Mark Riess's Blog – September 2009 Archive (3)

Decided to french polish shellac the body, the head stock veneer and the heel cap, and use wiping oil varnish for the neck. After sanding everything to 1500, I've applied first coats to everything and it's looking great to me.…

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I found my slots too narrow for the fret tangs...was banging too hard on them to drive 'em in. So I chucked in a dental bit into the dremel that was slightly larger than the slot width, yet still narrower than the fret tang. It was nerve-wracking to turn on the dremel and then insert it carefully into the fret slots and run it along the channel, widening the slot. I didn't widen the entire slot. I left small parts of the slot alone and that seemed to work best for allowing the fret to seat… Continue