The Sweetest Music...

Thanks for the info on how you got the plate off. I knew you would do it. I don't think I will be "amazing" anybody this year or maybe even next year. I am getting old and slowing down. I am working on multiple projects. One of them is a contemporary double barrel flintlock French pistol era 1790's. All hand made. I am also helping to construct a Russian Tula rifle and engraving it something like the Germen one I had at Vegas.

Got a quick question for you if you get this Sam. I've never used ink for my backgrounds and I was curious about wiping the excess. Often with paint there is a film that remains and I'll remove it with a thinner or something like it. Is there any residual film using the ink. Or do you wipe it and leave it alone?
Astounding work by the way. You have done one of the hardest things to do in the engraving world and that is to create an instantly recognizeable scroll. And it's a dandy at that!
Layne

Same here Phil, as nitrocellulose has been a no-no for years now

Click to expand...

Sam,
The car I am restoring came from the factory with lacquer paint so I wanted to use the same. I haven't painted a car in over 20 years and would rather use "old school" techniques than learning a new painting system. I checked everywhere and was unable to find lacquer thru any suppliers. I finally stumbled on to this place and ordered my paint from them. They matched the factory paint code and also a custom color I wanted, as well as clear for the final finish. They also have 3 different thinners based on ambient temperature when spraying. If you want to order clear lacquer and the appropriate thinner, I would give them a shot. It's in their Restoration Shop category.

http://www.tcpglobal.com/

Layne, thanks for the nice comment. I wiped the ink off with my finger, constantly cleaning the finger on a paper towel, and then very lightly wiped the whole thing with a clean paper towel. After it had dried on top of my stove for a few days I wiped it again with a paper towel and then I went over areas needing to be brought out with a green polishing pin as sold by Rio Grande, chucked in a pin vise and worked by hand. The gold needed just a bit of polishing and a very few places on the scroll needed this clean-up. I find a paper towel does an easy and excellent job of polishing the aluminum...I always get a bit of black oxide off of it when I wipe and will do so prior to inlaying into the wood and coating with Renaissance Wax. Experiment!

D, thanks for the info. I will check them out for any possible future needs. One can still get nitrocellulose lacquer and thinner from places like Luthiers Mercantile International but I don't know for how long.

D, I forgot to ask...what are you restoring? (remember, adding engraving doesn't count for restoring but sure adds to the overall product)

Tom Sterling asked to see the guitar build so I thought I would at least post an overview on the project. The photo shows most of the wood to be used in the making of the guitar.

I started the neck last spring. It is Port Orford Cedar and sits on top of an identical blank of mahogany the same size and shape as the one from which I started. On one end the blank is sliced across the width at a 15 degree angle and then the sliced off part is glued to the underside of the blank (glue line marked with green tape) to form the head piece and veneers are glued top and bottom for added strength and looks. As you can see, the head piece has been shaped, slotted and drilled for the tuners. On the other end 3 pieces were sliced off and re-glued to form the heel/foot. The pencil markings on the side of the stack indicate where slots will be hand sawn for the sides to join the heel. After sawing the slots, shaping of the heel/foot will begin by carving.

In the background are 2 pieces of Engelmann spruce for the top that have been air drying for some 15 years. next to that are 2 pieces of East Indian Rosewood for the back and overlaying are 2 long pieces of Rosewood for the sides. The rest of the wood is for braces, patches, bridge and in front of the neck a blank of Macassar ebony for the fret board. The veneers for the head piece were also taken from this blank for a perfect match.

Anyone interested in learning all that is required to build an acoustic guitar should get the book Guitarbuilding by Cumpiano and Natalson.