Official Luthiers Forum!

Owned and operated by Lance Kragenbrink
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 4:40 am


All times are UTC - 5 hours


Forum rules


Be nice, no cussin and enjoy!




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 55 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next
Author Message
PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 6:13 pm 
Offline
Cocobolo
Cocobolo
User avatar

Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 2:31 pm
Posts: 243
Location: Conway, Arkansas
I'm taking an informal poll on whether builders (1)prefer to tape off the bridge/fretboard area before applying finish to the top or (2) prefer to remove the finish under the bridge/fretboard area after applying finish.
What do you say?

_________________
Formerly know as Mandodiddle.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 6:16 pm 
Offline
Koa
Koa
User avatar

Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 2:59 pm
Posts: 559
First name: Marcus
Last Name: Bailie
City: Kirkland
State: WA
Focus: Build
Tape off bridge and fretboard area before finish.

_________________
-Marcus
http://www.bailieguitars.com
Instagram | YouTube


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 8:12 pm 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member

Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 1:59 pm
Posts: 374
First name: Ken
Last Name: Lewis
City: Mt. Pearl
State: NL
Country: Canada
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
In doing it post finish I routed it off, now just do the tape it off method.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 8:22 pm 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Tue May 13, 2008 10:44 am
Posts: 6232
Location: Virginia
With French Polish I don't tape it off and instead scrape away the bridge footprint. With Nitro I tape. If I tape then I make the taped footprint smaller then the bridge so that the build up at the edges of the tape can be removed with scraping. So in any case scraping is involved but taping off saves a bit of time.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 8:31 pm 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
User avatar

Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2005 10:11 am
Posts: 2142
Tape....


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 10:00 pm 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2007 3:21 pm
Posts: 3289
Location: Alexandria MN
I still rout/sand/scrape it off. Bolt on extension so that area is not an issue.

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.



These users thanked the author Terence Kennedy for the post: Pmaj7 (Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:56 am)
Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:12 am 
Offline
Cocobolo
Cocobolo

Joined: Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:00 pm
Posts: 255
Location: Tennessee
First name: Terry
Focus: Build
Status: Professional
I tape the fretboard area and route off the bridge area. Mostly because I don't make any decision about bridge placement until the guitar is finished and assembled.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:27 am 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 8:21 am
Posts: 3288
First name: Brad
Last Name: Combs
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
I usually route after but I’m going to try frisket film on the next guitar that I build.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:51 am 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member
User avatar

Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:36 am
Posts: 7240
Location: Southeast US
City: Lenoir City
State: TN
Zip/Postal Code: 37772
Country: US
Focus: Repair
I am French polishing with Royal Lac and I use Frisket to mask off the bridge area and the fretboard extension. I route the saddle slot after the bridge is attached. I don't find it particularly difficult to put the bridge in the correct spot before final neck attachment.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:04 am 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:42 pm
Posts: 1701
First name: John
Last Name: Parchem
City: Seattle
State: Wa
Zip/Postal Code: 98177
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
I have done both ways a bunch of times. I decided to settle on carefully taped. I have had an easier time especially in the corners.

_________________
http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:07 am 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
User avatar

Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:12 pm
Posts: 3290
First name: Bryan
Last Name: Bear
City: St. Louis
State: Mo
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
I French polish (ately with Royal-Lac. I tape first.

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:12 am 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member

Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2013 10:52 pm
Posts: 2953
First name: Don
Last Name: Parker
City: Charleston
State: West Virginia
Zip/Postal Code: 25314
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
I still just finish everything, then mark and remove finish under the footprint of the bridge and fingerboard extension. I use a Foredom and StewMac router base for the bulk of it, so it goes pretty fast; then I finesse the edges with hand tools, and sand the bare wood smooth. I've thought about experimenting with masking, but I don't mind what I currently do.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:25 am 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:21 am
Posts: 4839
Location: Central PA
First name: john
Last Name: hall
City: Hegins
State: pa
Zip/Postal Code: 17938
Country: usa
Focus: Build
Status: Professional
tape the extension but rout off the bridge tape makes getting a good flat and high shine difficult.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:41 am 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member

Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 2:25 pm
Posts: 1954
First name: George
City: Seattle
State: WA
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
+1 for frisket film.

_________________
George :-)


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 11:45 am 
Offline
Cocobolo
Cocobolo
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:41 pm
Posts: 316
Location: Trois-Rivieres
First name: Alain
Last Name: Lambert
City: Trois-Rivieres
State: Quebec
Country: Canada
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Is frisket thinner than tape? What is the advantage of using frisket?


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 11:50 am 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 8:21 am
Posts: 3288
First name: Brad
Last Name: Combs
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Frisket is ~.001″ where blue painters tape (often used). I think blue painters tape is like 5x that?

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 12:47 pm 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member
User avatar

Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:13 am
Posts: 442
First name: Tim
Last Name: Allen
City: San Francisco
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
"With French Polish I don't tape it off and instead scrape away the bridge footprint." + 1

Seems pretty easy and quick.

_________________
Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 4:22 pm 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2005 12:50 pm
Posts: 3865
Location: United States
What jfmckenna said.

The varnish I'm using these days is very hard to remove cleanly, and having an area started makes it much easier.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 4:27 pm 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member

Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:14 am
Posts: 819
First name: Tim
Last Name: Lynch
City: Santa Cruz
Zip/Postal Code: 95060
Country: United States
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
I use frisket for fingerboard extension and scrape the shellac for the bridge


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 4:32 pm 
Online
Koa
Koa
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:14 am
Posts: 1011
Location: Newland, North Carolina
I use frisket, but I mask off an area slightly smaller than the actual footprint of the bridge or fingerboard. Then I take it to the final line by scraping (probably going to try routing one of these days). But the frisket takes care of the bulk of finish removal so I only have minimal material to remove before gluing.

Dave


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 6:09 pm 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 1:27 pm
Posts: 705
Location: United States
First name: Dave
Last Name: Livermore
State: Minnesota
Focus: Build
Status: Semi-pro
Here’s a couple approaches I use

One way is to tape off before finish. The pucker factor here comes from not knowing if its in the right place. So if I were to tape off, I would plan to rout the saddle slot after the bridge is glued down.
It is pretty easy to make a sled out of stiff plywood to rout a perfect slot EXACTLY where you want it.

Next: don’t tape it off. Scrape/ sand/ route? The finish off just a hair shy of the footprint of the bridge. Pucker factor here being, what if you screw up or slip and mess up the finish. So work carefully, and stay inside the footprint. Then bevel the edges on the bottom of the bridge so excellent wood to wood gluing surface is maintained across the entire bridge (except the 1/8” or so around the perimeter where you beveled the wood so it didn’t contact the finish.)

Hope this helps someone.
dave


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 6:54 pm 
Online
Koa
Koa
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:14 am
Posts: 1011
Location: Newland, North Carolina
I mount the neck to the body (I generally use bolt on mortise/tenon joints, but it would work the same way with a dovetail), measure for where the bridge goes, drill index holes and mask from there. The final position will only be off by the thickness of the finish. Masking the majority of the bridge footprint makes it easier later on to just take the very edges off by scraping to get a good clean gluing surface.

Dave


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:07 pm 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 5:17 am
Posts: 995
Location: United States
City: Tyler
State: Texas
I think I’m the loner here. I use paste paint stripper after finishing. Virtually no scraping to do, other than the dried stripper.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 11:04 pm 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2007 3:21 pm
Posts: 3289
Location: Alexandria MN
Glen H wrote:
I think I’m the loner here. I use paste paint stripper after finishing. Virtually no scraping to do, other than the dried stripper.


The original StewMac VHS tape that came with their kits in the 90’s showed the gel paint stripper technique. I never tried it. Kind of scared me.

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.



These users thanked the author Terence Kennedy for the post: Mark Mc (Mon Sep 12, 2022 7:19 am)
Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 6:07 am 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2017 8:43 am
Posts: 1700
Tape:)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 55 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: ballbanjos and 45 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
phpBB customization services by 2by2host.com