What to do with gaps in and around rosette?

Doc_J

Doc_J

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The rosette on a new custom has gaps and missing epoxy around the Purflex and purfling around it. Please see the photo. The builder told me this is a good as it can be. He thought going back and trying to fix this would only make it worse. This may be the first instrument on which the builder used Purflex. The finish is Deft gloss lacquer.

I really like this uke and I'd like to keep it, but the rosette gaps and missing epoxy bother me. Any suggestions for a repair, or should I just try to “forget about it” ?

P1040941_zps5c60a8df.jpg
 
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Send it back. I wouldn't use DEFT as an instrument lacquer anyway. The Purflex wasn't filled properly, and the finish looks terrible. Don't accept it as "good enough" That is bullshit of the highest order.
 
It depends. What kind of agreement did you have with him and what were you're expectations. If you knew you were getting an early build from a new builder then you probably got what you paid for. If this came from a veteran builder then I'd take issue with it. Deft is a viable finish, I've finished over 100 instruments in it, but I don't use the rattle can version because it is too thin. I'm guessing that is what happened here. Regardless of the rosette, the top shouldn't have that amount of orange peel on it. He didn't level sand the epoxy well. It can be fixed.
 
I agree with Andrew on this.
Sure, it is easy to say "this is unacceptable" but at what price?
Is this a lower cost early uke from an aspiring builder? Did you pay "top of the line" money for this, and did you pick a new builder and hope to get a top quality uke at a low price. Is the uke playable? Sound great? Are you second guessing your decision to commission an instrument?
If the builder promised an un-compromising finish, you may have a gripe.
 
Significantly low price , or send it back. That was a simple problem early on that was blown by. It looks like the purfling was not installed well either. Expensive materials not well executed.

Wouldn't use deft lacquer either.... why???
 
Chris_H said:
Wouldn't use deft lacquer either.... why???
Click to expand...

I started using it early on primarily because of its blush resistance sine I was spraying in a non-controlled environment. It worked well and just haven't seen the need to change.
 
David Newton said:
I agree with Andrew on this.
Sure, it is easy to say "this is unacceptable" but at what price?
Is this a lower cost early uke from an aspiring builder? Did you pay "top of the line" money for this, and did you pick a new builder and hope to get a top quality uke at a low price. Is the uke playable? Sound great? Are you second guessing your decision to commission an instrument?
If the builder promised an un-compromising finish, you may have a gripe.
Click to expand...

The builder has been making ukes for at least a year or two (with decades of fine furniture experience), has made more than 40 ukuleles, and was well spoken of in other forums on this site. He states on his site "His passion for working with fine woods and his drive for perfection has allowed him to produce quality ukuleles that look and sound wonderful. In his one man shop he can make all sizes of ukuleles ...soprano, concert , and tenor as well as special custom requests." I've been waiting 10 months on his build list. While not a premier builder price, the price was over $800, not a home-made uke cost, IMHO.

So I did expect a "quality" uke without major defects. I asked for the return policy and was told he has a 7 day satisfaction guarantee. The builder has also generously offered to build a replacement uke. But you know the old idiom, "once bitten, twice shy". So, I am mulling it over what to do. I love the design of the uke I specified, and would love to have it made as a quality instrument.
 
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That is NOT a professional inlay or finish prep or finish job. That does NOT show a drive for perfection. This is a perfect example of why a lot of uke builders should just farm out their finish work if they can't do a decent job of it. I'm not even sure of how one would make the rosette fit in one area and be so off in others. Dremel with a bad trammel arrangement? And I knew there was a reason I just don't particularly like Purflex...it reminds me too much of the fancy but cheap early 19th century French and Austrian guitar "inlay" done in stick shellac...it's too obviously fake.
 
One other thing...if you can't do a perfect closed pore gloss finish, you should stick with open pored satin or just use TruOil or Waterlox...just do an oil finish. There's nothing that looks quite as bad as a less-than-perfect gloss finish. Get it right or don't even try. The only open pored gloss that looks any good at all is really thin French polish where the fill has sunk down in the grain evenly.
 
it looks like the rosette channel MAY have been cut ok, but the maple purfling on either side of the purflex rosette, poorly fitted. At dry fit, that was the time to throw that piece away, and start over. Looks like the purfling ledges were cut too wide also, as the purflex looks like it wanders and gets lost.
 
He is capable as evidenced by his other builds but I'm guessing that he bit off a bit more than he could chew on this one. If it were me, I'd negotiate for one of his standard ukes and I think you'd be happy. He might swap out one that he currently has for sale.
 
When I deliver ukes to Gryphon Stringed Instruments, they practically look them over with a magnifying glass. One pin-prick open pore and the uke gets rejected. That's what I'm used to, and I'm selling to my dealers at wholesale with no excuses made for price point.

It's ALL in the prep before the first coat of sealer goes on. Then it's in getting the pore fill and sealer right, and if that means three coats instead of two, fine. If it means doing that black epoxy fill four times on the Purflex, then that's simply what must be done. Good luck on bubbles in the epoxy, too...

That surface has to be damned near perfect before you start laying your real build coats of finish on. You cannot fix imperfect surface prep in later coats of finish, and the hurrieder you go, the behinder you get with this stuff. Getting the surface right means a lot less finish and a lot less work down the line.

The more I use the Smith CPES epoxy as a sealer under anything else, the more I like it. You can apply it, then sand right down to bare wood, and then do another coat, and another coat 'til that surface is really ready for whatever. It doesn't fill pores as much as seal them on the first two coats, and that's a major part of the battle, too.
 
If the uke was priced equal to other professional ukes of known quality, you should return it if you have the grounds to do so.
By "grounds" I mean does the contract you entered allow it.
If it is priced less than like-kind ukes, you should expect less overall quality. Only you & the builder can decide how much less.
 
Doc_J said:
He states on his site "His passion for working with fine woods and his drive for perfection has allowed him to produce quality ukuleles that look and sound wonderful.
Click to expand...


So we know what he said but what do YOU think of the sound?
 
Originally, my post had a bunch of commentary about the finish quality and flaws in the workmanship. I edited it because I hate jumping to conclusions without having more facts. That's why I asked if he was an amateur builder. I don't like to be critical of other builders, because it can seem self-serving and can come across as arrogant. So commentary on this one piece of work would be..there are a lot of issues. I would either send it back for a complete refinish on it, or just send it back. No builder worth his salt should send something out looking like that, unless the intent was a relic finish of some sort. I realize that price here is probably a factor, but the finish to me is the one final detail to sweat over. I agonize at times over the finish, and I'm sure most of the fine builders here do as well. I know many luthiers who build and farm out the finish work, which in today's world is somewhat common.
 
I've used Deft in a class room environment because it was convenient to use and it builds quickly. However I find it to be too soft for instruments and not as durable as I'd like. Beyond that, I would return the ukulele simply because it has Puflex on it! I personally think the stuff is hideous.
 
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