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I'm considering trying a Tobacco Sunburst finish on this one. I'm looking for suggestions as to how and mask off the the purflings and most of all the thin rosette rings. I saw the OOOO/M that Joe White did and I was wondering if he has any helful tricks for the lines. Pin stripe tape, paint on mastic that artist use or something simular perhaps or something that I probably don't know about? Like I said some suggestions or tips.

Looks like that's going to be a nice guitar Chris;
On the few sunburst or black faced insturments I've done, I've sprayed the color cotes then scraped the rings clean before I applied clear nitro on top.
I'd be interested too on how to mask the rings an an option rather than scrape .
regards,

I was thinking that if it comes down to scraping the lines that maybe I could make a compass scraper and fill the sound hole and do it that way. I think I can make the sound hole plug since I have the work board with the routed grove in it from when I cut the sound hole out. I'm also wondering if there is some kind of film that I could cut the rings from with a compass cutter and then cover the rings with that. Something that might make it easier or even ideas how to make scraping the rings more precise if scraping is the way to go.
I hope this guitar turns out OK. It's kind of a learning guitar for me as I'm trying out things I haven't done before. Like the arm and rib rest and wood bindings and purfs and an adjustable neck joint and maybe a sunburst. There are things that I'm not completely happy with but I'll have a better idea how to correct it on the next one.

Wowza,

I have used thin masking tape that is transparent enough to see purfling lines through, then carefully scored around the purfs with a super sharp x-acto blade. It works well on wide rosettes and bound F holes, your thin rings look like they are going to be tricky though.

You can just put on your magnifying goggles and scrape away freehand, but it is easy to get impatient while doing this and scrape outside the lines.

I wonder if you could install a dummy soundhole plug in the top with a hole in the middle, then you could rig up a scraper on a stick to pivot around and get those pesky thin rings. The hole would have to be perfectly centered, and depending on how much sanding you have done to the soundhole edge it may not work, just a thought.

Nice work.

edit -oops, posted your own idea at the same time as you

_________________
Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

Oh Wow, De Javu!

Hi, Chris. I wouldn't have thought of this until you mentioned it as a possibility, but I like your idea about artist's frisket. There are two types of frisket. One is a clear film "peel and stick" product. It's transparent, so you can stick it, cut it, and peel up everything but the area you want to mask. It's not an easy product to use, though. The second type is a liquid product that is quite similar to rubber cement. In fact, you could use thinned rubber cement as a substitute. You paint this product on and allow it to dry. Water color artists use it all the time to mask out white areas in their paintings. When you are ready to remove the frisket mask, you use a rubber cement eraser to roll it up into little balls and lift it away. You could also use a rolled up wad of dried rubber cement for the same purpose. If you try a rubber cement mask, thin it first. Paint either liquid product on with a round, pointed artist brush. I've sprayed watercolors and inks MANY times over liquid friskets, but I've never sprayed a solvent based product over them, so you would obviously want to experiment. It is possible that lacquer thinner would liquify your dried frisket, so test carefully for that before moving forward. With any method, I think you will need to do a little scraping here and there at the very end. Good luck, and let me know how it goes.

Patrick

Thanks, I was wondering about it desolving with lacquer and was wondering if there might be something out there that auto painters know about. You gave me an idea too. Does anyone know how clear scotch tape would hold up to solvents and lacquer?

3m Fine line tape is the best. You can get it in 1/16" 1/8" 3/32" 1/4" these sizes will work for most sunbursts. If you need smaller I take the 1/16" and on the roll run a razor blade along it as to cut it in half. I think I have used this tape for 1000 sunburst could be more I stopped counting So it is tested out well.

Clear scotch tape will not come off without a fight.

Thanks Addam, I do have a roll of that at 1/8" wide that I've use before. Do you have any tips or tricks on scraping the rings?

Well, it is best to tape right to the top wood so you do not have to scrape. But if you do have to scrape I use a razor blade and tape all but the last 1/16 off with tape, then use the inside of the sound hole as a guide to scrape.

This stuff -->http://www.dickblick.com/products/winsor-and-newton-colorless-art-masking-fluid/ is a masking fluid used in the art world. Just paint it on, do your thing and then rub it off. Comes right off.

This stuff, or any good art masking fluid, is designed precisely for what yer doin. I use it all the time when I'm airbrushing. No stains, no fuss.... Bob's yer uncle...

Hope this helps.

(EDIT).. I've used it on wood as well.


- Phil

I'm beyond thrilled to have you posting, Addam!