Thread: Kallenshaan acoustic guitar pen advice

Hey Peter,
the last one I did, I built a little dam of play doh, and then over filled the hole and then turned down to size. I was talking to Ian (Nai) today and the next one I will be getting it all together, then Ian is going to cast the blank in clear resin and then I'll turn it down to finished size.

HazzaB

Peter, the blanks are about 1-2mm oversize so filling the hole flush might not be a problem as once the blank has the extra material removed you could find it has also been turned round, when using epoxies there is always a small amount of shrinkage - So I add as much as I can to over come this. I rely on the thickness of the epoxy to form a small bubble so as to overfill any voids, then I sand flat (or in this case round )

also you can use a green scotch brite pad to scuff the epoxy surface and add another batch to the top (just make sure all the dust has been removed as you don't want white spots embeded into the next layer - If you are unsure of this method try it on some left over stuff that is stuck to the mixing tray.

Thanks all. I did what salty suggested and added a second layer of epoxy. That hasn't filled it completely, but has raised the level enough that I think it won't matter when it's turned down to size. I realised afterwards too that it probably would have helped if I used 5 minute epoxy. I only had the full strength stuff. I think 5 minute would have meant I could have "teased" it to stay in place more as it set.

Originally Posted by petersemple

Thanks all. I did what salty suggested and added a second layer of epoxy. That hasn't filled it completely, but has raised the level enough that I think it won't matter when it's turned down to size. I realised afterwards too that it probably would have helped if I used 5 minute epoxy. I only had the full strength stuff. I think 5 minute would have meant I could have "teased" it to stay in place more as it set.

just a word or warning about 5min Epoxies (most of the fast set stuff isn't UV stabalised, and for that matter, some of the full strength suff will also turn yellow with age, not saying the one you have used fits into this box....but I have found from experience that unless it states "UV-stabalised" , I read the packet lable as....... "drys clear" (turns yellow with age)"

And further to this, when I was turning it, the epoxy came out, in almost a complete plug. It had started to yellow though, so maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. I damaged the label sticker getting the rest out, so I have coloured the soundhole black, and printed out a new label which is superglued in. I am thinking now that I may use thick CA instead, because I have used CA for years as a finish, so I know it doesn't yellow. Thick CA should mould to the curves well enough I think.