Techno RD41 Headstock Repair | Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

It's October 18, and the clamps have been removed. Now's as good a time as any to start sanding off any glue residue and such. Sanding also helps smoothen the transition between the upper edge of the hardwood inlay and the back of the headstock.

Clamps Removed, Sanding in Progress

Having leveled the headstock/inlay transition, I've gone ahead and redrilled the holes for the first and sixth string tuners. A test fitting of the tuners has me all smiles, as both sit nice and flat against the hardwood inlay.

Tuner Holes Redrilled

Test Fitting the Tuners

The time is now ripe for me to begin working on blending the lower edge of the hardwood inlay into the upper neck. This is a job that not only calls for rasps of various sizes and shapes, but also loads of sanding strips; carefully working my way up through the grits from 80 to 240.

Blending the Inlay Into the Upper Neck

The End Result

Today is October 21, and I've commenced staining the front and back of the headstock with a blend of ColorTone Liquid Stains, namely; #5030 Vintage Amber and #5038 Cherry Red. This blend doesn't match the existing finish to a T, but it's close enough. You'll notice that the original faceplate has been retained, cracks and all. As such, these cracks have been sealed with ColorTone Clear Grain Filler, lightly tinted with the aforementioned stains.

Headstock Face After Staining

Back of Headstock After Staining

Stain application, light sanding, and reapplication has taken up the better part of the day, leading us to October 22. Time to begin laying down clear coats, methinks. My clear coat of choice? Samurai 1/128, of course. It goes on smoothly, and takes wet sanding like a champ.

First Coat of Clear | Back of Headstock

First Coat of Clear | Headstock Face

Oh heck, I've lost count of how many coats of clear I've applied so far. That's because the "spray, let dry, spray, let dry, wet sand, repeat ad infinitum" cycle kind of blurs into an acetone-fueled headrush after a while. In any case, November 4 is upon us, and the final coat of clear has been laid down.

Final Coat of Clear | Back of Headstock

Final Coat of Clear | Headstock Face