I had a chance to complete the routing of the rear cavity.
I also started reshaping the heel of the neck.
Hopefully, I’ll have the neck completed by this weekend. It’s coming together quickly.
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I have used a variety of oil and or wax combinations over the years. There’s a company called General Finishes that makes an oil/urethane (I think) mix sealer and topcoat, both Tobias nand Greg Curbow used this in the 90’s. I’ve tried various oils, True Oil is popular, but I have always had issues with it, but I’m pretty sure that I am the problem. I’ve rubbed necks down with Johnsons Paste Wax, it makes for a really smooth neck.
My current favorite is Watco’s Danish Oil.
https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/watco/danish-oil
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How does the final product differ between the True Oil, Paste Wax, and Danish oil?
The oil finishes end up pretty much the same, True Oil is used as a finish for gunstocks. As a whole, they are pretty durable and they can be built up to a very smooth and shiny finish. Paste wax feels realy good and fast, but not what I would call durable, it can be cleaned off and reapplied.
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I installed the 5 way switch and the two toggel switches, the cavity is small but everything fit.
The body is ready to continue with finishing. I have to shape the heel of the neck and paint the headstock. I’m making progress.
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Well…
I used our new spray booth to finish the bass body, I had sprayed a few other pieces in it previously and had experienced a bit of blushing (moisture in the finish), but nothing horrible.
This time though, the temperature had increased and we have been experiencing more rain as we move into spring/summer.
To make a long story short, between the humidity and my unwillingness to give up on the theory of “If I spray more coats on it, it’ll get better”, I screwed it up. It ended up being a somewhat maroon color. Pretty bad. I think what did me in was the color that I came up with on the headstock, it came out with more of a blue/purple shade and I tried to make the body match.
The humidity situation left the finsihes under the surface undried. The only thing I can do now is strip the body.
We are installing an evironmental control system in the spray booth/final assembly area. We’re learning as we go.
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Had time to work on the body.
The finish was soft underneath the topcoat, so I used a scraper to remove the majority of the finish, then I let it hang for a few days to harden what was left. Next I used both, a spindle sander and a oscilating hand sander to level everything out. The pics show just how unlevel this body was.
Since I had to strip it, I decided to mix it up. I first sprayed several coats of white nitro lacquer.
I decide to spray a vintage custom color as a basecoat, afterwhich I will add several coats of clear nitro lacquer.
I’m going for the look of a rare custom color bass that someone oversprayed a finish that would of belonged on a hot rod, early in life I planned on being a custom car painter (I was always a graphic artist, I had no interest in woodworking until I started this journey). I decided to go with shell pink for the custom color.
Next, I will spray several coats of clear nitro, then after curing for a few days, I will start to apply the next finish, starting with a black basecoat. I won’t make the mistake of rushing it this time.
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Could be the outdoor setting with smoker in background, but I feel like you missed a trick here…you could have just clearcoated at this point, and given it a name like ‘one of a kind flesh and bone finish’ and sold for $$$ 
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You just made my day! Being in the rural south, I call my BBQ/Bass shop the Bombshelter!
I joked about clear coating it…
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is that a failed fried turducken?
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No failure involved.
Just right.
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Hahahaha awesome.
For those abroad who don’t know what we are talking about, one thing you should understand about America is that we have turned cooking into a danger sport, because Freedom.
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I am mostly just admiring the flaming deep fryer balanced on two lengthwise cinderblocks sitting on the mud. This is legit backwoods engineering.
The second thing I noticed was wondering what was in the smoker, and got envious.
Table saw and what looks like a lathe back there - that’s just common sense.
If this was from the area I was a kid in, it would also be right up against the property line and the bus would be the neighbors. Not the neighbors’ bus, I mean it would literally be the neighbors.
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Human remains?
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see now that would just be a waste of good hickory
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are they cooking turkey with gasoline ?
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