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Shop Talk Page |
| Home of Tor-Tis Faux Tortoiseshell Products | John Greven, luthier |
| Shop Talk: | ||
| This is a page with a more
technical approach to the craft/art of guitar making and
includes a wide variety of continually updated
information; everything from How To's to How Did's with a
dash of FAQ's when needed. For example,
the images of heel carving are a demo I used at the last GAL
convention talk on the same subject. It proved to be very
useful to see the actual steps involved in carving a
guitar heel using the simplest of tooling and a little
practice. I will be adding short discussions on voicing tops and pearl engraving as time goes on. It's my strong feeling that the information and skills I have gleaned over the last 4 decades of working in this field should be freely shared with others. I hope you find this information helpful. |
The basic wood carving tools: small veiner, chisel, gouge and stippling punch. |
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One: the layout |
Two: outline cut |
Three:cut away background |
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Four: add contours with gouge |
Five:use veiner to cut leaf veins. |
Six: stipple background with punch. |
| Water Base Finish: | ||
| I have been working with waterborne
finishes for almost 12 years, changing product types as
new and better materials came on line. I currently use
Targer Coatings Premium Spray Lacquer and find it works
extremely well for guitar work. It has almost all of the
good qualities of nitro lacquer with none of the nasty
VOC's or flammability issues. It is very transparent when cured, melts into itself for better bonding and no witness lines when sanding or buffing, sands nicely to a dry powder, and buffs to a lovely high gloss after 1200.2000, 4000 grit sanding. This finish is quite hard, though flexible, chemical resistant, and will not check. It is also compatible with lacquer (sprayed over lacquer) for repairs. I like the short cure time (about one week) and the high solids build after about 8 coats. Contact targetcoatings.com for more information. |
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Above is a sample of my pearl inlay engraving. |
| INDEX: | Return to Home Page |
| Choosing a top wood (and thoughts on Adirondack) | |
| FAQ's | |
| Upcoming: Engraving pearl, New tools, Tempering |
