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Finishing part two...
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Author:  Sam Price [ Mon Aug 21, 2006 4:49 am ]
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As we know, there are two ways to prepare a top for glueing after finishing; you either mask off the areas that are going to be covered in glue, or you scrape off the finish very carefully with a sharp razor blade...

Option one was not possible for me; as an ameteur, I would not trust myself to assume the final bridge position before finishing, as I chose to finish the neck and body seperately...

Danish oil seals the wood from within, and does not sit on the top of the wood, which would render sraping useless unless I wanted an unwanted hole in my guitar..

Therefore, what is the best action for removing danish oil in the glueing areas? I am more familliar with "external wood" varnishes, and this Danish oil malarky is new to me.

I would appreciate (yet again) any advice on this.
Author:  Don Williams [ Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:03 am ]
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Hi Sam,

I'm not that familiar with Danish Oil, but if it is a penetrating oil finish, don't use it on the bare wood, especially the top. Oil finishes that penetrate can dampen tone. Seal with shellac first so that you have a barrier between the top and the oil finish.

You can pretty easily locate the bridge on the top, and even if you mask under and leave a 1/4" allowance, it will make removing the rest of the finish that much easier.

I locate the bridge as precisely as I can, and mask around the outside of it, then I mask the inside area leaving about 3/32" of finish under the bridge area. That way, I have much less work to removing the finish.

If you plan to cut the saddle slot after the bridge is on the guitar, or after the finish is all done and the saddle location can be determined, then the location of the bridge isn't as much of an issue. I locate my saddle a little farther back on the bridge than some do, so I have that builds a little more allowance into the bridge location.

Author:  John How [ Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:05 am ]
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I use my dremel to rout the finish off the area of the bridge. This has been discussed few times and should be searchable in the archives but here is a quick description of my process.
Tape off the area of the bridge with several widths and layers of 2" wide masking tape. This will protect the top while you are routing the top. I also put a layer of tape on the bottom of my dremel router base. You can't be too carefull in avoiding marking the top. Then locate your bridge and scribe around it and remove the tape from that area. Very carefully lower the bit on your router testing as you go until you are just removing the finish and then carefully rout the finish off staying inside the lines of course. You can get pretty close to the edge and then using a small chisel as a scraper, scrape the small edge that is left away from the scribe line. I have had excellent success with this method and it takes me about 1/4 the time of scraping the whole area. Plus I get a more consistent flat glueing surface for the bridge. You can also use this for clearing the area of the fingerboard extension.
Author:  RussellR [ Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:34 am ]
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HI Sam

Set your bridge in position Mask all around it, Take the bridge away and remask about 2mm inside the line of the bridge, then sand back to bare wood with around 180 Grit Paper, gently and across the grain so you don't ridge the top.

Pure Oils penetrate quite deeply, but danish oil is not really oil, it would be better described as wiping varnish, it will not have penetrate the spruce any depper than say shellac
Author:  Sam Price [ Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:38 am ]
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Thanks!!
Author:  RussellR [ Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:47 am ]
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Sam

I should have added I only use this method with the Danish Oil Finishes, I do for French Polish I scribe and scrape, although Johns method sounds excellant and I think I will try that for my next FP Guitar.
Author:  Michael Dale Payne [ Mon Aug 21, 2006 6:20 am ]
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I do not suggest anyone try to mask off a bridge or fretboard extension on a French polished body. The alcohol will leach out the tapes adhesive and make a big mess. Don't ask how I know this MichaelP38950.6399421296
Author:  CarltonM [ Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:38 pm ]
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Michael, I bet I know how you know!
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