CIGAR BOX GUITAR - Part 8 of 10

Day 7 of my Cigar Box Guitar Project:

I drilled a hole for the volume knob and another on the edge for the input jack, and then this dog was ready to for finish.

This is my new favorite finish. Minwax Wipe-On Poly (clear satin). With sprays I have trouble with runs and drips. This stuff goes on with a rag, so it's easier, and it adds a yellowish antique tint to the wood, and the more coats you use the better it looks. I used 600 grit sandpaper between each coat and it took about 6 coats. It dries fairly quickly for polyurethane - about 2 hours. The spray urethane I used in the past took more than 24 hours to dry. Maybe I didn't shake it enough or something like that. Who knows. This stuff is great though.

After the finish cured over night I screwed all the hardware onto the body. Since I cut the tuner strip in half it required one extra hole and an extra screw. I couldn't find the exact screw to match the rest, so I didn't even try. This one is brass.

I snapped in the sound hole grommets. Those were easy. The brass corner protectors took some time, just because there were so many of them. Eight. Eh, I guess that's not so many. Never mind.

Here's the back view. I'm happy with the color of the box. The neck is poplar so it has a temporary greenish tint. As it ages it will become golden brown.

Here's the top face. Oh yeah, I also put in some new fret markers. They are made from dowels. I put some of the Wipe-On Poly finish onto the fret markers too so they wouldn't eventually turn dirty and gray from finger sweat. That's another nice thing about this finish. I can control where I want to apply it. I only wanted the markers to have finish, not the fretboard, and it was pretty easy to do by dabbing the specific spots.
All that's left now is the electronics. Then the Big Wolf shall live. The first song it'll play is probably going to be Wild Thing.

More to come...