Something that lit a spark in my brain- I really like the pencil lines for the tuners as a design element. On a future build of mine I may keep all of the measurement lines and incorporate it into the overall design of the guitar.
As always, Ben....youre a genius. Like the way youre experimenting and trying new this, inspired on other fields of creativity. Keep going! Cheers Ronald
loving it, how about instead of aluminum use copper powder, like they use in marine care, they mix the powder with epoxy and apply it as an anti fouling, then they send it a bit, makes an amazing color play with the sunlight... worth a try, what do you think?
is it possible to use other kinds of powdered metal and then force them to oxidize? Like copper to blue/green, iron/steel to rust, etc. Also, powdered crystals or semi-precious gems (or full on precious gems?) do fills instead of inlays (dragon fretboard, Grace Kellys eyes type stuff) Love your work!
I've not tried yet, but I have heard that you can patinate cold cast metals.. And I'm thinking of grinding up some a alone shell to play with too.. Can you imagine a whole a alone headstock!? Garish? Yes.. Worth it? Hell yes!!
Ken parker uses epoxy resin finishes buffed-on with lint-free rags on his archtops. I'm still looking for a way to get the "dipped in glass" look without a dozen or more coats of poly, lacquer, etc.
There is a technique, which name I can't recall, that was used in the Neopolitan mandolins. The inlay was glued into a cavity, then covered, usually, with a slurry of hide glue and ebony dust. After the slurry cured it was sanded/scraped down to reveal the inlay. That would be a perfect technique to use with the metalized resin. It's also akin to the lacquer process you mentioned in the video. "There are no new ideas, just new materials."
This is why I absolutely love researching other crafts.. Problem is, I should not forget to look into luthiery techniques too 😂 I will definitely look into hide for and dust, could also work better to hide mistakes?? 🤔 I also like the use of leather in rosettes on parlour guitars..
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Second thought about the plug. Because I CNC my necks they are really accurate in dimensions. So I designed a plug in Fusion 360 with a round access hole to fit in the neck. This could be 3D printed in resin or even in real aluminium. Asked quote from a chinese manufacturer in aluminium for 5 pieces of those and it was 33USD without shipping. Quite cheap I would say.
So far I don't like the headstocks but when judging before seeing your end result I mostly find I have to change my opinion. Looking forward to the next episodes!
There’s always a bit of shrinkage with polyester in my experience, even with the metal powders…I used to use this to advantage by taking successive further moulds from the castings….One other thought is that it can become more brittle with age…though admittedly, I was doing these things maybe 20 year ago and I”m sure resin technology has advanced somewhat since then.
Lovng lots of aspects here cool beans however not as much as this.. Ben please carry on over gluing the truss rod, it will keep me in premium truss rod repair jobs till I retire ❤❤❤❤❤
I don't build enough guitars to keep anyone in any sort of repair job.. Sadly.. In this caw though I made damned sure that the resin didn't bind the truss rod. It was waxed early in the moulding process and manipulated while the resin was curing.. It works perfectly and will continue to do so for many many years to come. 😁
for your headstock logo, what came to mind was the Japanese art of Kintsugi, kinda. mix some 2-part epoxy and add some gold mika powder to it. That would be very colorful
The headstock logo definitely needs some color to stand out more - perhaps matching the body, neck, fingerboard, or hardware color. Can the cold cast aluminum be polished like real aluminum to a mirror finish or is it aways a satin sheen?
As far as the logo goes, I would definitely add a color into the carving. Would personally do a black, but that is just me and I like the idea of the contrast, but a transparent blue would look nice
@CrimsonCustomGuitars I'm always learning. And ur outside of the box approach is so awesome. I try and have the same approach. And I have learned so many things from your vids. Keep it up.
Love the experiments Ben. All power to you good Sir. Re the LOGO. Silver cars tend to use black or orange for their stripes. I was thinking that you could even put something like coloured cotton thread in there and fill with clear resin or after polishing the aluminium coat the whole thing with clear resin to prevent oxidisation.
With the resin and aluminum powder could you do the guitar nut? Or would it be cheaper just to use aluminum or steel for the nut? Keep up the fascinating work. It’s great to see the boundaries of luthiers skills being pushed.
Yes.. You could. You can up the metal content quite significantly before it loses cohesion and I have been playing with this already.. Expect cast nuts from http.www.crimsonguitars.com sometime soonish..
Ben, I am curious, is there a way to have a smooth finish on a guitar that looks like reptile scales? I have an idea for a guitar but no idea how to get the look.
Yes.. There is. Easiest is to just draw or paint on prior to lacquer.. But we both know you want 3d 😉 carve the scales, paint.. Hit it from one direction with one colour from a spray can and then from another with a slightly different (or completely different colour if you prefer.. Then cover in glass clear resin and sand smooth. 3d colour changing scales with a flat surface. This is a technique I have been planning for ages and something I will be experimenting with shortly in various projects.
I'm thinking : if you use this resin to glue two veneers (as to make bindings), does the aluminum will show btw the veneers ? Could make good effect if so I guess. Anyway, thanks for that Ben ! And thanks to the editors to avoid spoil at the beginning ! (yes, I was complaining on that, now I say that I'm happy, it's important)
It will be extremely hard to make it consistent in width. I think best result will be to create your own plate of thin resin and then use it as strip of veneer... Even if we're talking about 0.5 mm veneer. In case of real binding like 3x6 mm - simple routed groove will take you to the right place.
Lots of epoxy pros do the vacuum and heatgun trick to eradicate bubbles. But I wonder if it could be more interesting visually to add huge bubbles, like a swiss cheese. 🤔
I avoid electrocuting things.. Too many artisans have actually died trying that and I don't want to promote the technique because of that.. Carving the effect by hand though.. I could get behind that!
Let’s guess the reaction of the resin is exothermic, and the silicone mold is somewhat pliable. The resin generates some heat as it goes off, expands a wee bit, the mold gives a wee bit, and there you have a slightly larger piece than when you poured it.
I was also thinking that since the mould is pliable, just the weight of the liquid inside might cause the mould to lose some shape. I was think of the same fix as Ben ie a hard outer layer on the mould. Its great to see these small errors occur, so much learning by seeing the actual problem occur.
I kinda wonder if you couldn't build up that resin and powder mix via a spray gun. Need something with a longer pot-life and really good PPE, but might go down a good bit more even or overspray like heck to get the drip effect
Another commenter said you could thin down some resins with denatured alcohol.. That may work.. In fact, I know for sure that this can be done.. We have been sold a product that, while finicky as an unbroken horse, was basically metal powder in 2k lacquer of some sort and which sprayed quite well..
As someone who builds resin tables, I have yo put my 2 sense into the anti resin chat. Resin makes the unusable usable by stabilizing and filling voids. That it is
I have a ton of aluminum cans at the shop. I was considering melting them down into aluminum ingots that could then be machined into guitar hardware. But I couldn't think of any parts I needed to machine as opposed to just buying them online. But that truss rod access part is a possible candidate. However - while it might be an interesting experiment, I doubt the hassle-to-benefit ratio would be favorable.
I just prefer wheel adjust truss rods that are accessible through the heel. You can pull the rod without taking off the fretboard if you ever have to, you can adjust it with a wide variety of tools, and being so far from a fixed point the strings are stretchy so you're not fighting them or kinking them like if you're using an allen key or wrench up at the nut. (Unless you have an expensive, bulky, and annoying truss rod wrench for the size in question.) You can hide it if you need, but also it looks fine out in the open.
good piece of fun, new ideas. i personally don't like the look of it, doesn't go with fret wood. but nice idea. maybe a black fretboard would be better
You are what we call "traditional." Still, it's good that you are willing to learn about, and accept, new materials and techniques. That is what keeps you on the cutting edge of luthiery. The Mrs. has said you should inlay the logo with black. (always a good option) I think you might do well with a brown inlay, to match the kauri, like a shine-through effect. There's always the next project, isn't there? (LOL)
Always the next project.. And the next.. And the next. 😁😍 Black, blue or brown.. I think all have their merits. I think I will wait to see what the client says when he sees them.
Hey Ben, seeing you play with cold casting aluminum got me wondering if you have thought about doing bright engraving with this medium... just thought your logo would SMASH if you engraved it with a gravure rather than the dental tool!
I felt a bit awkward daying it but, yes! Still the same absolutely wonderful masterbuilder, only you look shredded now! Sorry about the divorce, though. Hope you're hanging in there.
Standing in front of that cupboard makes you look like you have horns! Would it not be easier to use thick walll aluminum tubing that is machine down? Quicker I would think? To make clean up easier, I would recommend "taping" the sides with an acetate type of material. It is used for resin casting, so should be easily available. As an added bit of complexity, you could of course do resin in resin faceplates etc. I am sure there are ptfe type materials that can be used that resin will not stick to, to create channels etc for this purpose. The options seem endless.
When you got into cold casting, I was afraid you'd fall into the trap of "guitar with a body made of in epoxy", where might be leaves, newspaper, guitar picks, etc. - IE gimmicky stuff. Hearing your thoughts on resin guitars reassured me you won't be going that route.
Nope.. But.. And here me out here.. I 100% plan on casting my own frets from recycled metals at some point.. Full sand cast or lost wax casting with molten bronze sound fun?
High marks for creativity. Maybe heading a little towards industrial looking (think toilet bowl...), rather then your normal elegance, but hey, keep going for it!
I thought you were gonna carve the logo down to the wood. The dark brown against the silver/grey sounds pretty good and simple. P.S. Either this video is a bit old or you've started smoking AGAIN. Shame on you. Think of the kids. 80% of the smoke is invisible and I'm sure you DO know that the second hand smoke is worse because it's not going through the filter.
@@Forest_Fifer What you seem to be ignoring is Ben saying "what do you think? leave a comment" nowhere does he say "only leave a comment if it blows smoke up my arse"
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i love the way you think Ben. You always come up with new and creative ideas to make Guitars more interesting and beautifull.
I'm fascinated by all these innovative ideas of using resin. It's a material I'd like to start using one day.
Something that lit a spark in my brain- I really like the pencil lines for the tuners as a design element. On a future build of mine I may keep all of the measurement lines and incorporate it into the overall design of the guitar.
I’ve been using powdered turquoise with CA glue for inlays and looks great.
Now I want to try some new ideas that you’ve given me.
Thanks.
As always, Ben....youre a genius.
Like the way youre experimenting and trying new this, inspired on other fields of creativity.
Keep going!
Cheers Ronald
Glad to see you’re having some fun!
loving it, how about instead of aluminum use copper powder, like they use in marine care, they mix the powder with epoxy and apply it as an anti fouling, then they send it a bit, makes an amazing color play with the sunlight... worth a try, what do you think?
I can't see what you're seeing yet, but I'm looking forward to it seeing it evolve into the final build.
Looks far more fun in better lighting.. I need to fix the lights in this workshop, I really really do, especially as I just LOVE working late at night
Loving the experimentation and the results. Makes for great videos too.
is it possible to use other kinds of powdered metal and then force them to oxidize? Like copper to blue/green, iron/steel to rust, etc. Also, powdered crystals or semi-precious gems (or full on precious gems?) do fills instead of inlays (dragon fretboard, Grace Kellys eyes type stuff)
Love your work!
I've not tried yet, but I have heard that you can patinate cold cast metals.. And I'm thinking of grinding up some a alone shell to play with too.. Can you imagine a whole a alone headstock!? Garish? Yes.. Worth it? Hell yes!!
I have added a patina to cold cast bronze using an organic acid
Ken parker uses epoxy resin finishes buffed-on with lint-free rags on his archtops. I'm still looking for a way to get the "dipped in glass" look without a dozen or more coats of poly, lacquer, etc.
There is a technique, which name I can't recall, that was used in the Neopolitan mandolins. The inlay was glued into a cavity, then covered, usually, with a slurry of hide glue and ebony dust. After the slurry cured it was sanded/scraped down to reveal the inlay. That would be a perfect technique to use with the metalized resin. It's also akin to the lacquer process you mentioned in the video. "There are no new ideas, just new materials."
This is why I absolutely love researching other crafts.. Problem is, I should not forget to look into luthiery techniques too 😂 I will definitely look into hide for and dust, could also work better to hide mistakes?? 🤔
I also like the use of leather in rosettes on parlour guitars..
Totally agree with the truss rod access in tele and strat. What I had in mind is to CNC a plug with a horizontal hole to be glued in the access.
That would work too
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Second thought about the plug. Because I CNC my necks they are really accurate in dimensions. So I designed a plug in Fusion 360 with a round access hole to fit in the neck.
This could be 3D printed in resin or even in real aluminium. Asked quote from a chinese manufacturer in aluminium for 5 pieces of those and it was 33USD without shipping. Quite cheap I would say.
So far I don't like the headstocks but when judging before seeing your end result I mostly find I have to change my opinion. Looking forward to the next episodes!
I would love a video on the carbon fiber laminate process with specs and links to products. Like you did with the first kauri neck
There’s always a bit of shrinkage with polyester in my experience, even with the metal powders…I used to use this to advantage by taking successive further moulds from the castings….One other thought is that it can become more brittle with age…though admittedly, I was doing these things maybe 20 year ago and I”m sure resin technology has advanced somewhat since then.
Lovng lots of aspects here cool beans however not as much as this.. Ben please carry on over gluing the truss rod, it will keep me in premium truss rod repair jobs till I retire ❤❤❤❤❤
I don't build enough guitars to keep anyone in any sort of repair job.. Sadly.. In this caw though I made damned sure that the resin didn't bind the truss rod. It was waxed early in the moulding process and manipulated while the resin was curing.. It works perfectly and will continue to do so for many many years to come. 😁
for your headstock logo, what came to mind was the Japanese art of Kintsugi, kinda. mix some 2-part epoxy and add some gold mika powder to it. That would be very colorful
The headstock logo definitely needs some color to stand out more - perhaps matching the body, neck, fingerboard, or hardware color. Can the cold cast aluminum be polished like real aluminum to a mirror finish or is it aways a satin sheen?
Gold for the inlay
Gold to tie in with the kauri... Mmm great idea!
As far as the logo goes, I would definitely add a color into the carving. Would personally do a black, but that is just me and I like the idea of the contrast, but a transparent blue would look nice
I've also used transtint to color resin
Always look fwd to seeing what u have going on.
I appreciate that mate, thank you. I'll keep it coming as long as I have breath in my body!
@CrimsonCustomGuitars I'm always learning. And ur outside of the box approach is so awesome. I try and have the same approach. And I have learned so many things from your vids. Keep it up.
I have heard the term "channel bound" for a fretboard inlaid to the neck.
Love the experiments Ben. All power to you good Sir. Re the LOGO. Silver cars tend to use black or orange for their stripes. I was thinking that you could even put something like coloured cotton thread in there and fill with clear resin or after polishing the aluminium coat the whole thing with clear resin to prevent oxidisation.
I’m not keen on all that mess and building up to make a truss rod cover! Anyway it makes for a good video
With the resin and aluminum powder could you do the guitar nut? Or would it be cheaper just to use aluminum or steel for the nut? Keep up the fascinating work. It’s great to see the boundaries of luthiers skills being pushed.
Yes.. You could. You can up the metal content quite significantly before it loses cohesion and I have been playing with this already.. Expect cast nuts from http.www.crimsonguitars.com sometime soonish..
Ben, I am curious, is there a way to have a smooth finish on a guitar that looks like reptile scales? I have an idea for a guitar but no idea how to get the look.
Yes.. There is. Easiest is to just draw or paint on prior to lacquer.. But we both know you want 3d 😉 carve the scales, paint.. Hit it from one direction with one colour from a spray can and then from another with a slightly different (or completely different colour if you prefer.. Then cover in glass clear resin and sand smooth. 3d colour changing scales with a flat surface. This is a technique I have been planning for ages and something I will be experimenting with shortly in various projects.
I'm thinking : if you use this resin to glue two veneers (as to make bindings), does the aluminum will show btw the veneers ? Could make good effect if so I guess.
Anyway, thanks for that Ben ! And thanks to the editors to avoid spoil at the beginning ! (yes, I was complaining on that, now I say that I'm happy, it's important)
It will be extremely hard to make it consistent in width.
I think best result will be to create your own plate of thin resin and then use it as strip of veneer... Even if we're talking about 0.5 mm veneer.
In case of real binding like 3x6 mm - simple routed groove will take you to the right place.
@@YegresAL More simple to just use aluminum directly I guess
Will reserve opinion until the end on this one.. Learnt my lessons before with posting too soon before the "Vision" focuses.
Lots of epoxy pros do the vacuum and heatgun trick to eradicate bubbles. But I wonder if it could be more interesting visually to add huge bubbles, like a swiss cheese. 🤔
Yes! Yes indeed.. Check out @peterbrown lava bowl for just this effect! th-cam.com/video/Hc3jHNXRejE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=NvKFf7jCJTEtAWF3
I think Black would look good in the guitar logo.
I wonder if you could electrify the head stock to represent a lightning strike. Fill the voids wth gold.
I avoid electrocuting things.. Too many artisans have actually died trying that and I don't want to promote the technique because of that.. Carving the effect by hand though.. I could get behind that!
Solar Rez for a finish, and you could cold cast a different powder for the logo.
what type of aluminum powder did you use?
Aluminium casting powder, sold by the guys I get my resin from..
Let’s guess the reaction of the resin is exothermic, and the silicone mold is somewhat pliable. The resin generates some heat as it goes off, expands a wee bit, the mold gives a wee bit, and there you have a slightly larger piece than when you poured it.
I think you are right.. I think I need to encase the silicone mould in a hard outer shell of plaster or something that doesn't have any give in it..
I was also thinking that since the mould is pliable, just the weight of the liquid inside might cause the mould to lose some shape. I was think of the same fix as Ben ie a hard outer layer on the mould. Its great to see these small errors occur, so much learning by seeing the actual problem occur.
I kinda wonder if you couldn't build up that resin and powder mix via a spray gun. Need something with a longer pot-life and really good PPE, but might go down a good bit more even or overspray like heck to get the drip effect
Another commenter said you could thin down some resins with denatured alcohol.. That may work.. In fact, I know for sure that this can be done.. We have been sold a product that, while finicky as an unbroken horse, was basically metal powder in 2k lacquer of some sort and which sprayed quite well..
The alcohol will react with the isocyanate Ben.
As someone who builds resin tables, I have yo put my 2 sense into the anti resin chat. Resin makes the unusable usable by stabilizing and filling voids. That it is
I have a ton of aluminum cans at the shop. I was considering melting them down into aluminum ingots that could then be machined into guitar hardware. But I couldn't think of any parts I needed to machine as opposed to just buying them online. But that truss rod access part is a possible candidate. However - while it might be an interesting experiment, I doubt the hassle-to-benefit ratio would be favorable.
Have you thought of how you could use mummification techniques in guitar building?
That's a 'no..' 🤔😳... What on earth do you have in mind? 😳
I just prefer wheel adjust truss rods that are accessible through the heel. You can pull the rod without taking off the fretboard if you ever have to, you can adjust it with a wide variety of tools, and being so far from a fixed point the strings are stretchy so you're not fighting them or kinking them like if you're using an allen key or wrench up at the nut. (Unless you have an expensive, bulky, and annoying truss rod wrench for the size in question.) You can hide it if you need, but also it looks fine out in the open.
good piece of fun, new ideas. i personally don't like the look of it, doesn't go with fret wood. but nice idea. maybe a black fretboard would be better
You are what we call "traditional." Still, it's good that you are willing to learn about, and accept, new materials and techniques. That is what keeps you on the cutting edge of luthiery.
The Mrs. has said you should inlay the logo with black. (always a good option)
I think you might do well with a brown inlay, to match the kauri, like a shine-through effect.
There's always the next project, isn't there? (LOL)
Always the next project.. And the next.. And the next. 😁😍 Black, blue or brown.. I think all have their merits. I think I will wait to see what the client says when he sees them.
Paint will settle into the low points on a surface so the logo could simply have paint brushed on and then have the excess wiped away.
Cool as!
Thank you!
Maybe a red enamel in the crimson logo. Nail varnish?
Hey Ben, seeing you play with cold casting aluminum got me wondering if you have thought about doing bright engraving with this medium... just thought your logo would SMASH if you engraved it with a gravure rather than the dental tool!
Great idea. I will revisit these logos and may well do just that, great idea.
For the logo... bring the headstock surface to a high polish. The logo may stand out on its own just from the finish contrast.
Or the other way around maybe?
Mask the edge of the headstock off to the required depth then poor the resin to form a pool then add vibration to level the resin👍
You are so right, I feel rather dim now 😳😂
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars focus dear boy 😂🤘
You're looking fit, Ben. 👍
Thanks! 😃 I'm feeling great, all it took was ADHD meds and a divorce 😂
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars I'll have to give it a try!
I felt a bit awkward daying it but, yes! Still the same absolutely wonderful masterbuilder, only you look shredded now! Sorry about the divorce, though. Hope you're hanging in there.
Have you thought of (bear with me now as this is contentious 😊) charing the wood with fire 🔥 and using high build crimson oils? 😉
Standing in front of that cupboard makes you look like you have horns! Would it not be easier to use thick walll aluminum tubing that is machine down? Quicker I would think? To make clean up easier, I would recommend "taping" the sides with an acetate type of material. It is used for resin casting, so should be easily available. As an added bit of complexity, you could of course do resin in resin faceplates etc. I am sure there are ptfe type materials that can be used that resin will not stick to, to create channels etc for this purpose. The options seem endless.
With epoxy, you can wrap wood dowels etc in plumbers' tape (PTFE) to use to leave holes in castings.
Make silicone headstock molds and you can cast all sorts of cool stuff into it.
Engine turning?
Love engine turning!
👍👍👍👍👍👍
Someone verify this, but Ernie Ball does so ething very similar with their body bindings if i recall
When you got into cold casting, I was afraid you'd fall into the trap of "guitar with a body made of in epoxy", where might be leaves, newspaper, guitar picks, etc. - IE gimmicky stuff. Hearing your thoughts on resin guitars reassured me you won't be going that route.
I made some sawdust today! Ok, I was hanging a door, but that still counts… Doesn’t it…?
Hate to say it but a metallic blue resin fill ... would match the fret markers.
True that.. Or.. Or I could crush some stones up in a pestel and mortar 😂
Next will be Tandy Craft hand stitched leather...
Have a design for a very cool semi rigid leather gig bag/case I've been wanting to make for a while 🤔😁
Come on Ben Jammin !!!!!!! Why didn’t you tape the headstocks off on the edges?
I think this approach could work, but I feel the steps to applying the perfling/veneering should be done early in the build.
Agreed. The process needs refining.. Means I have to build more guitars. Shucks 😛
Yes i had a bourbon before watching this 😊
I.... can't see where this is going.... thought you had lost the plot at one point... looking forward to the end result.
Next: Cold cast aluminum frets
Nope.. But.. And here me out here.. I 100% plan on casting my own frets from recycled metals at some point.. Full sand cast or lost wax casting with molten bronze sound fun?
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Absolutely sounds fun!
High marks for creativity. Maybe heading a little towards industrial looking (think toilet bowl...), rather then your normal elegance, but hey, keep going for it!
Not for me, this one Ben...😮
Cold casting?! It is metal powder and glue in a mould…
I thought you were gonna carve the logo down to the wood. The dark brown against the silver/grey sounds pretty good and simple.
P.S. Either this video is a bit old or you've started smoking AGAIN. Shame on you. Think of the kids. 80% of the smoke is invisible and I'm sure you DO know that the second hand smoke is worse because it's not going through the filter.
Terrible lighting so difficult to determine the finish I’m afraid
All of that was spectacularly bad, sorry Ben but it comes across as content over creativity/quality.
And the shining ray of light is back with another in a neverending string of negative comments.
Just stop watching, you're clearly not enjoying it.
@@Forest_Fifer Funny... it's like you're getting off from stalking me.
I'm not commenting on YOUR video, so keep yourself to yourself
@@Forest_Fifer What you seem to be ignoring is Ben saying "what do you think? leave a comment"
nowhere does he say "only leave a comment if it blows smoke up my arse"
Gross