Mahogany wood filler, and natural finish questions.

[warlok]

I'm starting a new project. I'm stripping the matte black paint off a guitar and adter seeing what's under the paint, I'm leaving the wood natural. Have a few questions for anyone who has done this, or has stripped and just oiled a neck, etc.. Here's a pic of the start..

First, look around the edges and you can see there are a few chips that are small-ish, but big enough that they are still visible after the paint is stripped. Has anyone filled mahogany with filler and had it be not or barely noticeable? How and with what? Was thinking about this http://www.elmers.com/product/detail/E864 I used some lighter tinted on my model 6 maple top and it worked good but they were smaller chips.

Second, I've only done a nice and glossy nitro finish before. I hear alot about wipe on oil finishes being easy to use and working great like tung oil, tru oil, etc, etc, etc.. I'm not looking for a glossy finish one this one. What's a good finish that can stay kinda satin-ish or at least not super glossy? Thinking maybe what sully did on the Les Paul neck. Does it need to be re-applied sometimes or is it a one shot deal?
Thanks in advance..

[warlok]

This is the finish I'm looking for. Seems that tru-oil is the way to go..

http://www.switchbackguitarworks.com/?tag=tru-oil

[LouSiffer]

If those are chips or deep dings/dents..... I would use a clear epoxy mixed heavily with sawdust from the original wood. Overbuilding the damaged area and sanding it down to flush. It wont be perfect , but, you will probably be the only person tp know. For minor dings, I use a solid glass rod to sweat it out do to speak. You can pick these up through billiard suppliers. Works great for dings and nicks on the back of a neck, too!-Lou

[axmann]

I do something similar with the sawdust. Just remember when applying an oil finish to that area it won't absorb like the raw wood which can effect the color. I sometimes "darken" the mix to compensate. I also try it on a piece of scrap if possible first and mimic the process to color check. Some small , clean wood dings I have gotten out by raising the grain with a drop of water . My two cents. Hey Lou, how exactly does the glass rod thing work? That sounds interesting.

[adampone]

sounds like a good question for Sully. he usually talks about things from ReRanch http://reranchstore.stores.yahoo.net/finsup.html

[LouSiffer]

You take a solid glass rod and rub fast with a fair amount of pressure. It generates heat and causes the wood to expand. This usually forces the ding to " pop " out. If the finish is damaged and it is a bigger ding.......you can get it hot with the glass, add a drop of water and go back at it with the glass again and it helps alot. It doesnt fix it 100% all the time ,but, it works more than it doesnt. -Lou

[sully]

I'm starting a new project. I'm stripping the matte black paint off a guitar and adter seeing what's under the paint, I'm leaving the wood natural. Have a few questions for anyone who has done this, or has stripped and just oiled a neck, etc.. Here's a pic of the start..

First, look around the edges and you can see there are a few chips that are small-ish, but big enough that they are still visible after the paint is stripped. Has anyone filled mahogany with filler and had it be not or barely noticeable? How and with what? Was thinking about this http://www.elmers.com/product/detail/E864 I used some lighter tinted on my model 6 maple top and it worked good but they were smaller chips.

Second, I've only done a nice and glossy nitro finish before. I hear alot about wipe on oil finishes being easy to use and working great like tung oil, tru oil, etc, etc, etc.. I'm not looking for a glossy finish one this one. What's a good finish that can stay kinda satin-ish or at least not super glossy? Thinking maybe what sully did on the Les Paul neck. Does it need to be re-applied sometimes or is it a one shot deal?
Thanks in advance..

The glass rod trick sounds interesting, but you should be able to get the same results by steaming the dents back up with a damp rag and a soldering iron.

As far as filling the larger chips, you could do what's already been suggested (dust/glue fills), but axmann makes a great point when advising that the oil won't absorb into the areas that you've touched up, and you'll most likely see a color difference. As mentioned, after you get through the sealer (looks like you've still got some sealer on there; note the color differences at the horns), you can generate some mahogany dust with some 320 grit, pack a little mountain of it in the area, and drop some water thin CA glue in, hit it with accelerator, (or make a paste of it with thick CA or epoxy) and scrape/file it flat after it's cured.

Oil finishing is a nice, easy way to go; I use Birchwood Casey Tru-oil and just follow the instructions on the bottle. Believe it or not, you CAN get that stuff to shine, but it's a pretty involved process. Good thing that you don't want to do that! It'll need touching up, just like a fretboard.

sully

[warlok]

Excellent! Thanks for the replies! Yeah, they're chips of removed wood, not dings. I had heard of the wet rag and iron before but I'm definitely keeping the glass rod trick handy.

Sully, I did that stripping in about 3 minutes last night on a whim to see what the wood looked like underneath. Left the sealer in case I was painting. Need to remove all the sealer now that I know I'm oiling it. I'm not going to fill the grain either. Want the wood grain texture and very light sheen. Should look really good I think. I'm going at stripping it more here in a bit.

[sully]

If you got that done in three minutes, heh....I'd say you have a stripping career ahead of you!

[LouSiffer]

If you got that done in three minutes, heh....I'd say you have a stripping career ahead of you!

No shit!!

[axmann]

Ditto.

[warlok]

Hold on there... Minor miscommunication... I stripped the crappy matte black paint in about 3 minutes. The sealer is a completely different story. Just getting the sealer off the front and back just took my 2 1/2 hours with my R/O sander and 120 grit discs. Someone needs to get a hold of Mr. Ibanez and let him know how much sealer is being wasted in his shop.. Look at the thickness:

It took me about 3 hours total to strip my model 6. This is going to suck!!

But on a positive note, It seems that after the super thick sealer is gone, the chips seem to go with it. Looks much better now.
Here's a photobucket file of the project. http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff246/warlok1469/Axes/RGT project/

[sully]

Yep, looks like polyester sealer. Bulletproof.

[warlok]

Is polyester sealer normally that thick? Seems like a complete waste for a manufacturer to use that much. I hope there's not that much on the neck. It'd be a completely different feel when stripped if it is..

[sully]

I believe so, yes.