Handcrafted Instruments by Danny Molter
Well after the excruciating wait for the weather to clear up in Florida I finally finished the final coats of lacquer on Enrico. I waited 2 and a half weeks after the final coats to let the guitar off gas and harden enough to wet sand and buff, As you can see in the pictures I set up for wet sanding starting with 400 grit paper then progressing to 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000. I used a hand polisher to buff between grits up to 800. After sanding with 1000 I moved up to the big dog buffer. I have had this buffer for over 22 years and when I went to start it, the motor started to smoke and hum. I guess motors only last 22 years. Oh well luckily I had some extra motors hanging around and wired a new one up. Unfortunately the first one I wired was a 1.5 HP motor that rotated at 3600 rpms and it about flew of the mounts. Even luckier I had another motor that was just right. With all of that going on I have to say that the buffing process came out fantastic. The guitar finish really shows the incredible grain of the quilted maple and the awesome bearclaw sitka spruce top. I have glued the bridge on and installed the tuners. Next step is to string this baby up. Can’t wait but I’m sure Paul is more anxious than I am to get this guitar. It has been a struggle with this one and it has taken almost eight months to get to this point but I don’t want to sacrifice anything by rushing through this build. Enjoy the pics and look at the reflection in the top. “Beautiful”
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