Making my guitar build SHINE 

@DaisyTempest some scammers here. Impersonating you, supposedly "you win a giveaway"

Please forgive me for commenting on all your videos, but I’m completely mesmerized by your meticulous attention to detail. It is totally understandable why your product is worth what it is. Great work, Daisy! 😊

Tips for buffing, Tie your hair back. You do not want to get even one hair pulled into the wheel. Your finish is phenomenal. I do lathe work and you start buffing where I finish, Very entertaining and informational

I love that you used a "Sandisk" box to support the sand(ing) disk! 😀😀

Impeccable attention to detail. That’s what I think is the hallmark of Tempest Guitars. As a model maker, the quality of any finish is in the prep work. Your insistence on handwork truly is what your benchmark is “the brilliant at the basics” plus it gives you a more intimate connection with your work. You transfer some of that remarkable spirit into what you do. Extraordinary work ❤❤❤.

Whoever did you dirty is really lucky you're a sweet soul and an absolute professionnal. Total class.

That koa back is a real knockout! Finishing like this to a high gloss is time consuming, and I appreciate your dedication to detail.

I've said it before, and no doubt, I'll be saying it again soon :) But your meticulous attention to detail and dedication to luthering guitar-making are truly inspiring. How you blend technical skill with artistic expression in your work, especially in the buffing and finishing process, showcases your talent and passion for creating beautiful instruments. The thoroughness of approaching each step, from selecting the wood to the final buffing, is remarkable. Each guitar you create is an instrument and a unique piece of art. Keep up the fantastic work, and thank you for sharing your process and insights with us. And congratulations on the Christie exhibit!

I truly enjoy watching your enthusiasm as you work. My last name is Tyszler (pronounced “tishler”), which means “carpenter” in Polish. I don’t know how many generations back it goes, but my paternal grandfather and his father were carpenters who mostly built furniture. My grandfather even built an entire summer house all by himself (he was about 4’7 due to malnourishment from poverty, which makes that feat even more incredible). He worked full time for hourly wages as a carpenter who built and repaired furniture in a basement shop in Tudor City, one of the wealthiest buildings in Manhattan (the same place where Leona Helmsley lived). My maternal great-grandparents also owned a furniture factory where my great grandfather built beautiful furniture. You help me understand what my grandfather and great-grandfathers might have enjoyed about their professions. Granted being a luthier requires a different skill set than carpentry, but both professions share a fair bit as well. When I see your true excitement about seeing an idea work or a new technique you tried come out beautifully, it helps me understand the reason they enjoyed carpentry and chosen that profession. Thanks for helping me understand!

Beautiful work. Just a tip......variable speed random orbital sander.used in polishing automotive clear coats, and always use a sanding block, finally...be good to your Mother🙂

Congratulations for the fabulous finish on that spectacularly beautiful guitar. Also for the invitation to exhibit at Christie's, that really is a mark of respect. One little thing, it is good practice to tie your hair back and use eye protection when using the buffing wheel. I'm always forgetting these things myself, but you are usually exemplary. Great video, thank you.

Happy new year and congratulations on the Christie exhibit. Very satisfying to see the finish come up on the koa. Beautiful work.

Shaping, sanding, finishing and polishing. The zen moments amongst the chaos and clamor of building. Play safe n take care.

You have a great eye for the fineness of the finish!! That is a learned skill that to me for a long time!!!

Always a pleasure! The Africa trip sounds very exciting and I look forward to your videos about it.

Super tip: when sanding, sand with different direction between each grit to make sure that previous scratches are all gone. love your videos btw

As many others have said, your attention to detail is remarkable! And congratulations on the Christie's invitation. Very good choice on their part I believe. On a more mundane note, just in case you haven't thought about it, cleaning your microfiber cloths is just as important as using them. Sorry if you already know this but remember to NOT wash them with other fabrics as they will pick up the other fabric's fibers which could lead to scratches. Washing them on high is fine but dry them on low to no heat. And whatever else you do, never use any sort of dryer sheets or fabric softeners. They will ruin your cloths. There are also dedicated detergents for microfiber fabrics you might want to look into. Again, apologies if you already know this but it seemed worthwhile to mention.

Greetings Daisy from the U.S. Isn't it wonderful that fine craftspeople are a community 🙂 My family ancestry are Norsemen Scottish Irish and then into England. I'm delighted to see you bring your talent skills up front. Beautiful beautiful wonderful , in a world that tries to be ugly--it is a blessing to have talented people to bring some joy into this world. 🙋‍♂️.... hey maybe I'll see you again...P.S. I am a huge fan of Dire Straits and JJ Cale who founded that sound.

You don't need the background music. I like the sound of the sanding and your voice.

I have missed you. Welcome back.

As a painter of automotive (1 drop) of detergent in a bucket of water for wet sanding helps to lube while sanding plus helps remove any wax for if you need to repaint

Welcome back Daisy! You've been missed!

I wouldn't have guessed watching someone sanding and buffing a guitar would be the perfect start of the day, but here we are.

Hi Daisy. Great channel and great work you always show. You asked for some tips, if anyone could provide. I have been makinge guitars for 40 years on and of, and it strucked me, that you put the pollishing compound directly on the top of the guitar. Instead put the compound on your handheld buffing foam and add a few drops of demineralized water to your buffing foam, that way you ensure that you wont get any "burn" from the buffing compound. Try it, and see for your self, it works all the time. And as LaverneLovatt said, never buff with long loose hair 🙂

I have to say that when I saw your reflection in the wood, I was very impressed 😊

I was hoping to see some wetsanding! (It really increases the longevity of the abrasives, and saves money in the long run). Also, use of a rubber backed sanding block (they come in a multitude of shapes) will allow you to use other, more cost efficient sand paper. The results show the detail and care you put into your craft, love it!

Great job, the wood is stunning, watching this makes me want to build another guitar. Just a tip I use when finishing. Use a spare platten from the orbital sander to hold the abrasive disks (instead of the sandisk box). Using the pads by hand as you do at the begining can lead to uneven patches especially on corners but the platten keeps it flat so you" skim off" only the high points. Also try non spongy pads for the same reason especially on the earlier grits. Another tip is Korean edgeless microfibre cloths you can get them from car polishing suppliers.

dude, im 24 and just starting to explore opening a studio/shop of my own (in leatherwork ) and i have to say: you are SUCH an inspiration! i really look up to you, you are talented, and passionate, and interesting and funny on camera- all the love and effort you put into your work really shows! Thank you for sharing your journey, i wish you the best!!!

I am very happy that you are back. I also appreciate the fact that you have been busy creating such an exquisite masterpiece. You are the future and your work will continue to inspire for a lifetime.

Daisy it is so great to see you again. I always look forward to seeing your videos. I hope all is well for you.

Beautiful work on that guitar Daisy! HNY and have a good time in Africa! 👍👍🎸🎸💥💥

Your Passion for wood, eye for detail and craftsmanship drive me to the idea of restoring a late 19th century Italian guitar which came to my possession. I’m just a guitarist but I know a luthier in the Netherlands who gives workshops. I’d like to experience the same joy you seem to have😊

The key to spraying is using top quality spay thinners and getting the mix correct. I’ve just done a Telecaster style neck and didn’t need any heavy rubbing down, only a light hand rub with polishing oils and tripoli powder. Talc and polishing oil also works. Orange peel means either the mix is too thick or it’s being applied too quickly.

Hey! Love the work, some advice from someone who used to do a ton of finish work: For wet sanding, wet sanding is way better, after the wash coats you ought to go from dry sanding to wet sanding. Unless there's a ton of orange peel or overspray, wet sanding is more ideal. A hard block is handy. 3M sells one, there's tons out there if otherwise. Most have a hard rubber sole of sorts, and makes the job easier. For buffing. Hold the upper and lower bout of the guitar like you would your belly after a massive meal. Keep it infront of you, and tons of soft mats on the floor to catch an eventual slip. When you buff, use your hips as well. There'd a video of a guy in the Gibson Memphis shop who turned it into a dance, and that helped me get started with buffing. Hope that helps.

In one of your previous videos you talked about outsourcing the finishing because you did not feel comfortable doing it yourself. Too bad it was not a perfect solution, but perhaps it was for the better as it forced you to push yourself and just pick up the skill yourself. I am very happy for you for that! It is lovely to see this kind of development through your videos. You reason your decisions so well, and we all learn while watching. I am a hobbyist woodworker myself, and in the process of building my first acoustic guitar. Finishing will be coming some time this year, so thank you so much for sharing your experiences on this topic too!

Spray finishing is an art form all on it's own. I usually find it takes me as long to get the finish right as it does to do all the other build steps combined. Looks like you've got it nailed though, nice work

beautiful work. Make sure the buffer goes off the edge of the body, if you hold it with the wheel dragging onto the body it can grab it out of your hands.

I do not have the patience for that level of meticulous detailed work, so I can appreciate those who do. I built an electric guitar from parts that I bought from a local luthier. It took a lot of work to get it built--shaping the neck, gluing on the neck and fingerboard, and fretting the fingerboard etc.. I put a horrible poly clear finish on it, and put it together. It was not pretty, but it played and sounded good.

very nice work, I would be scared to play it seeing the amount of work you put in making it flawless. all the best from Bristol.

Thanks for making these videos! very nice to watch with a cup of coffee in hand.

That flamed Koa is absolutely stunning. I'd be enraptured by it and not be able to work either. re: finishing - Highline guitars has a good explainer on the sanding side. The lower grits are more for leveling the finish and getting rid of orange peel. Work in quarters and use a light to look for still-shiny (ie low areas) in the finish. When it's uniformly satin, you're good to go. You're more than expert with the higher grits - but Highline will change the sanding direction with each grit - you can go 90 degrees or even 45 depending on what the jump in grits is and how many levels of grit you'll be using. For final buff - Crimson guitars has good videos on that. Main takeaway is to always buff from the middle towards the edge and rotate the guitar to allow that to happen. Hands cradle the guitar from the bottom so the guitar is pushing more into your grip. It is apparently safer and lessens that chance that the wheel grabs the guitar and slams it into the floor.

Congratulations.

Nice looking axe, Daisy. I hope your little exhibition at Christie's is a resounding success!

Tip - don't know if this has already been said, but i always understood that it was best to work with the polishing wheel turning away from you, that way if it were to be caught, it would only pull the material to the ground as opposed to swinging it into your head and then across the room

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I look forward to the next episode in "The Tempest, A Luthier life & adventure :)

Happy new year Daisy.

I'm a retired woodworker. Remember with all air dried finishes, it takes time for ALL the volatiles to escape the film layer. The finish instructions may say it will be dry in 24 hours or what ever, BUT that does not mean the all the volatiles have evaporated from the film layer, which means the film layer has not finished shrinking. If you polish too soon, you may discover the grain of the wood appearing a month or so later. I recommend doing serious testing of your finishing methods before committing them to the product. Check your samples every week. Happy rubbing and buffing. Great video!!

Well done on learning how to do it yourself, no one will care as much about your project as you will! Beautiful work!

Beautiful !

The craftmanship is amazing. Would love to see these instruments played by a really good player on RU-vid.

All I can say is "WOW". Thanks for the polishing tips

You had already achieved a mirror finish before you even got to the polishing compounds, very gorgeous finish and lots of fun to watch you work, I can see how much joy you get doing your art to perfection !!!!

i got hold of a 69 epiphone texan last year, it was in a state so it wasn't the usual mortgage price but i got a local luthier to straighten the neck out and refret - it had been used fretless at some point! - anyway. the front had been hand varnished as well, so that was totally horrible but i sanded that off no problem, but the smooth surface it left was blotchy and i had no idea why or what i could do about it, so being bored i sanded the rest of the finish away and now i'm left with a really, really nice looking piece of spruce, nice colour, decent enough grain, nice sounding guitar. trouble is it's bare wood. i tried various filler potions, gun oil, tongue oil, and numerous coats, but i still have bare wood - it just seems to soak up everything. the real head scratcher though is the fibers of the spruce stand up, if you run your hand over it you can feel the "hairs", i have a "hairy" guitar. so that's my problem, how can i get a smooth surface when the fibers are prominent, and can i wax or french polish it as i don't want to spend on a luthier and i don't want to take the bridge off....

I so deeply appreciate your beautiful work. It really shows that you're very passionate and talented.

Beautiful finish, thanks.

A Beautiful guitar !!

Hi Daisy. Sorry to hear 🙉 you had a lot of trouble 😵‍💫 with your out sourcing spray job.There is a saying that if you want a job done better do it yourself 🤠. At least you can spray and finish now , you are your own best critic. I find when I spray fresh air always helps , you can set up a vacuum extractor near your spay job and Ultra violet light helps to dry sprayed objects out better it adds an element of hardness to the finish. Anyway 😊 Happy 😁 spraying and finishing.All the Best for 2024. Take care. John.

That is a really top shelf peice of koa. nice work!

Beautiful

Welcome back!

Love watching your videos. Spent a lifetime making jewellery, now (age 79) building my second carved arch-top ukulele. I've learned a lot from you. Tip hammered into me re: polishing...always buff TO an edge, never FROM it. If you polish from an edge the buff will snag the job and smash it against the nearest wall. I know to my cost!😟

First things first... HAPPY 2024 - here we go again... let's go ! I simply love what YOU've done 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽 It's looking so reflective / reflexive 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Another great video Daisy! I said out loud at the same time as you "Never Again" when you were talking about the finisher. lol! I've enjoyed spray finishing, and doing high gloss is the hardest and least forgiving way to finish, but when done right looks great.

When working on flat surfaces, have you ever tried using a sanding block? 3M make some hard rubber ones that are often used for automobile finishing. Cheaper and more satisfying to use than the foam sanding pads. Also, if you can find a fluorescent work light that's maybe a foot or two long that you can maneuver by hand, they're useful for checking to see if your finish is smooth/flat.

well done love

The guitar is looking great.

Always good content Daisy

Good to see you back on RU-vid again. Absolutely stunning work! One thing I do to make hand sanding easier on my hands is to use a simple diy sanding glove - basically just a work glove with some velcro stuck to it to attach the sanding pad. Congrats on Christie's! That's amazing!

Two things I've learned in my 72 years on this planet Daisy is No.1 There are no satisfactory shortcuts to excellence and No.2 No one will care as much as you do, so do it yourself! Nice job and deep down you ALWAYS knew you had to learn to do this for yourself👍🏻

On the buffing wheel I’d recommend applying the guitar body at more of a horizontal and side to side then vertical up and down. Start with a pass across the bottom of the box then flip around and do across the untouched side. Only touching the bottom half of box so you can come in at an angle looking from the top. Also sturdy stance and a firm grip on both sides of guitar box. Don’t press too hard as it can start taking the finish off. Start light pressure. Beautiful guitar Daisy!

Nice Job. I do wood finishing too and the fact that your video is over twenty minutes long is the right thing to do because with all the steps involved in this process is the only way to achieve this fine finish. It's perfect that you've spent the right amount of time showing and explaining each step. The only thing I would add is to mention the expensive random orbital sanders are so much better, and the cheaper sanders are not very good, and doing everything by hand, keeping straight with the grain is more work and hard on the elbows but it will yield the best results. Nice Job!

You do gorgeous work! I have always wanted to try making instruments. I'm a woodcarver and sometimes cabinet maker, knife maker, tool restorer, so I have some tools that'd help, and probably some knowledge, but I'm also a bit deaf, so even if I built an instrument I'd never know whether it sounded good or not.

You asked for tips so I’ll suggest that I generally find it quite a bit easier to hold the guitar horizontally rather than vertically as you were doing. I like to start on the center line and move towards the edge, doing one continuous pass in a sort of zig zag pattern, coming back from the edge into a slightly different line, out to the edge etc, til I’ve covered one half of the back. Then I’ll flip it and do the same to the other half to give the first half a chance to cool off. Next pass I’ll return to the first half, but instead of going center line to edge, I’ll go from the neck to the butt, change lines and come back, til that’s half is done, flip and do the other side, and just keep flipping and changing patterns til it’s done. Holding it horizontally is also a lot easier on your back and knees, as when you hold it vertical you need to accommodate a range of motion up and down of 20 inches for an average guitar at every pass, whereas if you hold it horizontally, you only need to accommodate for an 8-10 vertical range of motion if you start at the center line, and the 20 inch range of motion from neck to butt can be accommodated with hip rotation which is a lot easier than using your back to go up and down the center line when held vertical. Also there’s less of a chance of catching an edge at the waist when held horizontal as the wheels are always running off the edge. I don’t know if you’ve ever launched one but it’s quite an experience when you do, lol. Production used to come to a halt for a moment of silence when the unmistakeable sound was heard throughout the factory. Most of us only ever did it once, lol. The only time I hold it vertical is when doing the sound hole edges. The only other thing I can think of is that the liquid polish stage may not be necessary. We used to do basically 1000 grit level, 1500 level, then straight to the buffer Menzera 16 then 18. Mind you that was on big industrial machines with 5hp motors and 6x16 buffs running at a terrifying speed rather than a Shop Fox, but it seems to me you should be able to go from 3k to the buffer, but I’m unfamiliar with the finish you’re using so… Anyway, my .02 since you asked…:)

Went back to the start just to see the difference. Even on RU-vid the difference is very noticeable. Not sure whether I'll be using this lesson in buffing anytime soon in my normal day-to-day woodworking, but thank you, I definitely learnt a lot.

Really great job!!! I saw a guy on RU-vid polishing a guitar with car polish by hand and it also came out great!

I've done this sort of work using automotive rubbing compound--you can work up from 'red' rubbing compound to 'white' polishing compound and even 'clearcoat' polishing compound. Ifthis isnot fine enough, Maguire's auto polish has a very fine abrasive in it. My Koa guitar looks about this good. (I did not make the guitar, but I polished it up from Satin to it's current hand-rubbed condition.

Glad yo see you back... Happy new year.... looking forward to your vids in 24... Peace N Love...

I’m enjoying your videos Daisy and your narrative as you explain the processes, thank you.

Always a pleasure to watch you work!

That is beautiful wood. I know I've said it before, but I really love the graceful subtlety in your design.

That back is a work of art, it's almost luminous! Have dropped a sub and looking forward to looking through older videos and can't wait to see what you have coming down the line.

Looks beautiful! The Africa trip sounds awesome and I'm looking forward to that.

We didn't forget about you either. Beautiful!

That back is amazing, and props to you for making the whole luthier career a thing i think it's great. I do some setups and basic repair work in the music shop i work at, and making an old dusty guitar play again and is pretty damn satisfying.

I apprenticed one summer (college) with a cabinet maker. He required me to do as much handwork as possible, and although I never achieved your level of skill, it does help in appreciating all you do! Beautiful work!

Absolutely gorgeous work. And so good finding another passionate perfectionist - it encourages me that I’m not crazy. 😉 I do custom Strat pickups and build a few guitars. I shoot nitro and don’t usually go past 2000 grit on sanding before polishing. Loved seeing you use the 3000 before buff/polish. I could see the massive ripple in that wood even on my cell phone. Just discovered you and subscribed. Will check in often!

Great job! Congrats on the Christie’s gig! I’m looking forward to content from your Africa trip now; sounds interesting. 🍻

WOWSA!! Beautiful finish!! You did that gorgeous koa justice..

I love all your videos, Africa how exciting !!! 🌹❤️🤗

Wrapping abrasive around a sponge is a good method. It stops the paper from digging in.

Well done!!! Absolutely beautiful instrument. Figured Koa is some of the nicest tonewoods to work with.

Very satisfying to hear and watch! It is also a great workout too. The finish looks fantastic!

I missed you I really Injoy your Chanel

Koa, koa, koa! What a magnificent species. You did it so well, Daisy. Great polishing technique. Your attention to detail is to be commended. I've only worked with koa one time and it was glorious. So smooth, so gorgeous. I wish I had more projects for it. Kol ha'kavod.

That has to be so satisfying building a guitar of that quality. Thanks for sharing.

You are not doing anything wrong at all, one small thing would be on how you mark which cloths are for which compound, as you need to be certain next time on which is which. I really loved that you did it all by hand, I do it like that as I prefer the sound of manual woodworking as compared to power tools. Have you thought of doing a french polish? (alcohol with shellac) No modern guitar luthiers use it, but any decent violin maker still uses this and only this method (ok, some used oil based methods) as it gives a lovely finish like this, but you don't have to remove material like you are doing by sanding an polishing. Here you only add small layers and keep doing that until all of the wood pores are sealed, it is way thinner than a plastic varnish which helps sound quite a lot with the tone. It does require periodical maintenance, but hey, maybe this is one of the reasons why violin luthier shops are always busy :)

Well done kiddo that looks gorgeous. One of the main things about finishes both Paint and clears is to do the initial sanding with more firm pads behind the papers. Then term is called block sanding or blocking. That makes the surfaces super flat. It will even out runs or drips or wavy looks from un even spraying. then as you sand more and more pay SUPER close attention to how things are going on corners or edges where sides meet. That will be the most common places to burn thru the finish thus setting you back to square one.

You have much to learn about this process... much to learn!

Stunning finish! using water with very fine grit sandpapers (or whatever the sanding mediums are) helps to not clog the grit, tip - a drop of washing up liquid in your water will help drop the surface tension of the water and sanding just works better!...

They make microfiber polishing rags without the stitched border around the edge, to eliminate chance of scuffing from the coarse threads.