The best way to fill / hide a hole in a Mapleglo finish.....
Moderator: jingle_jangle
The best way to fill / hide a hole in a Mapleglo finish.....
Mark, is there an easy/unsightly way to make a visible hole go away with a guitar that has a natural wood (Mapleglo) finish??? What has worked best for you???
You need to read the grain .
I do this several ways .
The first thing about a hole that stands out is it usually is round (from a drill bit ) .
round holes are usually not natural ....so I change the shape of the hole . I take a #11 Exacto blade and oval it and then make the edge wavey .This looks more natural .
I then get out my epoxy and resin tints and mix up the lightes shade of 'maple' that is common to the piece of wood .Fill the hole and add tint if needed .
After it hardens ,I use the same blade and draw any grain lines that cross the hole ,that are in the piece of wood.I fill the scrapings with more epoxy that is now colored to that shade .
Then ,after sanding that level ...I take a brush and with tints blend the lines as wood grain does not have a distinct edge .
put some clear over it and polish it .
It won't be 100% gone ....but you won't have your eye drawn to it .
I did this at Electro String to any factory defects that happened on the assembly line .
I was really good at it .
I also did fretboard chips ...the red putty that was used looked lame .Bill Meyers let me go nuts on those to hide the missing wood .
I'll bet there are some of you guys that have some of my handy work on your instruments , but don't know it .
Then there are those that have the obvious putty jobs .....NOT me .
Check the 1973 to 1975 era stuff ,after that I was in the final assembly area .
I do this several ways .
The first thing about a hole that stands out is it usually is round (from a drill bit ) .
round holes are usually not natural ....so I change the shape of the hole . I take a #11 Exacto blade and oval it and then make the edge wavey .This looks more natural .
I then get out my epoxy and resin tints and mix up the lightes shade of 'maple' that is common to the piece of wood .Fill the hole and add tint if needed .
After it hardens ,I use the same blade and draw any grain lines that cross the hole ,that are in the piece of wood.I fill the scrapings with more epoxy that is now colored to that shade .
Then ,after sanding that level ...I take a brush and with tints blend the lines as wood grain does not have a distinct edge .
put some clear over it and polish it .
It won't be 100% gone ....but you won't have your eye drawn to it .
I did this at Electro String to any factory defects that happened on the assembly line .
I was really good at it .
I also did fretboard chips ...the red putty that was used looked lame .Bill Meyers let me go nuts on those to hide the missing wood .
I'll bet there are some of you guys that have some of my handy work on your instruments , but don't know it .
Then there are those that have the obvious putty jobs .....NOT me .
Check the 1973 to 1975 era stuff ,after that I was in the final assembly area .
So you too want yours "ALAPWOB"?!?!
My 2 cents worth on this;Part of my job at Goodall
guitars is doing raw body sanding, before the sealer coats go on, as well as sanding between coats and using cyanoacrylate to fill minor pits and problems between coats. I came across a small blemich or chip recently on a maple bodied guitar, and the finish dept. guys showed me how they use bone dust and cyano to sometimes do a
quick fix on maple blemishes. This may not always work, but in this instance, I was fairly amazed.
guitars is doing raw body sanding, before the sealer coats go on, as well as sanding between coats and using cyanoacrylate to fill minor pits and problems between coats. I came across a small blemich or chip recently on a maple bodied guitar, and the finish dept. guys showed me how they use bone dust and cyano to sometimes do a
quick fix on maple blemishes. This may not always work, but in this instance, I was fairly amazed.
When you add any kind of glue to a filler , it gets darker .
Taking maple sanding dust and adding any kind of glue to it gives you a darker look than the wood around it .
Using bone , is an interesting idea.I have used mycarta for filling holes before .And I also use resin colorant ...the same thing as is used in making Surfboards,Wakeboards, skis etc.
The trick there is mixing the color to look like the lightest tint in the wood , and then 'painting' in grain lines .
I made a guitar a few months ago that got a very nasty dent into the back of the body...I pulled the dent out , but was never satisfied with how it looked .It became a second and I remade a new one for the customer ...however I now use this guitar every week with the band I play in .NO ONE knows that it is not grain .
To insure this would not change with chippage , I 'painted' the bare wood and used dyes .That should hold up really well .
On maple ...you really have to work at it , examine the grain pattern and make a judgement call.
I NEVER plug using a dowel or a plug cutter if it is an exposed area , rather make an inlay that is irregular in shape .Mother Nature does not grow perfect circles .
Taking maple sanding dust and adding any kind of glue to it gives you a darker look than the wood around it .
Using bone , is an interesting idea.I have used mycarta for filling holes before .And I also use resin colorant ...the same thing as is used in making Surfboards,Wakeboards, skis etc.
The trick there is mixing the color to look like the lightest tint in the wood , and then 'painting' in grain lines .
I made a guitar a few months ago that got a very nasty dent into the back of the body...I pulled the dent out , but was never satisfied with how it looked .It became a second and I remade a new one for the customer ...however I now use this guitar every week with the band I play in .NO ONE knows that it is not grain .
To insure this would not change with chippage , I 'painted' the bare wood and used dyes .That should hold up really well .
On maple ...you really have to work at it , examine the grain pattern and make a judgement call.
I NEVER plug using a dowel or a plug cutter if it is an exposed area , rather make an inlay that is irregular in shape .Mother Nature does not grow perfect circles .
So you too want yours "ALAPWOB"?!?!
Dowels show end grain , and they never match unless you are filling end grain (they still dod not match .
I use plug cutters and 'make' plugs to fit and match .I also use tapered mill bits to make the hole .This way I get the tightest edge I can .I also wet the plug with water before pressing it into it's hole .
I use plug cutters and 'make' plugs to fit and match .I also use tapered mill bits to make the hole .This way I get the tightest edge I can .I also wet the plug with water before pressing it into it's hole .
So you too want yours "ALAPWOB"?!?!