it first? what must I do?

I got a lee enfield no4 mk1*, the problem is that the color of the stock (where you put your hand on to pull the trigger ) is too light in comparrison with other parts of the handguard. So I wanted to darken the color of just that area of the stock. is it possible to just apply this Tru-Oil Finish directly to the stock (walnut) ,without removing the original finish?

what finish do you recommend for an outdoor solid teakwood table... ?