Mark Riess's Blog – August 2009 Archive (4)

After much inner debate and consideration I've decided to french polish the guitar with shellac. I like the hands-on approach, the old-world technique, the non-toxicity, the fast drying, the ease of being able to work in my restricted space, etc. After several "spit" coats of 1/2 n 1/2 shellac and alcohol, I'll fill pores using the pumice method. I tried to find paste wood filler locally, but no one even knew what I was talking about. Then I discovered this method described by Milburn Guitars.… Continue

I decided to run a strip of abalone down the seam where the sides meet. I glued the abalone onto the surface of the sides with "amazing goop", a fast-setting flexible adhesive, scribed the sides of the abalone when the goop was dry, removed it and began carving out the slot. First, using a razor knife I cut down the scribe lines, then I angled the razor knife from the inside area to carve out an edge. Then I chucked in the dental burr to the dremel… Continue

So I ended up using the rosewood with basswood accent binding for the back edge and the ebony/basswood binding for the top trim. Wanted to use ebony for all, but only had 2 pieces, enough for top OR back. So I ordered more ebony from LMI, but when it came, I realized that they don't make it the same thickness anymore, and I'd already routed the rabet on both edges. So I used the rosewood binding I already had for the back, and the ebony for the top.…

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