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Topic: Drop-filling dents and scratches |
John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 8 Jul 2014 7:59 am |
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Anyone done this? What's the technique? Super Glue? Regular or Gap-filling?
Or Lacquer? |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 8 Jul 2014 9:25 am
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The guy who repaired my MSA (at a ridiculous low price for the work) applied cyanoacrylate drops with toothpick. I was led to believe the gap-filling isn't as desirable, I think it's less hard or in other ways that I don't recall.
After extensive research on my part, and talking to Reece (who talked to Kyle, who applied the original finish), I found that's the customary way.
The trick in making it look good is letting the drops cure hard and careful sanding. My research led me to pay someone else.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 8 Jul 2014 9:30 am
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| I have had good luck with clear lacquer. Apply drops with a toothpick, let it dry and remove excess with very fine wet sandpaper or rubbing compound. |
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 8 Jul 2014 12:22 pm
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| What Erv said. Super glue does dries hard and does not sand well. Lacquer drops is the way to go. Or polyurethane drops. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 8 Jul 2014 12:24 pm
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| Isn't polyurethane kinda thick? Thin it out? What about water-based poly? |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 8 Jul 2014 12:30 pm
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| Lacquer or poly would give me the ability to tint it for a couple small chips. |
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Jerry Jones
From:
Franklin, Tenn.
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 8 Jul 2014 1:21 pm
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Jerry!
Thanks much for finding that! Gonna go watch it now!
JB |
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Eric Dahlhoff
From:
Point Arena, California
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Posted 9 Jul 2014 10:38 pm
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Excellent video - thanks!
_________________
"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan) |
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Glenn Uhler
From:
Trenton, New Jersey, USA
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Posted 10 Jul 2014 2:52 pm Clear Nail Polish
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I've used clear nail polish to do drop fills on several guitars. The cheaper the polish the better. Cheap clear polish is usually nothing but cellulose nitrate and acetone. Stay away from anything that says "nail-hardening" or other information on the label.
Buy a new bottle each time! Otherwise, it will get thick and gummy on you. After you use some out of the bottle, you can add a few drops of acetone to make it thinner.
After you fill the divot, let it dry for at least a day, otherwise the bottom layers can stay soft. Dan's video is excellent; especially the part where he explains how to scrape the surfaace level with a razor blade and Scotch tape.
_________________
1974 Marlen S-12 1968 Tele 1969 Martin D-35H |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 10 Jul 2014 3:01 pm
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"Dan's video is excellent; especially the part where he explains how to scrape the surfaace level with a razor blade and Scotch tape."
And that will work on the scratches on the rear apron. But,,,,My guitar is a "round-front" '73, and two of the chips I want to fill are on the rounded part of the body, where the top deck meets the front apron. I'm not sure if the scraping with the razor blade will work????????? You can just barely see them in this pic. They're right in front of the beginning of the key head;
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Glenn Uhler
From:
Trenton, New Jersey, USA
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Posted 10 Jul 2014 5:37 pm Razor blade?
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Unless you can find a half-round razor blade.  Do the drop-ins the same way on the edge, but instead of scraping, you will need to sand along the edge with a stiff hand sanding pad, like they use to rub out car finishes. Go very slowly with 600 or higher grit. Work up to the highest grit you can find (like 3000), then polish it out with white polishing compound. When the finish is shiney, finish up with paint swirl remover. Practice on some other guitar if you can. Good Luck!
_________________
1974 Marlen S-12 1968 Tele 1969 Martin D-35H |
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Bill L. Wilson
From:
Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 10 Jul 2014 6:01 pm Scraping The Curve.
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| Try using a new sharp router bit, with a matching radius. |
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Jerry Jones
From:
Franklin, Tenn.
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Posted 10 Jul 2014 7:01 pm
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After the chip is filled, put tape around the chip area rather than the blade and use a small sanding block backed with hard leather. Use that technique till the repair is flush then proceed as Dan did. If your guitar is lacquer (which I assume it is) I'd use un-thinned lacquer and build the surface slowly….. otherwise you may get small air bubbles.
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Jerry Jones |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 11 Jul 2014 6:30 am
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Thanks guys!
Jerry, I contacted Stew-Mac, and got an answer from Matt Brooker. He says;
"Thank you for contacting us. For rounded and curved surfaces, a small oval shaped scraper is a great thing to use to do the majority of the leveling. Then you can finish up with the razor blade trick, and sanding. Here's a link to another Trade Secret on finish touchups, but this one is on the back of a neck where it meets the peghead so it's also a curved surface:
http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Trade_Secrets/Hiding_an_evil_smile_peghead_break_with_the_Razor_Blade_Trick.html
I haven't watched it yet this morning. I'm moving slow! |
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Glenn Uhler
From:
Trenton, New Jersey, USA
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Posted 11 Jul 2014 2:49 pm So far, so good!
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So far, so good, John. I was thinking, have you ever used any wax or polish on the guitar since the chips happened. If you have, you should probably clean each of the chips with some ammonia on a cue-tip before you do the drop-ins. After cleaning with the ammonia, rinse with plain water and dry throughly. Let dry for a while before the lacquer.
_________________
1974 Marlen S-12 1968 Tele 1969 Martin D-35H |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 11 Jul 2014 2:55 pm
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Glenn,
The guitar has been completely cleaned with Meguiare's Swirl Remover 2.0. You can finish right over that stuff. It does the best job of cleaning that I've ever seen. This guitar is such a stunning color! But, at 40+ years, it does have a few battle scars.
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 11 Jul 2014 3:15 pm
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Better pic, but it still doesn't accurately show the beautiful color. This is after it has been cleaned, but no wax,
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David Scheidler
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 13 Jul 2014 11:42 am
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| Excellent information guys! After reading through all the posts and checking out Dan's videos, I think I'm prepared to do some minor touch up work on my otherwise perfect Sho-Bud S-12. Thanks! |
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